Blu-Ray Review: Well Go USA’s Sting 

The tale of a lonely girl and her killer alien spider, Sting is new to Blu-ray from Well Go USA. 

The Film 

Writer/Director Kiah Roache-Turner creates a clever horror film in Sting.  Melding a family drama and creepy crawling horror to success. 

12-year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) lives a pretty lonely life with her step-father (Ryan Corr) and mother (Penelope Mitchell) in their Brooklyn apartment.  It is the perfect timing when she finds a baby spider.  Though the baby spider is anything but.  In fact, that baby spider is an alien that has just landed on Earth with one purpose.  The residents of their Apartments are about to find out that the spider is anything but your typical friendly neighborhood spider.  

Sting isn’t anything we haven’t seen before but it’s done in such a professional and smart way that it elevates it beyond its origins.  Roache-Turner focuses as much on the family drama and Charlotte’s pre-teen angst and loneliness as they do on the horror aspects of a killer alien spider.  The two meld together pretty efficiently allowing for drama to unfold as it’s revealed that the spider is in fact dangerous and should not be a pet for Charlotte.  The stakes are set and the characters are drawn effectively so that everything matters and isn’t just fodder for the spider to cause havoc. 

The FX design and work done by WETA Workshop, no less, are great but coupled with the adroit visual style that Roache-Turner and cinematographer Brad Shield use only helps the work.  In fact, their style and approach to everything elevate this Australian shot production to look much more refined than most of its contemporaries.  The fact that they managed to make Australia double for Brooklyn in the dead of winter should be reason enough alone to watch the film!  

Though thankfully Sting manages to be a fairly effected horror film with some genuine scares and moments of terror.  One that fans of the genre will enjoy as much as younger fledging filmmakers will want to study.  

The Transfer

I never tire of singing the praises of Well Go USA’s transfers.  This one is no different.  The film makes the transition to Blu-ray beautifully.  The digitally shot film looks crisp and sharp on Blu-Ray.  The image shows no signs of defects or any of the issues that come up with digitally shot films.  The only way this one could look any better is if Well Go USA released a 4K UHD version of the film.   

The Extras

They include the following;

• Behind the scenes
• Trailer

Behind the scenes (19:22) – broken down into three sections; Creating the Monster, The Director, The Cast.  These behind-the-scenes featurettes do a fairly great job of going in-depth into the making of the film.  From the design work, to the director’s take, and the cast’s approach to the material this is a solid well-made making of. 

Trailer (2:20)  

The Final Thought 

Sting is an entertaining effective horror film.  Recommended.  

Well Go USA’s Blu-Ray edition of Sting is out July 30^th