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Getting Crushed
Australian thriller Crush, starring Chris Egan and Emma Lung will premiere in cinemas in early 2009.
Former Home and Away and new NBC series Kings star Chris Egan will feature in the new Australian thriller Crush. The film, which has been picked up for theatrical release in the first half of 2009, also stars The Jammed ‘s Emma Lung and Underbelly star Jenna Lind.
Written and co-directed by John Soto with Jeff Gerritsen, the film tells the story of university student Julian (Egan) who is seduced by the mysterious Anna (Lung). After their first tryst, Julian's life slowly begins to unravel in a series of strange and deadly events as Anna's passion turns into dangerous obsession.
Shot on a $2 million budget, the film has already shown immense promise, garnering international distribution interest and having its trailer featuring as one of the top five YouTube official trailers in the world.
The thriller is John Soto's second film, after penning the soon to be released horror film Prey. While he may be contributing two solid features to Australia's growing horror film market in one year, becoming a horror icon was never Soto's goal. "I just want to write and direct thrillers that are exciting and entertaining for audiences worldwide."
When asked where Soto got the idea for the supernatural thriller, he said that he is constantly working on ideas for films and this was one that stood out. "I'm constantly thinking about story ideas. I play them through my mind all day, constantly rearranging the premise, plot, characters, theme, etc. Only when a story idea really jumps out at me as being cool and exciting, do I put pen to paper. In this case I put pen to paper early 2007 and started writing a detailed outline for Crush, which formed the basis for the script. In terms of why the story idea formed in my mind, I guess it's a combination of past experiences and what-ifs."
"I'd like to see a focus on satisfying international audiences as much as Australian audiences.”
The film will feature music by some of Australia's biggest bands as well as a collection of up and coming acts. Bands such as silverchair, Papa Roach, Little Birdy, Codrazine, Something for Kate, Pacifier and The Sleepy Jackson feature in the film, with the score composed by Jamie Blanks (director of Urban Legend).
Crush will add to the growing list of thrillers and horror films that Australia has been successfully producing over the past few years. Soto hopes, however, that the film will also translate into international markets. "I'd like to see a focus on satisfying international audiences as much as Australian audiences. In other words, making quality films that are exciting and entertaining but also can translate and work in other territories. The US film industry has perfected this model and it's something that I wanted to achieve with Crush."