‘Infested’ Review #2 (Shudder)
Stars: Theo Christine, Sofia Lesaffre, Jerome Niel, Lisa Nyarko, Finnegan Oldfield, Marie-Philomene Nga, Mahamadou Sangare, Abdallah Moundy, Ike Zacsongo-Joseph, Emmanuel Bonami, Xing Xing Cheng, Samir Nait, Malik Amraoui | Written by Sébastien Vanicek, Florent Bernard | Directed by Sébastien Vanicek
Arachnophobes are in for a bit of a rough time, because streaming platforms and cinemas will be positively crawling with spider-based monster movies before you know it. Well, two, anyway. First up is French spider-thriller Infested (out now on Shudder), with Australian creature feature Sting creeping into cinemas on May 31st.
Also known as Vermines, Infested is the feature debut of French director Sebastien Vanicek. Set in present-day Paris, the film centres on hustler Kaleb (Theo Christine), who shares a flat with his sister Manon (Lisa Nyarko) in a run-down apartment building that’s home to several other multicultural tenants.
When exotic animal enthusiast Kaleb brings home an illegal spider, he names it “Rihanna” and shows it off to his best buddy, fellow hustler Mathys (Jerome Neil). However, the spider is actually a deadly predator and soon it gets loose in the building, where it rapidly spawns hundreds of scary creepy-crawlies, all hungry for human flesh. With the police quarantining the building, escape becomes impossible, so Kaleb, Manon, Mathys and a handful of other residents are forced to fend for themselves. Will they make it out alive? Or will the spiders turn them all into tasty human snacks?
Vanicek’s direction is extremely impressive throughout, from orchestrating highly effective jump scares and arachnophobic suspense sequences to maintaining a believable rapport between the actors and creating a strong sense of atmosphere and place. He’s aided by some excellent production design work and a nerve-jangling score by Douglas Cavanna and Xavier Caux.
The performances are excellent across the board, with the ensemble cast creating a strong rapport. The result is that the movie pulls off some surprisingly emotional scenes, in amongst all the spider-based chaos, and the various relationships are nicely handled. On a related note, the script does a good job of presenting the residents as a microcosm of multi-cultural Paris, and there’s a darkly political note towards the end that gives the film an extra edge.
Creature features can stand or fall on their special effects, and Infested does an excellent job with its cast of creepy-crawlies, using real spiders (and a team of spider wranglers) as much as humanly possible. In addition, Vanicek knows exactly when to deploy his gore effects for maximum impact, resisting the urge to overload the film with bug-based splatter, but still pulling off several memorably icky moments.
Other highlights include an outrageously tense sequence where the group have to make their way through a cramped, spider-infested corridor just as the lights go out, and a brilliantly executed scene where one of the characters (Lila, played by Sofia Lesaffre) is trapped in a shower stall with an eight-legged beastie.
In short, Infested is a thoroughly enjoyable creature feature that will have you carefully checking the ceilings and corners for weeks afterwards. It’s also an impressive calling card for Vanicek – indeed, the film so impressed producer Sam Raimi that he hand-picked the debut director to helm the new Evil Dead movie, so it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing him again.
**** 4/5
Infested is available to stream on Shudder now.
