woensdag 5 augustus 2015

Stung (2015)

Summary
Mrs. Perch, an elderly, wealthy lady from rural America, is throwing a fancy garden party at her remote country villa. Same procedure as every year - except this time her illegally imported plant fertilizer seeps into the ground. Subsequently, a local species of killer wasps that usually lay their eggs into other insects mutates into 7 ft tall predators. And the celebrating upper class company provides just the right kind of prey. It's up to Paul and Julia, the two catering staffers, to stop the creatures, fight for their lives, and incidentally getting their stumbling romance in order.

Genre : Horror/Comedy/Romance
Country : USA/Germany

Cast :
Matt O'Leary : Paul
Jessica Cook : Julia
Lance Henriksen : Caruthers

Director : Benni Diez

My opinion

Oh, God, help him! I think something bit him!
You're a doctor! Help him!
I'm a gynecologist for Christ's sake!

I had a good feeling about this movie and the last old-fashioned giant insects film I'd seen was "Big Ass Spider". A movie with considerably oversized vermin who marched along and wreak havoc among the present crowd . The combination of horror, comedy and romance caused already a bit of distrust. Ultimately, this film hit the ball wrong when it comes to the first two genres. And the last genre felt a little forced. It wasn't really comical at all. And scary or exciting it was nowhere so to speak. I was expecting a sort of B-movie with no impressive CGI, but it was in fact actually pretty disappointing.

We meet Paul (Matt O'Leary) and Julia (Jessica Cook), a bunch of friends / colleagues (not really clear) on their way to a garden party organized by a certain Mrs. Perch for her deceased husband. The two take care of the catering. Soon this pleasant party is thoroughly disturbed by giant wasps / hornets / bees (I have no idea what kind it was, but they all sting I guess) that obtained their proportions because a mixture of growth hormones and fertilizer ended up in the ground, right into a wasp / hornet / bees nest.

Firstly I must admit that you don't need to wait that long before the shit hits the fan. Before you know it, it's all slime and blood that splashes around. Guests struggling on the ground with foam on their lips after which giant insect start to burst out of them. Just as in "Big Ass Spider" the insects look realistic when they're still of a normal size. But the moment they get those unreal proportions, it looks as if they came straight out of a "Dr. Who" episode from the 70's. Especially the scene at the end looks extremely awful. Even the phenomenon that appeared at one time on the sons shoulder, and reminded me of "Total Recall" from 1990 where someone had an ugly little man growing on his belly, looked really outdated. But admittedly, the amount of gore was huge and at times highly entertaining.

Yet there was much that bothered me. The transformations that occurred after someone was stabbed, was startling fast (but this guaranteed the fast pace in this movie). The romantic part felt really out of place. If I was in this situation, then this was really the last thing I'd be worried about. The way Paul developed from an unreliable catering assistant into an outright hero, isn't that original either. And the way it ends up in the ambulance was probably a metaphorical reference to the movie title. I just didn't know why that would be humorous (just like I didn't get the joke about the bees), but maybe I have a wrong sense of humor.

All in all a simple, short story with some flaws, with especially a failed presentation of the annoying insects and a lack of humor and tension. I will still consume a sugary drink on a terrace without running away in panic at the sight of some curious wasps.