After raising an unnervingly talented spider in secret, 12-year-old Charlotte must face the facts about her pet-and fight for her family’s survival-when the once-charming creature rapidly transforms into a giant, flesh-eating monster.
I knew nothing of this film before I was asked to review it. But now, having watched it, I have to say, it’s one of the best indie horror thrillers I’ve seen in some time. The premise has been done a million times before, but writer/director Kiah Roache-Turner adds the necessary requirements to make it not only a good film but an excellent one.
During a snowstorm in Brooklyn, a young girl, Charlotte (Alyla Browne), her mother Heather, stepdad Ethan (Ryan Corr), and baby brother all live together in an apartment. When Charlotte, who likes to move around the building, utilizing its ventilation ducts to avoid detection by her parents, comes across an unusual black spider in a neighbor’s apartment, she calls it Sting and brings it home, keeping it in a covered jar. As the hours pass, neighbors and residents begin to mysteriously disappear, including her own family, but when all fingers point to Sting, whose insatiable appetite causes it to grow at an exponential rate and who has escaped his temporary home, she must step up to rescue her family, no matter what the cost.
“Sting” is a cross between “The Evil Dead,” “Evil Dead Rise,” “Arachnophobia,” “Alien,” and “Aliens,” but instead of just stealing ideas and elements from those films, director Kiah Roache-Turner pays great homage to them by incorporating some of their best components and weaving an exciting tale about the underdog gaining the upper hand and winning the day.
Many horror films try to get the audience to connect with the characters onscreen, learning about difficulties they may be experiencing or family issues, so that when they start dying off one by one, we will have established a connection with them, their deaths having a significant impact on us but most times, the drama comes off as forced and usually always plays second fiddle to blood and guts, which, let’s face it, is why most people go to these kinds of movies. The family dynamic prevails here because we genuinely care for the characters and their predicament.
The cast is outstanding, with special kudos going to Alyla Browne as Charlotte, a young girl learning to deal with father abandonment issues while trying to accommodate her stepdad, Ethan, and new baby brother. Ethan constantly tries to reach out to her but with little success. She experiences a stockpile of emotions and never comes across as “acting.” She is so good you believe every facet of her emotional familial journey, not to mention the little issue of the human-eating spider.
Near the end, after Sting has taken her entire family, she loads up her Nerf Super Soaker Blaster with mothball water (the only substance that can hurt it), cocks the gun, and does a lock-and-load scene as she prepares to go to war with Sting, taken directly from “Aliens” and executed perfectly. Director Kiah Roache-Turner also infuses the movie with elements of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise, most notably his use of off-kilter Dutch angles and camera tilts and zooms.
If you are looking for an enjoyable and entertaining movie, look no further, “Sting” is one of the best horror thrillers to come along in years, but be warned, if you have Arachnophobia, you might want to give it a miss as the special effects and CGI incorporated herein are genuinely authentic, and even when we know the creature is a model, it still looks frighteningly realistic.
In Theaters Friday, April 12th
