Sting

It's been a while since spiders have scared audiences with their eight legs and vicious fangs. Famously, Arachnophobia terrorized generations about the creepy crawlies. And Eight-Legged Freaks had a ball going over the top with giant spiders attacking major cities. Except for a few cameos of spiders in horror or fantasy movies, those arachnids have laid dormant until now with the new movie Sting which mixes humor, terror, and gore into one fun-filled 90-minute movie about a girl and her pet spider.

This creature feature pays homage to a ton of horror movies that came before but lays into the tropes found inside Alien, Evil Dead, and Little Shop of Horrors but without the musical side. Director Kiah Roache-Turner knows exactly the type of movie he wants to make and leans into the absurd and comical side of the story about a spider who grows bigger by the minute and ends up eating people. Plus the film has a ton of fun with the practical effects not only of the arachnid but with the gooey blood, muscle, and bone that oozes out of the human meat bags during the film.

Shot in the style of an '80s Sam Raimi horror movie, Sting is the name given to the spider by a girl ironically named Charlotte, who navigates a web of keeping her newfound pet satisfied with food and dealing with her nice, new step-father who loves comic books. Like in Little Shop of Horrors, the spider is an actual alien from outer space who lands suddenly in Charlotte's family's apartment in New York. The similarities to Seymour and Audrey II that have Charlotte feeding her new seemingly harmless pet that grows big and wants more blood are uncanny, which is where Kiah succeeds in having a good time with his characters and spider effects. But most of the film plays out like Alien where a dark eight-legged force is killing people and pets in this apartment complex one-by-one in gruesome ways where the spider isn't fully seen until the final act, building up dread and laughs along the way.

The movie works best when it focuses on the spider terrorizing the building and the relationship Charlotte struggles with her new pet. The tone becomes uneasy when the family drama comes to a head of the young daughter finding love and respect for her new father, but leave it to an alien spider to bring everyone together in the end. Sting is a wonderfully fun, comical, horror movie that sticks the landing with its genre mashup. The performances deliver and the gory guts are on display for any gorehound. Sting could be the start of a franchise and let's all hope it hatches more films like the end suggests because we should all be so lucky.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 
Sting crawls its way to Blu-ray via Well Go USA. The sole disc is housed inside a hard blue plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. There is an insert for a month-free subscription to Hi-Yah! There is no digital code. The cover art reveals the small spider with a bigger shadow while the disc artwork features the comic book character from the movie. 

Sting comes with a 1080p HD transfer that looks excellent. This digitally shot movie is crisp, clean, and ripe with colors. The blue light that shines in from the windows looks excellent and the green goo from the Sting's web has a wonderful-looking green. The primary colors of the inside of the apartment look amazing and the red blood and marks on the spider pop nicely. Black levels are inky and rich, especially in the dark corners of the apartment and on the effects of Sting. The skin tones are also natural. The detail is sharp and vivid throughout revealing facial pores, beads of sweat and blood, individual hairs, and textures in the props, wardrobe, and the spider itself. The CGI effects allow for some up close and personal sharp fangs from the spider and gooey bits of flesh that look amazing. There are no instances of banding, aliasing, or heavy noise. This is one great-looking video presentation.

This release comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 audio track that sounds wonderful. The sound effects are robust and loud, allowing the screams, and kill sequences to breathe. The spider hisses and attacks pack a punch and the other haunting sounds of guts falling out and webs being slung are all pitch-perfect. The low end of the bass has a good rumble to it during the heavier action scenes that never cross into rocky territory. The score always adds to the comedy and suspense of the film. The dialogue is clean, clear, and easy to follow. This is a great DTS-HD track that should satisfy all genre fans. 

There are about 22 minutes of extras here, including a few EPK featurettes with cast and crew interviews about the various elements of the movie. 

• Behind the Scenes (HD, 19 Mins.) - There are three segments presented here, all around 6 minutes that focus on the cast, the director, and the visual effects of the spider. Cast and crew interviews explore the individual topics with little on-set footage and tons of movie stills from the production. This has an EPK feel to it. 
• Trailer (HD, 3 Mins.) - The trailer for the film. 

Sting is a super-fun movie about a spider and its owner who grows for the desire of more blood and humans. It can be a sibling creature feature to films like Evil Dead 2 and Little Shop of Horror that offer the perfect mix of terror and comedy and gnarly gore. The 1080p HD image looks amazing while the DTS-HD 5.1 audio track sounds wonderful. The few extras are worth watching for the sheer enthusiasm of the cast and crew. Highly Recommended!