CRUSH 2013)

Lucas Till 

CRUSH (2013). Director: Malik Bader.

Scott (Lucas Till) is a handsome and athletic high school student who inspires lust and romantic fantasies in some of the women surrounding him. This includes sort-of girlfriend Jules (Sarah Bolger), his English teacher Mrs. Brown (Camille Guaty) -- who pushes Scott and everyone else to read Charlotte Bronte's Villette --  and a painfully shy young lady named Bess (Crystal Reed). Bess works in a store with a sympathetic older woman named Andie (Caitriona Balfe) and her boss, David (Leigh Whannell), and has a friendly "stalker" of her own named Jeffrey (Reid Ewing). When strange and sinister things start happening -- including attacks on women and nasty emails -- Scott is sure that Bess is responsible, but his true enemy may be hiding in plain sight. 

Bess' fantasy: Till with Crystal Reed

Crush is one of several movies, often with the same title, that feature young women obsessed with handsome young men. This is about on the level of most of them. The good-looking cast is professional enough, but the flick has a general gloss of mediocrity. Things get a bit lively at the climax, when a certain party tries to keep Scott captive in a basement. The movie is generally too tasteful to really have much impact,  however. Still, it does keep you watching. Leigh Whannell later wrote and directed The Invisible Man and also wrote films in the Saw and Insidious series. 

Verdict: Never quite cuts loose the way you hope it will. **1/4.