The Hornet's Sting and the Hell It's Caused (2014 Video) User Reviews

Exploitation, or just exploitive?

[jmerlino · 5/10 · 3 November 2020]

Text: I'm a little torn on this movie. On the one hand, it very definitely glamorizes the killer and the violence done. On the other hand, it's not really believable enough to feel too close to home.

I will say that for a film with an estimated budget of $1,000, it's VERY well done. I figured it was low budget, but I would never have guessed it was THAT low.

This film dances very close to the line of being truly exploitive. The killer is sexy. The victim is sexy. The dead bodies are sexy.

There's an LSD trip sequence that I didn't think was really necessary. I didn't think it added much to the film. If the wanted to show the villain doing drugs, or forcing the victim to do drugs, they should have showed that at it might have been equally or more effective. At the very least it could have provided some character insight.

So, I'm gonna say... 5? It's an impressive effort for such a low budget flick. The acting is... not terrible. My conundrum is really... Is this "exploitation" or just exploitive?

Serial killer procedural-esque

[selfdestructo · 5/10 · 14 November 2022]

I must say, for a no budget exploitation picture, this film is well-made, edited, displays flourishes of style, and has a neat animated sequence. It's also not the easiest picture to sit through. I suppose if you like being inside the head of a psychotic (though she claims it's strictly for the money), you might enjoy this. The Hornet's Sting is a slightly twisted view of a killer's perspective movie, falling somewhere between a movie like Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer, and, say, Hostel. Not just the torture angle, but the paying customers for the sport of torture angle. That's an interesting plot element, but with a running time of 59 minutes (the first 14 of which are wasted), it's left relatively unexplored. Like, let's meet some clients. Or, a little more character development. Overall, this is OK for what it is, if you're into this kind of thing. It's certainly an accomplishment on a $1000 budget.

I went into this blind, then watched the trailer. Don't watch the trailer beforehand, it gives away a plot twist, and spells out the story. Which I may have just done above, but in my defense, there ain't much story.

Another low budget and unique slice of genius from the new Master of Horror

[DVD_Connoisseur · 9/10 · 27 September 2014]

It's a little known fact that Dustin Mills, the director of The Hornet's Sting, doesn't sleep. In fact, I'm guessing he doesn't eat or have comfort breaks, either. In the space of less than a year, Mills has released four low budget genre movies. I've yet to see the third movie, Snuffet, but this latest offering is another incredibly accomplished piece of guerrilla filmmaking.

Actually, the term "guerrilla filmmaking" is a disservice to Mr. Mills. Time and time again, he somehow, almost impossibly, rises above the expectations the viewer has for a zero budget film and delivers a powerhouse of a chiller that blows away 95% or more of fare from his peers.

Mills has an eye for talent, his ever moving camera capturing great performances from the small cast. There's no doubt that Mills creates fantastic roles for the female actor. Like in the earlier horror tale, Her Name Was Torment, the main protagonist is a woman. Here, Minnie Grey (who played a nun in Easter Casket) delivers an unnerving performance as the psychopathic photographer, Rose. Horror regular Joni Durian plays Rose's latest victim, Freya.

I've seen so many blink-and-it's-over productions that when the titles for The Hornet's Sting appeared on the screen, I actually thought (for a moment) that the film had ended. I'd gone into this film completely cold and didn't know if it was an experimental short or a full movie. The pre-title sequence is incredibly professional, managing to evoke a jump from me by its use of sound alone.

There are a few similarities with Her Name Was Torment but The Hornet's Sting is a very different movie. This is largely devoid of Mills' trademark puppetry although he does manage to squeeze in a very effective animated sequence around half way through the proceedings.

With a soundtrack that juxtaposes happy, clappy songs with the most atrocious on-screen violence, this is not for the squeamish. The movie's wall-of-sound music is hallucinatory at times, placing the viewer in the centre of the action and creating a sense of discord.

There's nudity aplenty in Hornet but this isn't cheap titillation. Rather than being an erotic or sleazy experience, this is genuine horror. About thirty minutes into the movie, I realised I'd not been this excited about a young filmmaker since the original releases of Jörg Buttgereit. What's more, Mills is the more accomplished director, and the more prolific. He's like a Cronenberg for the next generation.

9 out of 10.