Known as Vermines in its native language of French, Infested from director Sébastien Vanicek is not a film for those that suffer with arachnophobia. The story sees a dilapidated French tower block besieged by vicious and fast-growing arachnids. It is full of thrills and plenty of chills to put the shivers down your spine.
With Sting due out at the end of May, 2024 seems to fast be becoming the year of the spider film. After viewing Infested, it seems inconceivable that Sting, or any other spider related feature, could top it. Vanicek’s feature is Arachnophobia for the modern generation, but where that film was somehow a PG, Vanicek goes all in on blood, guts, and spider related trauma.
From the opening sequence in which a group of men deliberately go hunting in the desert for exotic spiders, Infested is a nightmare for arachnophobes to watch. Vanicek isn’t afraid to show the eight legged creatures in all their glory, and right from this prologue they are scuttling all over the place. Their rendering on screen appears to be a mixture of real and computer generated arachnids, and the truly fearful will know exactly which the real ones are.
Once a specimen has been captured the opening titles reveal the spider’s journey from the desert to the backroom of a questionable pet shop in France. There, aspiring zoo owner Kaleb (Théo Christine) stumbles across the spider and takes her back to his exotic animal haven. Bewitched by her beauty, Kaleb names the spider Rihanna. However, Rihanna is his first pet spider and his choice of temporary home is questionable. Before long Rihanna, and her super charged offspring have claimed Kaleb’s tower of flats for their own.
The build up in Infested is superb. Vanicek plays on the audience’s innate fear of spiders perfectly. The audience knows where the story is going, but the director holds back and teases the viewer for as long as he can before eventually unleashing arachnid hell. The use of tension is impeccable and will even begin to unsettle the most spider-friendly of watchers. Infested uses its scariest spider sequences to warn of the importance of checking shoes, and to impart the most frightening bathroom set scene in recent history. Vanicek also does wonderful work at making people afraid of shoeboxes. Sadly, as the spiders begin to grow at an exponential rate, the fear factor ebbs away. It’s a similar story to Eight Legged Freaks – once the arachnids become far larger than life, they lose some of their potency.
Importantly, Infested is not just a silly creature feature. Vanicek and his co-writer Florent Bernard have a lot to say about the current climate in France. Infested analyses the class divide and civil unrest. Much of Infested hinges on a variety of social commentary, with some damning comments made on the police, their treatment of Kaleb and his fellow lower class residents. As the movie progresses, it becomes hard to figure out who is meant to pose the bigger threat to Kaleb and his group of friends, the police or Rihanna’s offspring. The inclusion of this political element helps Infested move into a more serious arena and offers the viewer plenty to digest after viewing.
Infested is a fantastic calling card and exceptional feature debut. Vanicek will next be seen helming the next instalment of the Evil Dead series and it’s easy to see how Infested landed him the job. A film that manages to be far more than merely an arachnophobes worst nightmare, Infested is a masterstroke in tension, with a potent social commentary for horror fans to really sink their teeth into.
Infested
Summary
Vanicek manages to make spiders frightening enough that even those that like the creatures will start to quiver. Infested is this generation’s answer to Arachnophobia, and its scathing political commentary raises it beyond a simple creature feature.
Infested arrives on Shudder on Friday 26th April 2024.
