Stung is a horror movie mixed with a bit of romance revolving around a couple of caterers who find themselves fighting for survival when they encounter giant wasps at a garden party. It stars Matt O’Leary, Jessica Cook, Lance Henriksen, Clifton Collins Jr., Cecilia Pillado and Eve Slatner and is directed by Benni Diez. Stung (2015) movie review
From the get go, Paul (played by O’Leary) is shown as a man-child who is hopelessly in love with his coworker, a very shagadelic Julia (played by Cook). She of course would rather jump off a bridge than be with him. Once they encounter the giant wasps, Paul mans up and becomes a hero Julia always wanted. Throughout the movie he acts all goofy but likable.
She is also nice but their romance was a bit forced and not necessary. The focus should be on the giant insects that are picking off the guests one by one in various ways. Basically, it plays it safe because that is what most people watching it will expect.
Speaking of the creatures, they are done well especially considering this is a B movie. While the movie was direct to DVD, the effects were mostly practical. It looked far better than your average straight to DVD monster flicks. The director switches back and forth between practical and CGI bugs. It is all based on how complicated the shot was and the budget restrictions. Many shots are done well with fluid movements and good action scenes while some are pretty poorly done, which might ruin your experience based on what you expect from such movies. Also, the rules of these insects are not established well. Some stings mutate really fast while others take their sweet time or don’t do it at all, all based on which characters get stung.
The humor in the movie might not work well for everybody. It can be forced, dumb, and overall not very funny. However, it is meant to break up this tension and bring some sort of joy among all the bloody carnage.
Problem is that you shouldn’t mix comedy, romance, and horror, all in one. It makes the movie appear like it lacks direction and it is trying to accomplish something that is beyond its scope.
With that being said, the movie is still fun to watch. For the most part the acting is bearable and not too hammy. The direction is solid but fails to establish some key ground rules on the insects, and the dialogue is OK but can be overly cheesy at times. This all points toward a movie that is fun to watch if you don’t think about it too much. It is not smart or groundbreaking but it shows a huge effort that is put in by the director. The special effect were done to make the giant creatures appear like they have realistic appearance and movements.
About the ending….it ends just like a typical monster movie with a set up for a sequel that probably will never happen.
Thanks for reading my Stung (2015) movie review
