Sting: Araña Asesina

"Sting" injects some welcome thrills into the creature feature subgenre, but with a twist: the heart of the film lies not in the monstrous spider itself, but in the strained family dynamic at its core.

We've seen plenty of arachnophobic nightmares come to life on screen before - "Arachnophobia" and "Eight Legged Freaks" come to mind. But "Sting" differentiates itself by focusing on Charlotte, a rebellious 12-year-old who finds solace in an unusual pet spider.

As the heartwarming bond between Charlotte and "Sting" forms, the creature, much like her anxieties, begins to grow at an alarming rate. The predictable tropes of missing pets and panicked neighbors soon unravel, revealing the true terror: a family on the brink of collapse.

The film's opening scene leaves little doubt about the monstrous path Sting is destined for. This might leave some viewers wanting more mystery, but it allows the focus to remain on the emotional journey of the characters.

Ultimately, "Sting" is a satisfying creature feature with a surprising amount of comedy. While predictable in its plot beats, it delivers effective scares and a touching family drama.

Greetings again from the darkness. The trailer for this one makes it clear that it's a monster movie in the vein of those Friday late night creature-features I stayed up watching as a kid ... whenever I wasn't grounded from watching TV. Australian filmmaker Kiah Roche-Turner has set this one in Brooklyn and it takes place almost entirely inside an old apartment building (the only exceptions are shots of the ice storm occurring outside).

Roche-Turner may have delivered the latest creature-feature, however, it's not one of those that inspires empathy towards the creature. Twelve-year-old Charlotte (get it??) is on one of her adventures through the air vents of the old building when she captures a little black spider. A pet spider may be uncommon, but keeping secrets from your mother, Heather, (Penelope Mitchell, HELLBOY, 2009) and stepdad, Ethan, (Ryan Corr, THE WATER DIVINER, 2014) is right in line with the actions of an adolescent frustrated by the responsibilities of having to watch her newborn brother while the frazzled adults go about earning a living.

The film's opening shows Charlotte's sweater-knitting grandmother, Helga (Noni Hazelhurst, TRUTH, 2015), battling dementia and calling the exterminator after hearing loud noises in the wall. The story then flashes back four days to when Charlotte first finds the spider. Frank (Jermaine Fowler, RICKY STANICKY, 2024) sprays the building, but even as a pest expert, he doesn't suspect what's about to happen. Relative newcomer Alyla Brown (TRUE SPIRIT, 2023) performs superbly as Charlotte, and is stunned when the pet spider she names Sting mimics her whistle when it's due for another meal of crunchy bugs, which leads to exponential growth.

Although it's not necessary, there are additional elements to the story that occur around the whole rapidly-growing spider. Charlotte's stepdad is the building super and an aspiring comic book artist. In an effort to bond with her, Ethan illustrated the story she created about her biological father, whose deadbeat nature mother Heather has withheld from her. Their neighbors consist of lonely widow Maria (Siliva Colloca, VAN HELSING, 2004) and oddball science geek Erik (Danny Kim, "Born to Spy"), the latter of whom exposes Charlotte's clandestine arachnid pet to the parents. The final player here is frugal and grumpy Gunther (Robyn Nevin, RELIC, 2020), who apparently owns the building and lives with her sister Helga. Ms. Nevin has a face made for horror films (and I mean that as a compliment) and gets to go full out in her one big scene with Ethan.

As you'd expect, some of these folks meet a grisly end, while others are more fortunate. There are enough kills for those that lust for such moments, and enough creepiness and chuckles for everyone else. It does take a while for the arachnid rampage to begin, but there's enough suspense to keep us around. Most will appreciate Brad Shield's cinematography as the camera worms it's way through the claustrophobic hallways and air ducts of the building. The origins of the spider might be missed by those who aren't paying close attention, but it's a brilliant touch. And even though it's a bit of campy horror, the dayglo red used in the fake blood is among the worst you'll likely ever see. The film is quite a bit different from the 1990 cult classic ARACHNOPHOBIA, but the lesson in keeping moth balls on hand could someday come in handy. Over the opening credits, "What a Way to Die" by The Pleasure Seekers acts as a foreshadowing of events, and in keeping with the film's title, there are a couple of "stingers" for those who stick around.

Opening in theaters on April 12, 2024.

Sting is truly one of the worst of the recent pop star biopics. Okay, maybe his time growing up in Newcastle isn't particularly cinematic, but that's no excuse to throw in giant CGI spiders just to keep the audience entertained. And I understand it's expensive paying for royalties, but none of his famous songs are used at all. Instead we just have a suspenseful soundtrack which I don't think he even wrote.

And The Police don't even get a mention. One of the key New Wave bands of the 70s and 80s, ignored so we can watch a huge arachid jumping on people.

Check out Boheian Rhapsody, Rocketman or I Wanna Dance with Somebody instead.

It's like someone made Little Shop of Horrors meets Aliens or rather that's what it reminds me of. I was expecting a very low grade horror movies and in a lot of ways that's exactly what it is, but the filmmakers did such a good job of putting it together that it just made for one of the best I've seen this year.

The monster itself was excellent. Just scary as hell and monstrous to boot. I feel like it was all about what needed to be show and what particular time and what did not and they did it with perfection.

Not much to say but to say it's definitely worth your time to see sting. Was not expecting much but got so much.

I'll be honest, I was not excited about this at all. Properly meh... n I'll watch if I've nothing else on my radar.

Maybe that helped?

Combined with my huge fear of spiders... and recent releases of similar genre and theme.

I got the chance to watch, and I have to be honest it was a good fun watch. Not what I expected at all.

It had good comedy moments (loved grandma) and the dog scene. Not a spoiler.

There was elements that reminded me of home alone, if you watch you'll know.

I think this film was really well done, like I say someone with a feat but I didn't find it boring at any part and enjoyed the actual story. Definitely say give it a look. Took me by surprise.