KSL Movie Show review: ‘Sting’ is the right blend of camp, terror

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SALT LAKE CITY — Either I’m getting soft on horror, or “Sting” was just the right blend of camp, terror and disgust to make it fairly entertaining.

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Simple story. A meteor shower descends on Brooklyn. An aging, rickety old apartment building filled with an assortment of wacky characters is struck by a high-speed projectile. The projectile is a small pod that contains a lowly spider, which is immediately caught by a young girl, Charlotte, who is fascinated by all things macabre.

Only this spider is super intelligent. It’s caught in a glass jar, but manages to communicate with Charlotte through a series of sounds. She says, ‘when you’re hungry sing these three notes.’ The spider obliges and gets a cockroach for its efforts.

Just know that with each feeding, the space spider grows in size. It won’t be long before “she’ll” be terrorizing the neighbors through the building’s duct work. Still, Charlotte is intrigued and names the spider “Sting.”

So who exactly is on the menu for this earthly buffet?

Charlotte lives with her mom, little brother Liam and cartoon artist/cool stepdad Ethan. Ethan also works as the building supervisor, since his latest graphic work is far from being completed and they need the money. Turns out, Charlotte is quite the little artist herself and comes up with a character of a teenage girl riding a giant spider to fight crime or whatever.

Downstairs lives forgetful grandma Helga, her chihuahua Bonnie and a mean old aunt who owns the rundown building. She’s too cheap to spend any money fixing it up.

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There’s also a loner science guy Erik, who studies bugs all day. He’ll try to help figure out what the deal is with this super spider. But by then it might be too late as the outer space arachnid has grown large enough to paralyze people, animals, whatever and drag them to a newly-created lair where it can feast at its leisure.

Gross, but dark comedy gross

Yes, it does get pretty gross in parts, but it’s more like “dark comedy” gross, as the spider turns on Charlotte’s family and eventually Charlotte herself. This changes their dynamic from friendship to combatants.

Now if the survivors can only figure out if it has a weakness. Fortunately, Charlotte has turned into a young Ripley (“Aliens”) and she gets an idea after she learns that Sting turned down a chance to eat granny. It’s unique and clever, adding to the gleefulness of this nutty little horror film.

That’s just a handful of the characters drifting through this nightmare. My favorite is Frank the exterminator (Jermaine Fowler) who bristles at the notion that forgetful granny Helga has already called his closest competitors, the Bug Boys, to deal with all the noises coming out of the heating vents. He’s perturbed until he realizes the Bug Boys have become tender nuggets for the Miss Sting thing.

No, I’m not a huge fan of horror films, but I do appreciate it when filmmakers take the time to give me something new and unusual, which “Sting” definitely brings.

“STING” (B-) Rated R for violent content, bloody images and language. Starring Alyla Browne, Ryan Corr, Penelope Mitchell, Danny Kim and Noni Hazlehurst. Written and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner (“Nekrotronic” “Wyrmwood: Apocalypse”) – filmed in Australia. Running time: 91 minutes.

The KSL Movie Show with Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles airs Fridays on KSL NewsRadio from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow the show on Facebook, and join The KSL Movie Show Club for exclusive perks by texting MOVIE to 57500. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Message frequency varies.