"The Crush" is a headbanger of a movie. I mean that you will be banging your head against a hard surface at the stupidity of Nicholas Eliot (Cary Elwes).

Nick got caught up in a real bad situation because of Adrian Forrester (Alicia Silverstone). Adrian was a brilliant yet precocious and flirtatious 14-year-old girl. She had a crush on the new tenant of her parents' guest house, Nick. Nick allowed himself to be entrapped by Adrian which got him in all kinds of hot water.

This movie only works if you have an Adrian-- brilliant, flirtatious, obsessive--and a Nick: stupid, obtuse, naïve. A smarter more perceptive guy would never have been in the situations Nick found himself in. Or should I say that a smarter more perceptive man with more self-control would not have been in the situations Nick found himself in. Because he either had to be incredibly naïve or incredibly turned on to risk his job, his dignity, and his freedom to do what he did with a 14-year-old.

Should have done:

1. When she invited herself into his room and sat down to chat he should've said, "No, this is not appropriate."

2. When she was in his house while he was showering he should've said, "Get out!"

3. When she wanted him to give her a ride in his car to the lighthouse he should've said, "No!"

4. When she leaned in to kiss him he should've given her a stiff arm (but if you refer to #3 he would never had been in that position).

Should NOT have done:

1. Said to her "You know if you were ten years older" as an indication that he would like to hook up with her.

2. Gone in her room.

3. Hid in her room closet while she was undressing

These were all common sense dos and don'ts. It doesn't take Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil, or a rocket scientist to tell you that you had crossed the line one too many times. Where was Nick from anyway? Or maybe Nick liked the attention and was genuinely attracted to Adrian. After all, she did look and behave as though she were a lot older.

Whatever the reason, Nick was a mouth-breathing idiot, and he deserved every bit of shame, pain, and suffering he got. Sometimes you have to pay for your stupidity, it's called social Darwinism. Not that I'm absolving princess promiscuity of anything because she definitely needed some serious therapy and her parents needed a serious wake-up call. In short, there was plenty of blame to go around

Nick Eliot (Cary Elwes) is a new writer at Pique magazine. He rents the guest house of the Forresters (Kurtwood Smith, Gwynyth Walsh). Darian (Alicia Silverstone) is their flirtatious daughter. Cheyenne (Amber Benson) is her best friend. Nick starts dating coworker Amy Maddik (Jennifer Rubin) but Darian's crush also intensifies. Darian continues to hound him and even sabotages his big interview.

The Lolita aspect of this performance from a younger Silverstone can be awkwardly uncomfortable. This doesn't have any pretension of being a literary touchstone. The movie manipulates the tension and pushes it beyond logic. It walks the line of camp and doesn't always succeed.

A journalist (Cary Elwes) becomes the unwanted center of attention for a 14-year-old girl (Alicia Silverstone),who proceeds to sabotage his life after he refuses her sexual advances.

This is Alan Shapiro's baby. He wrote it, directed it, and as of 2016, it remains his best-known film. According to Jennifer Rubin, Shapiro also worked closely with Cary Elwes during the shoot to revise some lines here and there. (Incidentally, Rubin also recalls Elwes as "mannered and proper", much like some of the characters he plays.) To save a few dollars, the wardrobe department actually picked clothes from the actors' closets.

Apparently this film was panned by critics, but I have to say those critics were wrong. Yes, some of the plot makes little sense and you have to really suspend your disbelief at times. But this is a horror thriller, so just allow yourself that privilege. This film stuck with me when I first saw it in the 90s, and watching it again now (2016),it had as much or more of an impact.

The two leads are great. Obviously, this helped launch Silverstone's career (giving her a voice after working with Aerosmith); Kurtwood Smith recalls that the cast had Silverstone's 16th birthday party a day or two before shooting began. The part almost went to Reese Witherspoon, but in retrospect Silverstone seems to have been the obvious, better choice.

And this was a nice entry for Elwes, who is generally thought of more as a comedic actor. He can do dark (see "Saw"). Add model and horror icon Jennifer Rubin and Smith (not to mention a pre-Buffy Amber Benson) and you round out a top-notch cast for what appears to be a very low-budget movie (and obviously the crown jewel of writer-director Alan Shapiro's career).

The effects are pretty decent and convincing. Perhaps the most notable scene involves a room full of bees. While it looks like Jennifer Rubin is being swarmed by an entire hive of bees, she actually has nothing to worry about. A few dead ones are glued to her hand (look closely how they don't move),and the ones flying through the air aren't bees at all -- it's puffed rice being blown out of a vacuum cleaner. Genius!

One flaw, which is unavoidable, is the result of legal trouble: the original audio has the character named "Darian", and it had to be changed to "Adrian" (as there was a real Darian involved who had actually keyed Shapiro's car). This makes for some unusual dubbing. Although not noticeable most of the time, it does stand out occasionally -- Kurtwood Smith was never made aware of the change until later, meaning someone else had to dub him... which, of course, makes the name "Adrian" sound like it comes from another person's mouth.

The disc from Scream! Factory is excellent and truly a must-have. Although they were not able to fix the sound "phasing" issues from previous versions, this was not noticeable for me and probably won't be for more viewers. The disc has an audio commentary from writer-director Alan Shapiro, which is priceless (and includes a story of his time swapping LSD stories with William Hurt). But we also get some one-on-one interviews with Kurtwood Smith and the incomparable Jennifer Rubin. A great release for an under-appreciated film.