The film Sting tells the ravages of an alien spider among the inhabitants of a dilapidated Brooklyn building. This brief summary should be enough to determine whether or not this recycled but effective B-movie is for you. Still there ? So here it is: it’s the story of a preteen who comes across said spider by chance and decides to raise it in secret from her mother and stepfather. However, not only is the insect from elsewhere smart, it is hungry. And its size increases with each victim with feathers, hair, then skin. Written and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner with a retro, old-school sensibility, Sting is aimed at fans who like their horror referenced.
Thus the bloody action confined to the same building whose occupants are attacked one by one, evokes as much Shivers (Chills, by David Cronenberg; 1975), that Demons 2 (by Lamberto Bava; 1986). We immediately meet young Charlotte (Alyla Browne, a real discovery), who has gotten into the habit of moving around in the ventilation ducts and other hidden spaces of the decaying building – we think here of The People Under the Stairs (The basement of fear, by Wes Craven; 1991).
Not to mention the fact that the murderous arachnid initially arrives in a small meteorite, just like the fearsome gelatinous predator in The Blob (The blob, by Chuck Russell, 1988). In short, it is done by a “ fan”, for “ fans.”
Overall, the film’s modest success is due to three key elements: a solidly written and interpreted heroine, very viscous tricks and special effects, and above all, an absolute refusal to take itself too seriously.
Dark humor
In fact, Roache-Turner infuses his film with a healthy dose of humor as black as the terrible spider.
On the other hand, we would have done without the comic escapades assigned to the exterminator, which take the film towards farce and break the atmosphere somewhat – this character suffers from comparison with his model immortalized by John Goodman in Arachnophobia (Arachnophobiaby Frank Marshall, 1990).
Nonetheless, it is well-executed and ingeniously done. This, until the last shot, which takes up that of Critters (by Stephen Herek; 1986), another killer alien bug movie. To see or not, depending on whether you have the sub-genre bug or not.