Sting

Thanks to Browne’s bold performance and an emphasis on practical creature effects, Sting works as an entertaining throwback creature feature.

The makers of “Sting,” led by writer/director Kiah Roache-Turner (“Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead”), have obviously seen a lot of genre movies, but that cinephilia doesn’t translate into good cheap thrills or crowd-pleasing adventure drama.

“Sting” is never more than a cheeseball trifle, but at least the film knows it.

All in all, “Sting” is … fine.

It’s a paint-by-numbers creature feature, but it goes over the lines in a distracting way.

There's decent fun to be had in this crafty and contained Aussie skin-crawler, but Sting is a bit too small for its massive alien spider to maneuver itself in unexpected ways.

Sting finds some minor thrills as the extraterrestrial arachnid goes about its creepy, flesh-eating business, and fans of the subgenre will enjoy those highs. The human element is nowhere near as strong, though.

Roache-Turner imbues the film with a razor-sharp wit and threatens characters we’ve been trained to assume will be safe.

Brad Shield’s prowling camerawork around the confined, one-location setting helps keep events thoughtfully focused while maintaining gripping momentum.

Even a bad spider movie has something to offer, simply because so many of us are terrified of the eight-legged nightmares, and Sting isn’t a terrible movie by any stretch.