MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM: STING (2024) (Well Go USA Blu-ray Review)

STING (2024)

Label: Well Go USA

Region Code:

Rating: R

Duration: 91 Minutes 34 Seconds

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Kiah Roache-Turner

Cast: Alyla Browne, Penelope Mitchell, Ryan Corr, Jermaine Fowler

Sting (2023) is a new creature-feature from Kiah Roache-Turner, the Australian director behind the high-octane zombie-apocalypse flick Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead. In it an alien-arachnid from outer space hitches a ride to planet Earth on a mini-meteorite which crash lands into a dilapidated apartment complex in the dead of winter, smashing through a window and landing inside an antique dollhouse, where the newly hatched spider is found by rebellious teen girl Charlotte (Alyla Browne, Furiosa) - see what they did there, Charlotte, Charlotte's Web? Anyway, she scoops it up assuming it to be a harmless eight-legged pet, and tales it back to her apartment bedroom and puts it in a glass jar with a lid with holes punched in it. Soon after she discovers it has an uncanny ability to mimic her feeding-time whistle, oh, and it also seems to double in size whenever she feeds it!

Charlotte lives with her mother Heather (Penelope Mitchell, Hellboy) and step-dad Ethan (Ryan Corr, HBO's House of the Dragon), as well as her infant half-brother Liam. Ethan is employed by his wife's Aunt Helga (Noni Hazelhurst, The Mule), the building owner, as the apartments' maintenance guy, but moonlights as a struggling comic artist. There's some family drama, money is tight for the young couple, Helga's a right bitch, and Heather's mom Gunter (Robyn Nevin, Goodbye Paradise) is in the late stages of dementia.

Unbeknownst to Charlotte her pet creeper which she has named Sting is actually quite a bit smarter than even she realizes, sneaking out it's glass jar at night and hunting the building pets, before taking it's first human victim by way of lonely widow Maria (Silvia Colloca), at which time we see just how horrific this alien-arachnid actually is, paralyzing it's victim with it;s venom, crawling inside her mouth (ewww) and slicing it's way out of her belly. Eventually Charlotte brings the spider to her neighbor, a creepy at-home biologist looking identify the species, realizing that this arachnid is like no other he tries to take it away from her, but it's too-late, the spider is feeding and growing to the size of a large dog, and then the real carnage begins.

I thought Sting was quite a bit of creature-feature fun, the story is not all that original, I see elements of Night of the Creeps, Gremlins and Aliens here, especially the latter in the final stretch of the film, it's nearly a straight-up homage. The characters are just interesting enough, and we get some grade-a comedy relief by way of Frank (Jermaine Fowler, Judas and the Black Messiah), who I would have loved a bit more of actually, but what we do get pretty dang awesome.

The real MVP here are the practical special effects by the Academy Award-winning Weta Workshop (King Kong, Lord of the Rings) who really bring the alien-arachnid to life, you can tell it's right there in front of the actors and that they are reacting to it, it makes a big difference in the performances. I also dig the gooey webs it cocoons it's victims in, taking them into the building, and how Charlotte realizes what the alien-arachnid's weakness is, mothballs, which she cleverly turns into a liquid, arming herself with a super-soaker water gun filled with the stuff as she embarks on a recue mission in the apartment ventilation shafts.

Tightly woven and packed with terrific creature effects I loved this one from start to finish, it doesn't re-write the book on giant-spider flicks and it doesn't need to, it's just executed very well, is brisk, and delivers the creature-feature thrills. It helps that I watched it with my extremely arachnophobia son, I kept telling him, "it's not a spider, it's an alien", haha, he was squirming and muttering "No!No!No!" the whole time. If you're a creature feature fan I say this is an easy recommend, and it might make for a fun double-feature with the killer-bee flick Stung (2015), get a little Sting/Stung action going there!

Audio/Video: Sting (2023) arrives on Blu-ray from Well Go USA in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. The digital shot film looks quite nice with good depth and clarity. The film has a slightly muted color scheme to it, but when color is introduced they rise to the occasion, and black levels are good with some decent detail and nuance in the shadows. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround, for my viewing I went witht he surround and found it pleasantly immersive. Set during winter the sound of gusts of wind make their way into the surrounds, the creepy chirping of the alien-arachnid, it all sounds great.

Extras include Three Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes; a 2-min Trailer, and a trio of Well Go USA Previews Trailers. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, plus a slipcover with the same artwork and embossed logos on the front cover and both spines.