Crush
- Year:2009
- Rating:M
- Director:Jeffrey Gerritsen, John V Soto
- Cast:Christian Clark, Christopher Egan, Brooke Harmon, Emma Lung
- Release Date:April 23, 2009
- Distributor:Odin's Eye
- Running time:82 minutes
- Film Worth:$10.00
- FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
“…worthwhile.”
The latest in a spate of Australian genre flicks to hit cinemas is this paranormal thriller from writer John Soto, who co-directs with fellow newcomer Jeff Gerritsen. Pitched squarely at a late-teen market, it joins Beautiful and Acolytes in an attempt to put the wind up youthful audiences. Eschewing the bitter cruelty of gore-fests like the Saw franchise or even Wolf Creek, Soto seeks the slow creep before a one-two finale punches the film home.
Appropriately, it opens at a tae-kwon do match where aspiring champ and university student Julian (Chris Egan) gives his opponent a good thumping. There's another big match looming, and with his architecture course assignments due by the end of the week, Julian has reasons to "stay focused"...which of course means that he won't. When a luxurious mansion comes up for house-sitting with sexy Anna (Emma Lung), the owner's niece, in situ, trouble can't be far behind. One night of passion quickly spirals out of control as attraction turns fatal, leaving Julian stuck between the rock of his stalker and the hard place of a girlfriend cheated. To further complicate matters, the owner doesn't actually have a niece called Anna...
Despite troubling lapses of internal logic that include dream states and a family photo, and under-written, poorly acted supporting characters, Crush delivers most of what it sets out to do. A busy soundtrack enhances the experience (itself a rarity), while muscular production and the eye-candy appeal of Egan and Lung (the film's biggest asset) push proceedings a notch or two above similar movies. It's not like there's anything particularly new here, yet it's all handled with enough flair to make the popcorn experience worthwhile.
