Crush (2013)

The story takes on what was quite a popular theme about one's obsession to another person, like what we saw in "The Fan". But this movie gave it a more specific theme of high school boyfriend crush. The story was set up quite neatly, with the movie able to return the mood to neutral almost every time thriller part cedes. But the movie ends itself weirdly by forcing the strange end twist into the story. For me the twist itself on its own feels quite nice. But how the movie incorporated it without really building supporting hints, aside putting Caitriona Balfe as the actress for that part, really confuses me. The acting overall is not so good. Lucas Till really need to improve his acting. Sarah Bolger also didn't give out good performance. Crystal Reed's acting is the only one at adequate levels for her character.

Fmovies: "Crush" is a 2013 direct-to-video horror film which stars Lucas Till (MacGyver, X-Men) as Scott Norris, an athletically talented teen who's dreams are to play football (or soccer, whatever you call it) at a prestigious sporting school. A colleague of Scott's named Bess, played by Crystal Reed, develops an unhealthy crush on him, and as her fixation grows weird events begin to occur to Scott and those around him.

Going into this film, I had no expectations. I was just at a sleepover with two of my closest friends and we were just looking for a nice horror film to watch as it was rather late. When we found "Crush", we decided to watch it, as the premise sounded decent enough. But we were far from expecting to get what we got out of it.

Right from the get go (don't worry, this is only the start and I won't spoil it), when the title card is shown, the main character has a voice over line, in which he defines the fourth definition of crush in the dictionary. At this point in time, me and my friends were already laughing harder than usual, but little did we know that was only the beginning. Early on we are introduced to each character, some of which are integral to the plot, or at least somewhat integral, and others just as side characters. But me and one of my friends realised that nearly every single female character seemed to have at least a small attraction to Scott except Andie (Caitriona Balfe), a friend of Bess'. As the movie progressed, me and my friends found ourselves to be uncontrollably laughing at the dialogue, all the sub-plots (A sub-plot was added in pretty much in every single scene. There were about 30, you can count) and just the choices the screenwriters made. And at the end of the film, there is this twist, which I won't spoil, that comes so out of the blue that me and my friends, or friend, as one of them had given up on the film, were far from able to control ourselves. The twist also contradicts the direction that the entire film before it had too, which just adds to the laughs. Also about 90% of the sub-plots are left hanging and those that actually do get incorporated into the main story are just added to make the final scene more tense. Some of the characters introduced throughout the film contribute nothing to the story and are just there to give a main character depth of sorts.

All in all, "Crush" is simultaneously a masterpiece and a disaster. Analytically, this movie is awful. The screenplay is one of the worst in film history, there are so many useless sub-plots and characters that contribute nothing to the main plot, but at least the acting is somewhat decent. But enjoyment-wise, this film is a masterpiece. This is one of those so-bad-it's-good films, where all the faults are just so bad they're laughable and I can assure you you'll have a ball watching this film. "Crush" is an unearthed gem, one that is certainly in the same boat as cult classics like "The Room", "Who Killed Captain Alex" and "The Wicker Man". The title card, the dialogue, the sub-plots, the useless characters, "Crush" is such an awful film, yet it's given me one of my most enjoyable experiences this year. As I say in the title, I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before.

Rating: 2.3/10

Grade: F

Thrilling and very entertaining. So painful to watch and remember what it was like to have a crush on a cute popular boy who didn't know you existed. The filmmaker hit all the right notes for teenagers and the awkwardness that comes with a crush. Love the fact that it kept me guessing what would happen until the end. All of the actors deliver solid performances. Finally a movie that gives good excuses for the characters behavior. They don't make stupid decisions just to up the tension or so that they can walk into a situation that moves the plot forward. There were several moments that made me cringe in a good way. Definitely recommend!

Crush fmovies. I have to admit, the movie did surprise me more than I thought it would. And it's not only in the title and what it means to one (or more) of the character(s) in the movie. It's also the story and the character arcs themselves. There are things that are obvious and then there are things that aren't.

It's for the viewer to decide, what is obvious and if it actually is that obvious and what that would mean. Sounds complicated? It isn't and the movie actually does more than a decent job telling a story, even if let's say you know where this is going (for whatever reason). There might even be room for a repeat viewing. If you don't expect much ... you'll get a lot

'Crush' is more than a common thriller; it's an intriguing and thought-provoking movie, which makes you think whether those we admire are worth of our admiration, and whether those we resent really deserve our rejection. For, in the end it all comes down to real love, as the ones who love us love everything about us, no matter how crazy or weird we might seem to everyone else. 'Crush' is also a reminder that nothing in life as it seems and one should not jump into conclusions based on impressions one gets, but rather look beyond appearance and see what lies beneath. My favorite characters are Bess (Crystal Reed) and Jeffrey (Reid Ewing).

The promising high school soccer player Scott (Lucas Till) is injured on the knee in a game and two years after, he is still trying to heel his knee. The teenager Jules (Sarah Bolger) feels unrequited love for him but Scott is concentrated in recovering his physical condition and considers her as a friend. The also teenager Bess (Crystal Reed) that works in the store owned by David (Leigh Whannell) with her mature colleague Andie (Caitriona Balfe) has a crush on Scott. When Scott is stalked by a mysterious person that threatens Jules, he believes that Bess is responsible for the weird situations. Is his assumption correct?

"Crush" is a thriller with a washed up storyline revisited: "Fatal Attraction", "Misery", "May" are example of plots where an obsessed woman stalks a man. However, "Crush" entertains and the plot point with the identity of the stalker really surprises. Another attraction is Sarah Bolger, the lovely eleven year-old girl from Jim Sheridan's "In America" (2002) that has grown-up and become a very beautiful young woman. Caitriona Balfe and Crystal Reed are also very beautiful and promising actresses. Fortunately I did not paid attention to the DVD Cover that spoils the twist, showing the killer's identity. The song that plays in the credits is very nice. In soccer games, it is not allowed by FIFA to display the running time but Scott is playing in an American high school where is might be possible. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Paixão Mortal" ("Deadly Passion")