Sting director says he's "kind of remaking Alien" with the giant spider horror movie

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Exclusive: Kiah Roache-Turner also tells SFX magazine about his Steven Spielberg inspirations, from Duel to Jurassic Park

Alyla Browne as Charlotte in Sting
(Image credit: Studiocanal)

Given that it's about a giant murderous spider, new horror movie Sting has been understandably compared to the likes of Eight Legged Freaks and Arachnophobia. For writer-director Kiah Roache-Turner, though, it's more like one of the most iconic sci-fi movies of all time: Alien.

"I'm kind of remaking [it]," he says of Ridley Scott's acclaimed film in the new issue of SFX magazine, which features Doctor Who on the cover. "[Sting is] effectively a haunted house movie with a giant killer alien. There was always something spider-like about that Giger creation in Alien, it felt insectoid, and I wanted to make something that was a scary single-location horror, with one family."

Alien wasn't Roache-Turner's only influence, either. In the interview, the Australian filmmaker – who has some strong opinions on PG-13 genre flicks – says he took inspiration from the likes of Jurassic Park, Duel, and Jaws as well. In short, he was a big fan of Steven Spielberg's horror era... 

"He creates such accessible central characters, that way he creates a family unit that you love," he explains, mentioning Poltergeist, which Spielberg wrote, too. "You care about his characters, and I wanted to try something like that in a classic style."

Ryan Corr as Ethan in Sting

(Image credit: Studiocanal)

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Starring The Blackening's Jermaine Fowler, Wolf Creek 2's Ryan Corr, and Alyla Browne, Sting sees rebellious 12 year old Charlotte (Browne) unknowingly bring a deadly, spider-resembling alien into her family's small Brooklyn apartment. Over the course of a few days, the comic book-obsessed youngster, who's having a hard time bonding with her illustrator stepfather Ethan (Corr), keeps her new pet plied with all the cockroaches she can find, which leads to its inexplicably fast growth. 

Before long, though, the whole block starts being terrorized by the rapidly evolving beastie, as it goes hunting for much bigger snacks...

Despite his ongoing fear of spiders, Roache-Turner's ready for round two if the film proves to be a success. "It will probably be called Children of Sting, which immediately tells you what the plot is," he says. "It's like The Raid with giant spiders. If Sting is Alien, then this would be like Aliens. There's probably heavy weaponry involved."

Sting releases in UK cinemas on May 31. The above is just a snippet from our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Doctor Who on the cover and is available from Wednesday, May 15. Check out what you should be looking out for on newsstands below...

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Amy West
Amy West
Entertainment Writer

I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.