Crush (5 Stars)

Nick Eliot is a reporter who has just moved to Seattle. He rents a room in a guest house that belongs to a lawyer couple. Their 14-year-old daughter Adrienne develops a crush on him. It's more accurate to say that she's stalking him. She enters his room when he's not at home, she steals his photos, and she edits his articles on his computer.

Nick resists her as best as he can. He's 28 and he knows that she's underage, but the problem is that she has the body of a woman. Male hormones don't recognise arbitrary age limits set by society. He resists her advances because it's the right thing to do, not because he wants to. An example of his attitude is when he looks out of the window and sees her sunbathing in a bikini. He wants to watch her. He could have stood staring at the curves of her body for hours. He only shuts his blinds when she notices him and looks up at him. Adrienne laughs to herself when she notices his embarrassment. She's aware of the power she has over him.

Adrienne wants more. She has to have Nick all for herself. The flirtatious teasing might have been enough to keep her happy for a few years until she reached a legal age if Nick had waited for her. Instead, he starts an affair with Amy, a colleague at work. This turns Adrienne's love into hate. She wants to hurt Amy, and she wants to punish Nick.

The film is excellently crafted. It runs very slowly and dreamily for the first hour, apart from occasional brief shocks. Then it turns into a full blown horror film. The action is racked up to a blood curdling intensity.

For reasons unclear to me, the film is poorly rated by critics. Maybe it's because it's a Canadian film. Canadian films are never appreciated. It was a minor success in the cinemas when it was released in 1993, and it's still shown repeatedly on television. My friends who have seen it all like it. Once more the critics have lost touch with the viewing public.

How would I have reacted in Nick's position? Twenty years ago there was an underage girl who had a crush on me, but I never felt tempted because she looked like a child. Adrienne looks like a woman. In my case there's the additional factor that I'm turned on by strong women who take the initiative. If a woman, whatever her age, throws herself at me and makes it clear she won't take No for an answer, she's already won the battle. She has me. As long as she at least looks like a woman. 14 is a borderline case. Most 15-year-olds look like women, most 13-year-olds look like children, but 14-year-olds can be one or the other.

When it comes to sexual temptation I'm no saint. I openly admit it. I'm just glad that I've never been put to the test. A girl like Adrienne would get me thrown into jail, and there's nothing I could do to stop it.

Success Rate:  + 0.3