by Charles Kirkland, Jr.
A girl named Charlotte discovers the spider in her web is much more than she or anyone ever bargained for in the horror film, Sting.
One night, Charlotte (Alyla Browne) finds a small, strange spider that hatched from an egg that looks strangely like a meteorite. Unfazed, Charlotte, who seems a bit attracted to darkness, adopts the spider as a pet, placing it in a jar. She is amused by the way the spider savagely attacks any stray bug she puts in the jar. When the spider escapes the jar, it goes on a flesh-eating spree, quickly taking on human flesh and growing larger than any real spider should. Before long, the lives of everyone in the apartment building are in jeopardy and only Charlotte knows how to take care of her renegade spider.
The horror film Sting is written and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner. It stars Browne, Ryan Corr, Robyn Nevin, Noni Hazlehurst, Penelope Mitchell and Jermaine Fowler.
It seemed incredibly ironic that Jermaine Fowler, who we last saw in The Blackening, is the only black man in this horror film. After bucking the trope in that movie, he seems positioned to fall prey to the “black guy dies first” plot device in this film. But not everything is as it seems in this movie that attempts to be different.
At first blush, Sting appears to be a clever take on Little Shop of Horrors using Charlotte in the place of Seymour as an insatiable spider. (Everyone does see the whole Charlotte’s Web pun, right?) This is what the film attempts to be; a clever and creative horror film. The problem is that too early into the film, the film stops being inventive and intelligent and falls into being inane. It is way too cliché to take a moody and mourning 12-year-old girl who draws a comic book about a superhero named Fang Girl, gives her a spider for a pet, and then turns that pet loose.
Poor plot aside, this film is genuinely creepy and at times incredibly suspenseful. Roache-Turner uses his smattering of horror experience to craft a film with the appropriate level of intensity, complete with gross-outs, jump scares, and heart-pounding suspense.
At the heart of the film is a story about family and the lengths one will go to to protect each other. Despite even the worst circumstances, family comes through for one another.
Rated R for violent content, bloody images, and language, Sting isn’t as much fun as it should be or could be. A poor script, coupled with decent special effects make Sting an OK movie to watch in theaters but a great movie to watch at home in the creepy darkness of a creaky home. If you do watch this movie, after the great pay-off conclusion, stay for a special mid-credits scene that may make you happy. It is a clever reward for those who made it all the way through.
Grade: C-