Crush (2013 film)

Last updated
Crush
Crush2013poster.jpg
Theatrical released poster
Directed byMalik Bader
Written by Sonny Mallhi
Produced by
  • Trevor Macy
  • Marc D. Evans
  • Sonny Mallhi
Starring
CinematographyScott Kevan
Edited byJeff W. Canavan
Music byJulian Boyd
Production
company
Distributed by FilmNation Entertainment
Release date
  • April 9, 2013 (2013-04-09)
Running time
94 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.2 million
Box office$8.12 million

Crush is a 2013 American direct-to-video thriller film directed by Malik Bader and written by Sonny Mallhi. Starring Lucas Till, Crystal Reed, and Sarah Bolger, it follows a popular high school student portrayed by Till who finds himself being stalked.

Contents

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on April 9, 2013. [1] It received mixed reviews from critics and generated $8.12 million over a $1.2 million budget.

Plot

High school student Scott gains popularity among his classmates for his prowess on the soccer field, which he seeks to turn into an athletic scholarship. Although he possesses artistic talent, Scott continues to focus on soccer, even after a leg injury threatens to jeopardize his playing days. His best friend Jules harbors romantic feelings for him, but Scott resists her advances to prevent ruining their friendship. Also romantically interested in Scott is Bess, a shy student who recognizes his artistic abilities. Bess herself becomes a love interest of her classmate Jeffrey, although she does not return his feelings as she develops an unhealthy obsession with Scott.

An unknown stalker emerges in Scott's life, who begins demonstrating disturbing behavior. The stalker's actions turn violent when Mrs. Brown, a teacher who flirted with Scott, is attacked and seriously injured, while Jules is nearly killed by the stalker during a party. Scott suspects Bess is responsible, aware of her feelings for him, but recognizes that he cannot prove that she is his stalker. Later, while driving, Scott accidentally hits Bess' co-worker Andie and offers to take her home upon noticing that she sustained a leg injury. However, Andie knocks Scott out when he enters her house, revealing herself as the stalker, before trapping him in her basement.

Scott attempts to escape after he awakens, but Andie agitates his leg injury. After Andie kills her boss David when he arrives at the house, Scott makes another escape attempt and manages to crawl out of the basement, despite sustaining further leg injuries. Bess visits the house soon afterwards, where she discovers Scott and David's body, prompting Andie to attack her. Although Andie gets the upper hand, Jeffrey shows up to help overpower her and Scott kicks Andie into the basement, knocking her out.

Unable to play soccer because of his injuries, Scott begins to work on applying for art school while he enters into a relationship with Jules. Bess and Jeffrey also begin their own relationship. Andie is visited by her attorney Mr. Graham, to whom she admits her killings began at an early age and warns that she will not remain in custody for long.

Cast

Additionally, Meredith Salenger appears as Bess' mother and Nikki SooHoo appears as Maya. Cody Hamilton portrays the boy killed by Andie at the beginning of the film.

Critical reception

Writing for FEARnet, Scott Weinberg praised the acting of the three leads but criticized the film's "paper-thin premise" and script for being derivative (pointing out Mallhi's previous work on 2011's The Roommate ), and said "Even putting aside the casual plagiarism in Mallhi's screenplays, there's nothing here in the way of character, suspense, intensity, or surprises. It's just someone telling the same old story with slightly different character." [2] Ian Sedensky of Culture Crypt gave the film a score of 45/100 and judged: "The young cast is attractive, the production is well put together, and the twist, however absurd, might be genuinely shocking and entertaining to some. But this is a movie about a crush. And buying into the thin motivations behind this obsession requires a level of crazy reserved exclusively for the characters in this movie." [3] John Strand of Best-Horror-Movies awarded the film 2.5/5 "Freakheads" (the site's rating system), and concluded the film is "A neat little thriller that will appeal to teens and young adults who are not interested in scares and gore, but like a fairly executed, albeit predictable, storyline." [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fearnet</span> American horror cable network

Fearnet was an American digital cable television network, website and video on demand service owned by Comcast. The network specialized in horror entertainment programming through a mix of acquired and original series, and feature films.

