What is ‘The Crush’ about?
The Crush is a 1993 psychological thriller film starring Cary Elwes (Stranger Things) and Alicia Silverstone (Masters of the Universe: Revelation). The movie, however, begins with the 28-year-old writer Nick Eliot (Elwes) arriving in Seattle to work at Pique Magazine. He rents a house belonging to Cliff (Kurtwood Smith: RoboCop 1987, That ’70s Show TV series) and Live Forrester (Gwynyth Walsh: Star Trek: Generations 1994, Da Vinci’s Inquest TV series).
The handsome writer later meets the young and beautiful 14-year-old daughter of Cliff and Live Forrester, Darian (Silverstone), who instantly develops an intense infatuation with him.
At first, Nick was flattered by her admiration for him and thought she wasn’t harmless. But when Darian’s parents threw a party at their house, Nick decided to attend. He is astonished by Darian’s piano performance, and he follows her to her parents’ outdoor balcony afterward, where he lets her kiss him.
After the kiss, Nick knows Darian’s simple crush has gone too far, and he tries to keep distant from her. To successfully do this, he begins to date his co-worker, Amy (Rubin), but he is too late. Subsequently, Darian’s crush on him grew immensely after their kiss. When he starts seeing another woman, her heart turns green with jealousy and anger.
The more distant Nick tries to get, the more violent and evil Adrian becomes. Anyone who stands in her way of love will be caught in her wrath, including her friend, Cheyenne (Amber Benson: Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, The Killing Jar 2010), who tries to warn Nick of her friend’s past, but quickly finds herself in a riding accident.
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The Crush Review
The Crush is a modest thriller, trimmed to a tight 89 minutes so that you won’t notice the gaps in the plot. While The Crush grossed over thirteen million U.S dollars at the box office, it wasn’t a huge hit. But one thing about this movie is that Alicia Silverstone’s first role as a young, obsessed, lustful girl did stand out, providing career opportunities for her and winning the Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Villain at the 1994 MTV Movie Awards.
Even though it is a modest thriller, The Crush fails to come up with many new twists beyond casting a teenager as the villain. Dancing around its own salacious possibilities, this movie is only briefly offensive and rarely surprising. It feels like the adrenalin of a teenage crush; never forget Romeo and Juliet were only in love for a few days, resulting in the death of many folks. Teenage love is always a flash in the pan, and The Crush certainly encompasses that feeling.
Aside from the touchy aspects of a crazy and ‘raging’ teenager as a sexual aggressor, the movie also flirts with uncomfortable territory through Nick’s apparent ambivalence about this alluring woman-child and ultimately a false rape accusation — casting Darian as a sort of Amy Fisher: The Earlier Years. Despite the knack for evil innocence that she brings to the role, it’s just not enough to gloss over the storyline’s greater problems; to wit, why doesn’t this guy just move out once he realizes the depth of this girl’s obsession with him, instead of waiting until time runs out?
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The Crush Overall Review
The Crush is filled with thrills, shivers, and horror in the best way possible. Overall, this movie has some flaws which we could sit here and talk about, but we can never say it’s not entertaining. The Crush is a film that is accessible to a broad audience, has a little something for everyone, and keeps you strapped in for the whole time, this film doesn’t slow down, and that certainly is a plus.
What did you think of The Crush?
What did you think of this horror/thriller from the early 90s? What did you think of Alicia Silverstone’s portrayal? Let us know on social media.
