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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!

In her film debut,the attractive Alicia Silverstone plays Darian Forrester,a mentally disturbed 14 year old girl who develops an unhealthy obsession with her neighbour,Nick Eliot (Cary Elwes)a baby faced blonde hair,blue eyed journalist who has no sexual interest in her.Silverstone shines in her role as the villain,making life hell for Nick,who wants nothing more than a friendship with the girl next door.Darian's desperate attempts to seduce the older man are unsuccessful,driving her deeper into her obsession and making her more psychotic.Silverstone's acting is superb,but her facial expressions are what is so convincing about her performance.Alicia superbly transforms herself from sweet and innocent into scary and psychotic giving new meaning to the phrase,'When she was good she was very very good,and when she was bad she was horrid'. The film has you on the edge of your seat as the plot unravels,and truths are discovered about sweet little Darian Forrester who is crazier than anyone thought.Her anger at Nick for leading her on goes to the extreme until she comes up with a plan she hopes will destroy his reputation.Nick is oblivious to Darian's feelings for him and believes its nothing more than a silly school girl crush that will pass until he discovers just how dangerous Darian really is.

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.

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.

Released in 1993, "The Crush" is about a 28 year-old writer, Nick (Cary Elwes), who moves to Seattle to work for a magazine. After moving into the guest house of the well-to-do Forresters their only child, 14 year old Adrienne (Alicia Silverstone), develops an increasingly unhealthy crush on him. Jennifer Rubin and Matthew Walker play Nick's girlfriend & boss while Kurtwood Smith and Gwynyth Walsh play Adrienne's parents and Amber Benson her neighbor.

This belongs to the Lethal Lolita sub-genre of drama/romance/thrillers. These movies always involve a hot teenager who utilizes her freshly bestowed womanly powers to seduce an older man and create havoc. "The Crush" is actually better than Stanley Kubrick's revered "Lolita" (1962), which was the first of its kind (at least the first to popularize the topic anyway). In the early 90s these kinds of movies made a comeback with 1992's "Poison Ivy" starring Drew Barrymore. "The Crush" isn't haunting and artsy like "Poison Ivy," but it's just as good and arguably marginally better. "Poison Ivy" has better style while "The Crush" is more straight-forward, sort of like 1987's "Fatal Attraction," but with a teenage antagonist.

Speaking of which, Alicia shines here in her cinematic debut. She was only almost-16 during filming, but easily commands attention throughout. Elwes is great as the protagonist with solid support from Rubin.

These types of attractions happen all the time in real life (a teenage girl developing a crush on an older guy) and it's the responsibility of the adult to erect and maintain proper boundaries so the situation doesn't spin out of control, like it does here. If the adult lets things go too far the girl will either be so devastated she becomes nigh suicidal, like in 1976's "Lifeguard," or she turns malevolently psycho.

To me "The Crush" would've worked better as a bittersweet coming of age drama, like the subplot of "Lifeguard," rather than a drama that morphs into thriller bordering on horror, like "Fatal Attraction." The first half is strong as a coming-of-age drama before transforming into the latter in the second half with its contrived thriller/horror mechanics. But they didn't ask me to write the script so I accept the movie as is. As a matter of fact, I feel it breaks the threshold of greatness for what it is.

The movie runs 89 minutes and was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia.

GRADE: A-