Das biest

Alicia's first big film is by far her best. She's gripping, believable and absolutely devilish in the role of little rich witch. Cary Elwes is completely at home in the role of victim as this vortex of terror swirls around him. It's impossible to watch this film without a chill running down your spine. Oh, if only the rest of us could inspire that kind of devotion from our admirers!

This sexy thriller is very much entertaining for the *wrong* reasons. It's absurd, trashy, and utterly laughable. It does have a memorable antagonist in the form of young Alicia Silverstone, who plays Adrian Forrester, a Lolita-ish 14-year-old who develops a serious crush on Nick Eliot (Cary Elwes), the 20-something journalist renting a guest house from her parents (Kurtwood Smith, Gwynyth Walsh). Of course, nobody believes the older man when he protests that the crazed girl is the wrongdoer, and Nick finds his life continuously going awry as she creates one problem after another.

Written and directed by Alan Shapiro, this film doesn't exactly have the brightest characters. As a result, you never really root for Nick. Fortunately Silverstone, who'd previously made her name in Aerosmith rock videos, is a total hoot as this deranged gal who does some pretty nasty things to make her crush look bad. And things do indeed look very bad for Nick when she frames him for sexual assault. Elwes does what he can with his obtuse role, while Smith has some choice moments as the dad. Jennifer Rubin looks quite lovely as the photographer whom we know is more appropriate for Nick. And Amber Benson lends some solid support as Adrians' "friend" who tries to warn Nick about what she knows.

The movie *is* well paced and climaxes in one of the more priceless confrontation scenes that you're likely to see in this sort of thing. The ending is actually rather effective in its payoff of the Adrian character.

Silverstone may well have had a body double for the nude scenes, but it's still quite uncomfortable when remembering that the character being watched is a mere 14 years old.

All in all, "The Crush" is entertaining if exploitative trash, and should never ever be taken too seriously.

Seven out of 10.

This felt inspired by "Lolita" yet lacking all the finesse of the original. Yet this was the film that launched Alicia Silverstone into those Aerosmith music videos and into more movies as this was her debut. She did a solid job acting and displayed a range of believable emotions. The movie is about a journalist who rents an over the garage room from a family who has a 14-year-old daughter. The poor guy just wants to write but this girl keeps grabbing his attention. He tries to avoid an underage entanglement but he's ensnared by a kiss which she uses as leverage to torment him until he succumbs to her romantic desires. Who will have the upper hand and how intense will her tormenting go? This is a decent movie yet left room for cinematic improvement.

Good acting from Alicia silverstone at such a young age & Cary Elwes. Both showing off their good looks in an interesting 90s film. I liked that they played on a woman being the seductress and villain as i feel like in this modern day and age women are never set as the villain. If anything i'd have liked the film / ending to be more sinister, happy endings do tend to be forgettable.

I bought this today in a previously enjoyed bin at Blockbuster. It set me back five bucks, so I figured since I like Alicia, this would be worthwhile for my guilty pleasure collection I've been building up over the years (Included in that collection is Excess Baggage, the film that made me get a huge crush on Alicia). Considering the money spent, this is great popcorn. When buying this I expected a pseudo update of Fatal Attraction, which in so many words, was. (spare me if I offend some for making that comparison) The Crush is a campy, but dark story. Alicia plays a very convincing 14 year old obsessive compulsive psychopathic teenager who is experiencing love. I really thought she did well, I know she has limitations - but it's a totally unbiased opinion. You'd never expect the girl from Clueless to say such lines like "Hey Nick, ever do a virgin?" - She portrays this very sexual presence, which works.

My problem with the film is I guess I've sort of marked myself as a fan of the Alicia who plays sweet characters, so it's kind of a knock back. Other than that - If not taken seriously it would make a good film to throw on if you like Alicia, if not, could still be a decent thriller movie to watch with a couple beers or if you just want to throw on a guilty pleasure. It's campy, it's got some corn, but you gotta love it sometimes.