The first horror film I ever saw was 20-Million Miles to Earth [1957] an alien creature feature, from the it was discovering this subgenre filmed with Them! [1954], Tarantula [1955], and The Spider [1958] those super large monsters were always fun to watch, however what most horror fans know is that creepy crawlies effectively work over an audience. Hence bug flicks really do bug-out lots of folks, and spiders do an effective job; everyone has encountered one at some point, to various degrees of responses. This brings us to a split in the subgenre, the gigantism, the mid-size, and finally, the many, I’ve already mentioned three very large creatures and the many which such films as Arachnophobia [1990], Kingdom of the Spiders [1977], and Eight Legged Freaks [2002] which had multiple sizes. Now Sting has one mid-size spider, which won’t generate the squirming in the car, you need a lot of spiders for that, this isn’t to say the movie is without entertainment it does check the box, and incorporates moments from other horror films, therefore, let’s investigate the webbing of this story. The film comes from director Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead [2014]) and was also the director who achieved distribution through Well Go USA Entertainment and its theatrical release.
Penelope Mitchell
The opening foreshadows four days in advance, provides the audience with a shocking scene occurred, mixed with horror and comedic elements, I personally dislike this style of starting a film, unless you make it impactful like Evil Dead Rises [2023]; otherwise, it squanders the suspenseful build-up in the story narrative. We see how the spider finds itself in a rundown apartment building in New York City, with some very good opening credits set inside a doll house; a snowstorm has many housebound, including the few sparce tenants. The cramped quarters of one apartment have a four-member family consisting of stepfather Ethan (Ryan Corr (6 Plots [2012])), mother Heather (Penelope Mitchell (The Curse of Downers Grove [2015])), six-month son (Jett Berry and Kade Berry) and daughter Charlotte (Alyla Browne (Children of the Corn [2020])), yes, I know it’s a dead-giveaway i.e. Charolette’s web, she’ll be our focus thanks to her name and the all too revealing trailer, meanwhile Heather’s mother Helga (Noni Hazlehurst) lives in the one apartment above them with her strict sister Gunter (Robyn Nevin (Relic [2020])). Charolette uses the filthy air-vent shafts to get into her grandma’s apartment and there discovers a new pet which she names Sting, she’s a smart but reserved girl, who has created a popular comic book, which her stepfather is doing the drawings and with some struggling family drama. That is the first part of the film established some of the characters and allowed drama to build as start learning about Sting, her mimic skills, growth spurts, and the foreshadowing moment.
Alyla Browne and Ryan Corr
It is clear, the storyline wants to suggest a strained daughter and stepfather relationship where strangely the mother plays a secondary role to her child but is more focused on her mother’s increase level dementia, and movie spends quality time on their conflicted points of view than what everyone wants to see THE SPIDER. This doesn’t ruin the movie but delays the flick’s action, as it works to incorporate personality depths and failure of characteristic traits to elicit our sympathies. In addition, Frank (Jermaine Fowler (The Blackening [2022])) is the primary individual used for the break in tension his interactions allow for minor comedic interjections, which works very well for a brief sequence between him and Helga. The spider’s origin is never explored, unlike many other spider horror films, it just sets up a simple intro, but again the trailer informs us of what is going to happen when the feeding starts. The director knows that by the second act, killing must commence, dangling webs, silently descending onto its prey, with a few fake-outs, some are reminiscent of Arachnophobia [1990]. Sting begins to exhibit qualities of problem solving just like an octopus when faced with an issue hence thinking through a situation. Some critics point to this as silly, however in reality arachnids can adapt to complex issues, the foresight to build a web that is architectural strong to the natural elements. There’s an attempt to convey a social message of how teens are wrapped into their own worlds of escapism as they put on headphones, watching their phones, Charolette is oblivious to the chaos which reigns down around her as she walks about doing a mundane task this hints at in a scene from Warm Bodies [2013]. Of course, customary with the creature feature subgenre, there’s the ‘knowledgeable one’ sometimes a doctor or scholar person for this film that’s Erik (Danny Kim), the odd biology student, studying pancreatic cancer in fish, who makes things increasingly worse; by becoming a mad scientist. It doesn’t take much to realize, the few occupants of the building and how the final act is going to play out, it’s fine, acceptable and enjoyable, just that we the audience unfortunately don’t witness the transformational growth of the spider (think of a person becoming a werewolf that special scene is missing) most kills occur off-screen or we see quick aftermath scenes.
Danny Kim and Ryan Corr
The movie also gives homage to a few films first involving Gunter, who we all hope gets hers in the end, is like Dallas in Alien [1979] in the air vent shafts; then Alien³ [1992] in the style of webbing used to bond its victims. There’s a slight reference to Resident Evil: Apocalypse [2004]. One good aspect involving The Spider is that once in the latter half of the second act of the film, it never retreats from the intensity, as Charlette becomes our new young version of Ripley; her entire preparedness sequence gives instant parallels to Aliens [1986] major fight in the third act same here. A wide-ranging series of techniques were used to assist with the creature’s prowess of the movements and attack scenarios such as animatronics, visual effects, special effects, makeup, and an extended assistance from Weta Workshop, Danielle Prestidge known for her work in Dracula Untold [2014] and Krampus [2015]. While there’s not a lot of characters most don’t allow their Australian accents to slip through, Hazlehurst as Helga is comedic subtle point, especially a scene during the credits.
Greetings
When I first heard of this spider movie coming from Australia I thought it was going to include the cross breeding of the Fringed Jumping Spider, the most intelligent hunter of the species and most poisonous Sydney funnel-web spider using the ‘ballooning’ effect, a sea of interconnected webbing that really occurred in Traralgon (Australia) all as a rebooted version Kingdom of Spiders, but sadly no. I know sounds make a great creepy movie. Therefore, this creature feature has some positive marks, but it lacks the creepy crawlies to make the audience wiggle and squirm, overall, there isn’t many major scares, rather suggesting the frights, a few thrills layered throughout the production strive to make for positive viewing entertainment. Face its spiders they always going to be those stealthy silent hunters with scary looks, and we love watching them… well some do…
TAGLINE: Your biggest fear just got bigger.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20112746/
IMDb Rating: 6.0/10
Baron’s Rating: 5.0/10