Stung

Although no masterpiece, STUNG is an unashamedly old-fashioned monster B-movie that actually turns out to be slightly better than expected; it's certainly better than the level of fare regularly turned out by the SyFy Channel over the last decade or so. The main problem this film has is not with the execution or the effects - which are surprisingly cool - but the moribund attempts at humour in the script, which is full of dumb lines and expletives.

Other than that, it's okay for a B-movie. Killer wasps attack a party, but this is only the beginning of the story as most of the running time is about big, gooey monsters and bodily horror. The special effects thankfully avoid cheesy CGI for the most part and revert back to decent, prosthetic work, which you may remember from the good ol' days of 1990s era horror such as SKEETER or TICKS. Lance Henriksen is the only actor of note here, but he has quite a big part and is unsurprisingly the best thing on the screen.

When I found "Stung", I must admit that I was instantly compelled to pick up the movie and read the synopsis. And I needed little more to convince me to sit down and watch it. I do like horror movies, and creature features are usually quite fun to watch. But while killer insects have been done over and over, it still does have some appeal to me.

The visual and special effects in "Stung" were actually surprisingly good, and they really added a lot of enjoyment to the movie. It is always nice to see practical effects in a movie, and not just have an all out CGI showcase. Sure, there were CGI present here too, but it was a nice mix of practical and CGI effects.

However, I must admit that I didn't really understand the idea of huge wasps bursting out of stung people mere moments after having been stung. Sure, it was fun and entertaining for the movie as a whole, but it made very, very little sense.

"Stung" has a pretty good ensemble of cast, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Lance Henriksen was in this movie; I didn't know that prior to sitting down to watch the movie. It is unnecessary to point out that Lance Henriksen is always entertaining to watch in the movies that he is in. Matt O'Leary was actually carrying the movie quite nicely together with Jessica Cook. It was also a nice treat to have Clifton Collins Jr. in the movie, especially in a role such as he was portraying. I haven't seen him in a movie for quite some time.

The design of the wasps was actually quite good, and it looked rather convincing and realistic, so the props and special effects team really managed to pull off something nice with this movie.

Writer Adam Aresty came up with an enjoyable story for sure, while director Benni Diez did a great job of putting the story to life on the screen and managed to capture the spirit and essence of old school horror movies with "Stung".

There is a good atmosphere and feel to the movie, and it sets a very adequate mood for the type of movie that "Stung" is. And if you are familiar with the older "Mimic" movies and enjoyed those, then you will most definitely also like "Stung".

I was laughing so hard when they put in a Wilhelm scream when there was a big explosion which engulfed the queen wasp. I didn't know that wasps were capable of performing a Wilhelm scream, but I was proved wrong. That was just hilarious.

I must admit that I had initially just thought this would be another campy and cheesy creature feature with questionable CGI. But I was proved wrong, so very, very wrong. And I really enjoyed "Stung" and can warmly recommend that you take the time to watch it if you enjoy a good horror creature feature in the spirit of the old school horror movies.

Predictable ending to the movie? You betcha... But all in all an enjoyable creature feature. I am rating it 6 out of 10 stars.

Creature features are a tough thing to pull off. Stungnado here may not be the best of the bunch (Eight legged Freaks was a lot of fun to name one in recent memories that got it right), but it does have a couple of moments. Seeing the duo of Lance Henriksen and Clifton Collins can always be fun. Even if they are underwritten characters. But everything is underwritten here.

So try to take joy of simple things. Like the fact the actress playing a catering boss is called Cook. If you can laugh at that, you may find some funny moments in this too. Then again there is a lot wrong with it too, so our main hero is a bit bland, the love story doesn't really work. But the effects are decent and if you don't have high expectations it can be a fun ride of sorts

A horror movie doesn't necessarily always have to be good or surprising. Sometimes it's more than sufficient already if it lives up your hopes and/or expectations. In case of "Stung", for example, I had only set my hopes on seeing an unhinged and over-the-top giant creature-feature with plentiful of gore and a straightforward simplistic plot. Guess what! "Stung" delivers just that! And if you aren't too skeptical either, you're guaranteed to have a fun time with this German/American co-production that is (nearly) a genuine throwback to the glorious days of 70s animal-horror. There exist several bee-movies (like "The Swarm", "The Deadly Bees" or "Terror out of the Sky"), but apart from Roger Corman's "Wasp Woman" there aren't too many movies about killer wasps to my knowledge. The recipe for pure entertainment here exists of a totally bonkers plot, good old- fashioned gross-out special effects and bad but likable acting performances. The nervous and uptight Julia has just taken over her father's catering company and constantly worries that things will go wrong, in sheer contrast to her co-worker Paul, who just wants to relax, smoke weed and make out with Julia. They head out to cater the annual garden party of the eccentric Mrs. Perch and her creepy son Sydney at their secluded country estate. Mr. Perch used to make a fortune in the pharmaceutical business, but now his wife and son remember his death through annual garden parties where several prominent community members come to, like Mayor Caruthers for example. The evening quickly turns into a nightmare, as hundreds of mutated wasps intrude the party and viciously attack the guests. Since oddball Sydney experimented with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, the wasps are oversized and extremely aggressive … and they lay their eggs inside their victims' bodies, with horrendous subsequences. After an admittedly rather slow start, "Stung" is a non-stop fun and thrill- ride with too many gory highlights to list. The sight of humongous wasp-monsters bursting out of their human hosts is just terrific, especially because quite often the human leftovers – like entire heads – remain stuck on their insect armor. There's a nicely balanced mixture of traditional special effects and above-average decent computer engineered effects. The sound effects of the films are also imaginatively nasty. Apparently the sound of cracking lobster shells can be used to imitate the sound of giant fake wasps! As said, the acting performances aren't very good, but they are definitely likable. There's a nice and almost natural chemistry between Matt O'Leary and Jessica Cook, while the familiar faces Lance Henriksen and Clifton Collins Jr. are responsible for the more memorable and flamboyant supportive roles.

Oh, and the answer to the riddle in the subject line is: Stinging in the Rain

Stung is a simple cheap thrill, presenting over-the-top characters and gory scenes. It looks rather sloppy, but not without some appeal. The corny set-up have intended humorous acts, they are lightly done and in the spirit of irony. The presentation isn't top notch though, this won't rival smooth delivery of big budget movies, it is good for brief amusement nonetheless.

The story follows the crews and attendees of a party, which doesn't take long to completely crumble as monster wasps decide to attack. There's no scientific or dramatic tension like most monster movies, they just appear and wreak havoc. The main characters are the bartender and event planner, they predictably run around trying to fend off these abominations.

It plays with exaggerated violence tone, chopping heads and limbs in pretty sadistic manner. It also tries to extract any kind of humor with the bantering script, although this makes the characters rather unrealistic. For the practical and special effects, they are inconsistent in quality. CGI looks like it belongs to average video game, which doesn't really convey too much realism for a movie.

Few of the scenes look decent, especially with the bloody dismemberment. However, it can look inauthentic at times. Most of the cinematography involves jittery motion in dark tone, which is unfortunate since the brighter sequences fare better and a large portion of the movie happens in nighttime.

Narrative and effect are shoddy at best, but Stung does its job as light popcorn flick. If not anything, at least it provides a couple of giggles.