Chad

Undeadcow

I really like the insects, they're campy and gruesome. The garden party setting is cool and there's a neat apocalyptic vibe. There were some slow spots with pacing further held back by lame 'humor' and ineffective CGI shots but the premise of being infected by bugs makes me want to more killer bug movies and the soundtrack was good. What works in Stung is despite some awkward acting/scripting.

Why would you net an actor like Lance Henrickson then place him in such a foolish role? I get he's down for b-movies and been in his share of duds; but he could have been better utilized.

TheBigDave

I really wanted to like this. I was looking forward to watching it, even before the challenge. But for some reason, it didn't click with me. I found myself looking at the clock and getting distracted by little things. I even dozed off for a few minutes and had to rewind it.

Maybe I'll watch it again next year and see if I feel differently about it.

Gobear

Same here. I was looking forward to watching this one, but it fell flat for me.

numbercrunch

stung could have used a page out of the 1950s giant insect movies by inserting some storyline and pseudo science.

Trevor

I'll be an echo. Nice premise and effects, but just fell flat for me. Not nearly as much fun as it should have been, and Lance was wasted. If I own it, I regret doing so.

Dick Laurent

I enjoyed the heck out of it. Thought it was fun and the practical effects fit good with the CGI. And I thank God that I have discovered Jessica Cook. It's disappointing this is the only movie she's done. I think she's great for the genre.

I also thought Lance was used perfectly, and played his role well. Maybe it's one of those movies where it depends on your mood or what you expect when you watch it.

ross_r

The vibe on this forum seems to be that Stung could have been better. My thought was similar. It could have been better. I kept having the thought during the movie it would be cool if........but it never happened. For example it would have been cool if the insects metamorphosed more similar to their victim For example one insect metamorphosed with traits like a cow (with cow spots). Why didn't this happen throughout the movie? It would have been cool if the insects had personality from the victims they spawned from. Overall not a bad movie. I enjoyed Stung, but it could have been more imaginative.

clckworang

There were some all right moments, but the film dragged for me. It felt very padded, even for its relative short run time. I also thought Lance Henriksen was largely wasted. Very appropriate choice for the theme. I know I had heard about this movie so happy to finally have seen it.

Shack

Agreed with many of the above - the movie started well and I had hopes, but I tempered those expectations as it went on. Certainly more Lance Henriksen is always welcome, and if it's supposed to have comic elements, I would have liked to see them done more successfully. A fun afternoon's watch, though, and it moved quickly enough.

rbrown498

I found this one to be an absolute slog. While the effects were pretty cool, everything else was awful. There wasn't a single character that I liked, and the lead guy was especially obnoxious. While I'm no prude and have been known to cuss a blue streak, this movie dropped "fuck"s into any space they'd fit, whether appropriate or not. And, killer insect rampage or not, I can't believe that his boss would decide at the end, "Yeah, what the hell, I'm in love with you--let's have sex!"

This is, so far, my least-favorite first-time-watch of this year's Challenge...and I sure hope that it stays that way.

Trevor

Hopefully you skipped Baskin then.

rbrown498

Nope--watched it last night. Still processing exactly how I feel about it.

I'll post more in the Baskin dedicated thread when I finally give up trying to figure out exactly what it was that I watched.

Spiderbite

You are nuts. Baskin was the best movie of the challenge so far.

Anyway, this movie was like several I have watched so far...not terrible but not great. I give them props on some great practical effects. The CG really sucked though. The pacing was also very poor as others have mentioned. It seemed like it took around 30 minutes or more for anything to happen and when something cool happened, there was a long spot to get to the next cool scene.

The last scene was probably the most dragged out of all. We know the chick isn't dead. Get on with it. But yet we have to sit there and wait for what seems like an eternity to get to the obvious.

And the humor fell flat throughout. This is a movie that thinks it is smarter and funnier than it actually is. Most of the humor is not even groan-worthy.

But again, great practical effects. I loved the woman splitting in two (throw-up moment) and the bug sprouting from the guy's shoulder. But those moments were too few and far between unfortunately.

ntnon

I suspect you're right - you've accurately summarised most of my thoughts.

It seemed to be an enjoyable hybrid of were-lore, 50s B-movies and Starship Troopers. And I thought all those these elements meshed well and enjoyably. Will there be a sequel?

ntnon

I tend to agree with both of those points... broadly. But, for me, the convenient-decision could easily be born out of shared adrenaline/experience and a personal realisation that a) he's better than he seemed and b) life is short(er than one might hope).

As for the swearing... if THAT happened, I suspect many people would find themselves unable to string coherent sentences together and just wind up terrified and repeating a few scant phrases...!

It is a little lazy.... but maybe oddly believable, too.

ntnon

Agreed. Presumably these were cretures that needed a(ny) host, rather than merging/incubating as you suggest.

(I remember a Batman/Aliens comic where a chestburster comes out of an aligator... that was smartly done.)