October Horror Challenge - Infested (2023)

 

Synopsis

Residents of a rundown French apartment find themselves fighting for their life as they are quarantined in their building with hordes of deadly spiders.

Review

This French creature feature is the debut film from Sébastien Vaniček, director of Evil Dead: Burn. The movie is a claustrophobic and arachnophobic nightmare. Seriously, this one will make your skin crawl. I appreciate the film's use of practical effects. The sound effects heighten the experience. The film isn't just a thrills and scares though. The cast is solid. Lead Kaleb, played by Théo Christine, is a compelling and flawed protagonist. He and the rest of the cast really make you care about them. I found myself emotionally invested in their survival. 

There is also some social commentary with this one. One of the apartment's residents judges Kaleb and his friends because they are young, financially struggling, and not white. Additionally without going into to much detail there is police subplot that could be scene as commentary on the pandemic. 

Your Game

While it was the least favorite of my stories, the bat monsters from Whispers would be great monsters for a SURVIVE THIS!! game.

Oversized Spider (Beast)

Armor Class: 13
Hit Dice: 1 HD
Move: 8
Actions: 1
Attack: Bite (1d2+poison)

Special: Ambush, Immunity: Poison, Advantage on climbing 
Bonuses: +1 to melee attacks, +8 to Stealth

Alignment: Neutral

Morale: 5

Madness: -
Terror: 13

HDE: 1/2

Poison: When an oversized spider successfully bites a target, the target must make a Poison Save, add the bite damage to their roll., or they become sickened for 3 rounds. At the end of each round while sickened by this ability, the target must make a Death Save or they become stunned as well for the duration of the sickness. Then if under both effects, the target takes 2 Poison damage.

Ambush: Oversized spiders can lay motionless until they wish to strike, graining surprise on their initial action if unseen. They may attempt to Stealth, allowing them to go back into a still state. If nobody sees them they can repeat this ability.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2026

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