A small Brooklyn apartment building is threatened by a giant venomous spider in Kiah Roache-Turner’s Sting, the latest in a long line of similar monster movies and released to Australian DVD this week. Like most films in this genre, what the viewer gets out of Sting will depend on what they put into it. Personally I think this is ‘one of the good ones’.

12-year-old Charlotte (Alyla Brown) discovers a small, odd-looking spider and keeps it in a jar. It does not take long for her to realise it is an unusual specimen: it is smarter and faster than an average arachnid, possesses the ability to mimic the sounds and calls of other animals, and – most worryingly of all – appears to be growing at an alarming rate. Soon the creature, which she has named Sting, is on the loose through the building’s air duct, and no resident is safe.

Produced in Australia with a clear eye for the American market, Sting is a particularly straightforward example of its form. That is okay, since the market for which it is intended will likely be happier with its by-the-numbers set-up than any significant variations or surprises. I deny any viewer to avoid guessing how the film will end within 15 minutes of it starting, or to pick which of the apartment building’s residents – and which of their pets – will live and die. In this case, several decent performances and some distinctive characterisation ensures this is more of a feature than a bug: this is populist horror cinema shaped like a warm blanket.

The film’s creative inspirations appear to lie largely in Frank Marshall’s Arachnophobia (1990) and Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), and the film’s makers are clearly aware of the debt. One odd element to the film is its tone. By basing the story around a 12-year-old girl and her family life, and adopting a rather E.T. inspired sense of keeping a secret friend hidden from one’s parents, much of Sting feels like a horror film for all ages. At the same time Roache-Turner indulges in plenty of graphic body horror that renders the film unsuitable for younger viewers. The mixture works for the film in isolation, but it does seem a shame and a missed opportunity; high quality screen horror for kids is perennially difficult to find.

A largely Australian cast includes some unexpected highlights, not the least of which is national treasure Noni Hazlehurst as Charlotte’s dementia-affected grandmother Helga. It is also a pleasure to see noted theatrical actor Robyn Nevin as the despicable Aunt Gunter – the effective human villain of the piece. Ryan Corr and Penelope Mitchell play Charlotte’s stepfather and mother respectively. They are gifted an unusual amount of family drama for this sort of genre piece. It is not necessarily packed with depth, but represents a much better level of complexity than monster movies typically allow. Danny Kim is an unexpected highlight as the improbably local biologist Erik.

Sting itself looks great, thanks to a combination of effects techniques, excellent sound design, and well-staged photography and lighting. A monster movie inevitably – and ultimately – rises or falls on the back of its monster, and in this regard it’s an absolute winner.

Arachnophobes may wish to give this film a wide berth. Fans seeking an easy-to-digest, warmly familiar, B-movie should check it out.