Coming so quickly after the release of Sting, another giant spider run-amok creature feature, you’d think that Infested might suffer the spoils of a sloppy seconds comparison.  It’s happened before, pitting two movies with similar themes against one another. What movie insider worth their salt can forget the 1997 grudge match between Dante’s Peak, released in February, being overrun in April with Volcano, and then again in 1998 when May’s Deep Impact was crushed to pumice by Michael Bay’s sonorous Armageddon in July? These aren’t the first time Hollywood studios have refused to blink when pushing their projects out to audiences. However, they are the most memorable because it’s not as if any of those four films are essential classics, as much as fans of the souped-up Bay formula might disagree.

When it comes to big bug films, the silver screen has had a good run of monstrous visitors since the 1950s atomic age gave rise to a deadly swarm of giant insect flicks. Great for drive-ins and late-night TV, the effects were cheap but endearing and, over time, evolved into CGI spectacles that continue to capture the attention of viewers who like to feel their skin get creepy crawly. I’ve already relayed my Arachnophobia memory in my review of Sting and will double down that there is something viscerally unsettling about taking one of the earth’s tiniest inhabitants and blowing it up to ginormous proportions. Where Sting had fun toying with the viewer as it treated its spider like a shadowy killer stalking its victims, director and co-writer Sébastien Vaniček’s Infested cranks the concept up to eleven, providing relentlessly ruthless thrills that will have you searching for the highest cushion of your couch to perch on.

Like Sting, Infested is set in an apartment complex that has seen better days (though the round design of the Parisian building is architecturally unique). Dirty hallways and grimy floors give it a sense of slum, but it’s where Kaleb (Théo Christine, in a riveting, star-making performance rarely seen in horror films) and his sister Manon (Lisa Nyarko) have called home for as long as they can remember. Approaching 30 and feeling estranged from his sibling after the death of their mother, Kaleb isn’t ready for the changes Manon knows are necessary for them all to move forward, and their shared inheritance of the apartment is causing a deep rift between them. 

Isolating himself from the outside world, save for neighbor Mathys (Jérôme Niel), his one comfort is a collection of exotic (and illegal) animals he keeps in his room. Originally planning on partnering with friend Jordy (Finnegan Oldfield, Final Cut) on a sort of zoo of curiosities, an incident with Jordy ended their dreams and pushed Kaleb further into a spiraling depression. When buying a going away present for a kindly neighbor (Marie-Philomène Nga), Kaleb notices his contact has procured a new insect that catches his eye. Adding it to his purchase, he brings the spider home but doesn’t notice the box isn’t secure enough to contain the spider, and it promptly escapes…and begins to multiply and multiply and multiply.

A breathless prologue has already informed us that this spider is bad news but not the extent of its danger, something we’ll find out with an excruciating amount of tension as Kaleb and his friends attempt to flee their building, which has been placed under quarantine. The suspense becomes as suffocating as the venom from the eight-legged terrors that pop out from anywhere you can imagine, and everywhere you least expect. Running 106 minutes, Vanicek and his co-screenwriter Florent Bernard come up with a marvelous amount of nail-biting scenarios to terrorize the characters and audience, including one involving a long stretch of hallway and a light on a timer that is one of the most intensely frightening I’ve sat (well, squirmed) through.  It’s a masterwork of a scene, aided by Alexandre Jamin‘s skilled cinematography and Arnaud Bouniort‘s production design that puts all the right elements into place to massively freak you out.

Watching this alone from the comfort of my own home, I was able to say out loud multiple times, “The French do not play around!” and at least when it comes to horror, it’s true. The country has a storied history marked by its willingness to push established boundaries in film and challenging principles most American filmmakers would never approach. Psychological horror films such as Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face (1960), Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Diaboloque (1955), and Alexandre Aja’s High Tension in 2003 established new limits for tolerance, whether the viewer was prepared for it or not. Like some bugs in Infested, these films burrow under your skin and linger long after the credits finish. 

Though still early in his career, I’d say Vaniček can be added to that list of directors who know the right buttons to push and how hard to press them to get the maximum pulse-pounding intensity. The way the terror and tension don’t let up with Infested’s dread-soaked shocks pays homage to the French masters while establishing a full-tilt modern mayhem style. Vaniček has been tapped to direct a new spin-off in the Evil Dead series, and based on the glorious frights he orchestrates and a meticulous attention to claustrophobic detail, it’s easy to see why he was given the keys to another genre-bending thrill ride.

You can’t review a spider movie and not talk about the stars of the show. High praise was given to Sting for its practical effects and while Infested relies more on CGI, there are enough practical elements on display to provide it with the appropriate amount of nightmarish realism. From skittering movements to gleaming fangs, these arachnid antagonists have been crafted with detail and accuracy, even if you only see them for brief bursts as they are scurrying up the limbs of a doomed victim. Believe it when I say you’ll feel phantom spiders crawling over you throughout the film.   

Making its premiere stateside on streaming service Shudder, I would have liked to see Infested in a packed theater to hear the screams of terror from the crowd. The spine-tingling scares of this creature feature are top-notch, as are the performances, direction, and chillingly realistic spiders. It spends much of its run time tunneling into your deepest phobias before releasing a finale of abject horror sure to have you finding the nearest blanket to hide under. Double-fist your cans of Raid because this is one bug attack you won’t forget any time soon.