The Factory is a 2012 American crime thriller film directed by Morgan O'Neill and starring John Cusack, Mae Whitman, Dallas Roberts, Mageina Tovah, Cindy Sampson, and Jennifer Carpenter. In the film, Cusack plays a Buffalo, New York cop who has been chasing a serial kidnapper who abducts young women.

<i>Dark House</i> (2009 film) 2009 American film

Dark House is a supernatural horror film directed by Darin Scott and stars Jeffrey Combs, Meghan Ory and Diane Salinger with Matt Cohen, Shelly Cole, Danso Gordon, Ryan Melander, Bevin Prince, Meghan Maureen McDonough and Scott Whyte. The film was scripted by Darin Scott with the story created by Kerry Douglas Dye and Darin Scott. The movie was produced by Mark Sonoda and Nick Allan. Dark House opened theatrically for one week engagements on Friday, July 30 in New York City, Dallas and San Francisco and was released on DVD September 28, 2010.

<i>Torture Chamber</i> 2013 film

Torture Chamber is a 2013 horror film written and directed by Dante Tomaselli. The movie first released on October 10, 2013 at the Sitges Film Festival and was released onto DVD on January 28, 2014. The film stars Vincent Pastore, Christie Sanford, and Lynn Lowry, and follows a family trying to save a teen boy from demonic possession. This marks a change from Tomaselli's usual horror formula, as prior films showed adults in the role of monster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crystal Reed</span> American actress

Crystal Marie Reed is an American actress. She came to prominence playing Allison Argent in the series Teen Wolf (2011–2014). She departed the series after the third season but made a guest appearance in the fifth season as Allison's ancestor Marie-Jeanne Valet. Reed went on to reprise her role as Allison Argent in the reunion film Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023).

<i>Saturday Morning Mystery</i> 2012 American film

Saturday Morning Mystery is a 2012 independent horror film by Spencer Parsons that premiered at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival. The movie is a dark parody/spoof of the Scooby-Doo cartoon series. Parsons cited Re-Animator and Basket Case as inspirations for the film.

<i>Silent Night</i> (2012 film) 2012 slasher film by Steven C. Miller

Silent Night is a 2012 slasher film directed by Steven C. Miller and starring Malcolm McDowell, Jaime King, Donal Logue, Ellen Wong, and Brendan Fehr. It is a remake of Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s 1984 film Silent Night, Deadly Night and the sixth installment in the Silent Night, Deadly Night film series. The film was given a limited theatrical release on November 30, 2012, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on December 4, 2012.

<i>Jug Face</i> 2013 American film

Jug Face is a 2013 American horror film written and directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle and starring Sean Bridgers, Lauren Ashley Carter, Larry Fessenden, Sean Young and Daniel Manche. The story follows a teen (Carter), who is pregnant with her brother's child and tries to escape from a backwoods community, only to discover that she must sacrifice herself to a creature in a pit.

<i>We Are What We Are</i> (2013 film) 2013 film

We Are What We Are is a 2013 American horror film directed by Jim Mickle, and starring Bill Sage, Julia Garner, Ambyr Childers and Kelly McGillis. It was screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. It is a remake of the 2010 Mexican film of the same name. Both a sequel and prequel have been announced.

<i>Little Deaths</i> (film) 2011 British film

Little Deaths is a 2011 British anthology horror film written and directed by Sean Hogan, Andrew Parkinson, and Simon Rumley. The film has three segments: House & Home, Mutant Tool, and Bitch. Each segment is directed by a different author and are unrelated to one another in any way other than sharing a theme of sex and death. Critical reviews for Little Deaths were polarized and the United Kingdom DVD release had to have some portions removed due to their sexually violent content.

