Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Sting Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 24, 2024

It's maybe just a little funny that this film about a certain species of a (to link to a title of another release on Blu-ray by Well Go USA) Creepy Crawly creature that regularly sends all sorts of otherwise stolid people into shrieks of panic was written and directed by a guy with a hyphenated last name whose first "element" is a homophone for another species of insect that also tends to send people into the throes of nervous breakdowns. Kiah Roache-Turner, that aforementioned creator, overtly mentions that he is an avowed arachnophobe, which probably gives some of the startle scares running (scampering?) through this film some added energy. There are some rather impressive practical effects (by the wizards at Wētā) that also up the angst ante considerably in this effort, but some of the soap operatic subtext, which involves a little girl trying to meld with a newly "blended" family, while actually giving some emotional resonance to the tale, may actually end up distracting from the main "monster movie" allure.

In a sort of riff on Night of the Comet, after an opening vignette documenting some kind of terror living in the ducts of an ancient domicile, the film segues back "four days" to reveal an asteroid or some such outer space "visitor" depositing an egg in a dollhouse in a Brooklyn apartment. That turns out to belong to Charlotte (Alyla Brown), who is perhaps a bit past "traditional" dollhouse age, but who delights in the spider who hatches from the egg and becomes her "pet", whom she names Sting. Unbeknownst to Charlotte, Sting is no "ordinary" spider, and the jar that Charlotte keeps it in is no match for this creature's evidently advanced intelligence (and ability to unscrew lids). Suffice it to say Sting likes to eat, and like any child, begins to grow exponentially as it regularly feasts on various inhabitants of the place (including a hapless exterminator).

That aspect of Sting is certainly anxiety inducing, and will no doubt engender chills particularly in those seriously afraid of spiders. Sting also wants to deal with the inner emotional life of a troubled little girl on the cusp of adolescence trying to come to terms with the fact that her biological father has deserted the family, and her mother has remarried and has a new baby with husband number two. There's some decent material here, to be sure, it just tends to weigh down a film that is otherwise kind of almost giddy with monster movie jump scares.

Sting Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sting is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As of the writing of this review, the IMDb doesn't list much technical information and a cursory online search didn't really provide me with any substantial further data, but this is an appealingly sharp and decently detailed digital capture that I'm assuming had a 2K DI. As can be gleaned from several of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, a lot of this film takes place in dimly lit, shadowy environments, something no doubt done intentionally to up the "fear factor". Large swaths of the film take place in shrouded ducts where Sting drags his victims and encases them in slimy webs. All of this means that shadow detail can be somewhat variable, and there are some moments, especially in the last third or so of the film, where rather large sections of the frame can be subsumed in darkness. Otherwise, though, detail levels are commendable, and the palette, while subtly graded toward both yellows and blues at times, is nicely suffused. There are some very minor flirtations with banding (a recurrent issue with a lot of Well Go USA releases) in the very darkest scenes where light can suddenly intrude. My score is 4.25.

Sting Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sting features an impressively immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, one that clearly engages the side and rear channels throughout for a variety of ambient environmental effects, not the least of which is the sound of little (?) scampering feet trotting to and fro behind apartment house walls. There are also thumps and other things that go bump in the night that can deliver some fun startle effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and French subtitles are available.

Sting Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes is kind of arbitrarily split into the following three subsections:

  Creating the Monster (HD; 6:03)

  
  

  The Director (HD; 6:17)

  
  

  The Cast (HD; 7:02)

• Trailer (HD; 2:20)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that supplements follow one another automatically (so that clicking on Creating the Monster is essentially a Play All button. The disc is also authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the Trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Sting Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The practical effects in Sting are undeniably impressive (the creature is not the result of CGI, and is instead a puppet controlled by several artisans), and there are moments where the monster movie elements are rather nicely woven (no spiderweb pun intended) into the underlying emotional unease already being experienced by Charlotte. This might make for an appealing (and/or frightening) double feature with other creepy crawly themed films like The Spider Labyrinth or Arachnophobia, and this release offers generally secure technical merits and some appealing supplements (not always a given with Well Go USA releases), for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.