The submarine, USS Newark, sinks somewhere off the coast of California. On board is a top-secret cargo. Months later the whereabouts of the sub is located. A specialized team, consisting of a select group of Marines and scientists are sent to retrieve the cargo. The Marines are not told what the cargo is. It is, “need to know”. The head scientist is Dr. Carly Ryan (Michelle Meadows). Her fellow scientists are Tom Volante (Tom Huntington), Ellie Winters (Daniella Kimber), and autistic Lazlo Hollyfield (Jordi Almeida). The leader of the Marines is Lieutenant Williams (John Miranda). The teams take the Deep-submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV), the Palamino down to the sub.
When they reach the Newark, they find that the sub reeks of decomp and the lights are out. It appears that everyone is dead. Then Lieutenant Williams disappears. Sergeant Sam Harmon (Christopher Persson) is next in charge. During a search of the ship, they find that the only survivor is a scientist named Mike Thompson (Casey Clark).
Eventually the Marines find out that the secret cargo is a genetically engineered scorpion that the military is developing as a weapon. 24 scorpions were created. The scorpions have a long gestation period, but the sub’s nuclear reactor has accelerated their growth. They managed to escape their cages and now there are dozens of them all over the sub.
While Carly tries to salvage the experiment and Sam tries to keep everyone alive, Tom and Ellie are planning to capture one of the scorpions and sell it to a foreign faction for twenty million dollars. Tom is willing to sacrifice anyone to get what he wants. In the meantime, the Marines and the scientists are all getting picked off, one by one.
“Stinger” was released in 2005 and was directed by Martin Munthe. It is a Swedish and U.S. production horror film and supposedly a comedy. It is also a direct to video movie. Many people think it is a Syfy channel film. It is not.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many fake reviews on film ever before. Any review you see for this film that is eight stars or higher is probably fake. Granted it’s not the worst movie ever, but it is not great by any means. The movie is a little dark, but that is a good thing because the CGI is childish. The Marines are your standard character tropes which is a little amusing. The sexpot naked “scientist” running around is a strange addition but works to keep people interested. Although why anyone would have sex while scorpions are disemboweling people right and left is a mystery to me. The ending is supposed to be a twist but if you’re paying attention, you can figure out what’s coming.
There is still enough blood and gore to spread around and some bloated dead bodies. I believe Ola Paulakoski was the head model for the dead people, whoever he is.