Entrance is a 2011 American psychological horror-thriller film directed by Dallas Hallam and Patrick Horvath and was written by Hallam, Horvath, Karen Gorham, and Michelle Margolis. Suziey Block stars as a barista who lives a repetitive and anxious life in Los Angeles. When her beloved dog disappears, she decides to give up and move back home, but first she invites all her friends to a going-away party.

<i>Solo</i> (2013 film) 2013 Canadian film

Solo is a 2013 Canadian mystery thriller film directed by Isaac Cravit and is the first film released under Shock Till You Drop's US film distribution branch. First released on August 29, 2013 in Canada, it stars Annie Clark as a teenager who finds herself terrorized after she is left alone in the woods for a two-night camp counselor initiation process.

<i>Rites of Spring</i> (film) 2011 horror film

Rites of Spring is a 2011 American horror film written and directed by Padraig Reynolds. It stars A. J. Bowen, Sonny Marinelli, and Katherine Randolph as kidnappers who encounter an unrelated kidnapping victim, who is fleeing a monster.

<i>Dark Feed</i> 2013 American film

Dark Feed is a 2013 horror film written and directed by Shawn and Michael Rasmussen. It was first released on March 18, 2013 and centers upon a group of filmmakers that decide to cut costs by filming in an abandoned psychiatric hospital, only to end up slowly turning insane. Filming took place in New England using some of the buildings seen in Shutter Island. The Rasmussens came up with the idea for Dark Feed while visiting the set of another film, Long Distance, which was filming in an abandoned psychiatric hospital.

<i>Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead</i> 2011 American film

Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead is a 2011 American horror film directed by Douglas Schulze, written by Joshua Wagner and Schulze, and starring Allen Maldonado, Lauren Mae Shafer, Taylor Piedmonte, and David G.B. Brown.

<i>Haunt</i> (2013 film) 2013 American film

Haunt is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by Mac Carter in his feature film directorial debut. The film premiered at the Film Society of Lincoln Center on November 6, 2013, and was later released on video on demand on February 7, 2014. Haunt stars Harrison Gilbertson as a teenager who moves into a new house and goes through not only a sexual awakening but also a terrifying haunting.

<i>Missionary</i> (film) 2013 American film

Missionary is a 2013 drama thriller film by Anthony DiBlasi. It received its world premiere on July 25, 2013 at the Fantasia International Film Festival and stars Dawn Olivieri as a single mother caught up in one man's obsession with her.

<i>Sharkansas Womens Prison Massacre</i> 2016 American film

Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre is a 2016 American science fiction action horror film directed by Jim Wynorski and starring Dominique Swain and Traci Lords. It was released direct-to-DVD in the U.S. on May 3, 2016.

<i>Villains</i> (film) 2019 film by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen

Villains is a 2019 American black comedy horror film written and directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen. It stars Bill Skarsgård, Maika Monroe, Blake Baumgartner, Jeffrey Donovan, and Kyra Sedgwick.

<i>The Man in the Shadows</i> 2015 Canadian film

The Man in the Shadows is a 2015 Canadian supernatural horror film, the first feature film directed by Joshua Fraiman and written by co-star and co-producer Adam Tomlinson, based on a personal experience, as well as on reports by "millions of people around the world" of so-called shadow people, a phenomenon associated with sleep paralysis. The plot centres around a prescription drug-addicted newlywed photographer who appears to be stalked by a dark man in a brimmed hat who follows her from her nightmares into reality. Rachel is aided by William who has been investigating the "Hat Man" phenomenon.

References

  1. 1 2 "Amazon.com: Crush: Crystal Reed, Lucas Till, Sarah Bolger, Malik Bader: Movies & TV". Amazon. 9 April 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  2. ↑ "FEARnet Movie Review: 'Crush'". FEARnet . Horror Entertainment, LLC. April 25, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  3. ↑ "CRUSH (2013) — CULTURE CRYPT". Culture Crypt LLC and Ian Sedensky. 10 April 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  4. ↑ "'Crush' (2013) Review". Best-Horror-Movies.com. April 19, 2013. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.