Stung

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.

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.

Stung offers truck loads of buggy fun. From its opening scenes through to its conclusion this a fun filled, unashamedly camp horror, complete with a cast of colourful, intentionally stereotypical, characters.

Stung taps into the 1950/60's big menacing bug genre. Its all been done before but I have to say, probably not this well, in a long time. In spite of its modest budget, Stung, is a polished affair. The acting is good, the special effects reasonable and whilst the storyline is predictable, its so well presented you hardly notice. There's a few moments of black humour thrown in too, which further enhance what is already a decent film.

If you like your horror a little camp, quirky and generally over the top fun you should give Stung a try. Eight out of ten from me.

Fun fun fun ride with extremely likable characters. I will jump on a leg here and guess the budget for the movie wasn't very big, but the cast did an outstanding job. It's above average that's for sure. I mean I've seen way way way more expensive movies this year, that were classes below this one. (Jupiter Ascending is a good example).

I don't really know the two main protagonists as actors, but I sure do hope to see them again. Both are pretty natural and just plain cool.

Perfect flick with friends for a Saturday night. No nudity, its somewhat safe for juveniles as well, so bonus points for that.

If you like that genre, grab the nachos and have some fun with this one.

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