CRUSH (2013)

Directed By Malik Bader

Written By: Sonny Malhi

Cinematography: Scott Kevan 

Editor: Jeff Canavan

Cast: Lucas Till, Sarah Bolger, Crystal Reed, Leigh Whannell, Camille Guaty, Isaiah Mustafa, Holt McCallany, Caitriona Balfe, Reid Ewing, Meredith Salenger

The promising high school soccer player Scott is injured on the knee in a game and two years after, he is still trying to heal his knee. The teenager Jules feels unrequited love for him but Scott is concentrated in recovering his physical condition and considers her as a friend. The also teenage Bess that works in the store owned by David with her mature colleague Andie has a crush on Scott. When Scott is stalked by a mysterious person that threatens Jules, he believes that Bess is responsible for the weird situations. Is his assumption correct?


This film is just  so tedious and badly paced most of the time it keeps building up and then when it does finally offer a release you are so thankful but never truly lives up to It’s potential or premise 

The way the film points at the red herring the more it becomes obvious that it’s not them.

It could have been a bit more fun if it played up it’s Ridiculous aspects or camped it up or actually added thrills. The way it plays it is more limp. Where you find yourself asking questions or creating your own scenarios rather then go with what is on screen. As it is taking way too long at a little over 90 minutes 

Not to mention the main character has looks and seems to be a good moral kid, but he has very little personality for all these ladies to have such crushes on him. Especially the teacher.

Though a teenage boy who is really into classic black and white films. Warmed my heart as I wished I could go to this town’s theater, but feels mroe an invention of a writer. Who wanted to put a piece of themselves and lvoe of film In there. As the film chosen isnMt even an inside joke or a hint of what is to come. 

Though will say she seemed to only be here for eye candy for anyone desiring some skin other then some from the lead actor and even what is shown is more pg-13 quality 

Know it would most likely be straight to home video quality but expected a bit better then what is offered. Espeically with such a recognizable cast, but we all have to start somewhere. 

It feels like a WB channel thriller if you remember what those were more targeted to the youth, a little risqué, but almost every character is picture perfect good looking.

While there’s barely anything objectionable, that is why it feels more like a TV movie or a movie meant for or could’ve easily played on a lifetime channel or MTV or WB

Crystal reed is the only true notable performance throughout. Everyone else does what is expected of them. 

Grade: D+

WOLF MAN (2025)

Directed By: Leigh Whannell

Written By: Leigh Whannell and Corbett Tuck 

Cinematography: Stefan Duscio and Ruairi O’Brien

Editor: Andy Canny

Cast: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Matilda Firth, Sam Jaeger, Benedict Hardie, Ben Prendergast

A family at a remote farmhouse is attacked by an unseen animal, but as the night stretches on, the father begins to transform into something unrecognizable.


Pay atention to the title, because that’s pretty much what this movie seems to be about as it has its own reminiscence of the fly as we watch the lead character slowly transform into this Wolfman.

There are so many ways of looking at this movie. It has the Liriano kind of cold direction, but impressive style at times that at least is some thing you don’t expect.

Though this is more a traumatic thriller, so if you’re looking for a horror film, you’re gonna find yourself sadly disappointed as it does have those types of scenes, but for the most part seems to be more about this man’s slow transformation, and trying to protect his family, and then also slowly morphing into the problem himself

The film at times feels like it should be more hard-hitting, but there just seems to be something missing or just plays off bland. It also obviously is trying to push the female character to be more of the heroic force because she’s trying to be a nurture and at first it seems like she’s more a journalist, but when it comes to survival, she does what she hast to do to protect her daughter, her family even if she hast to face off against the man, she loves her husband.

His transformation can also be seen as him try, actually having to face his trauma from his rough childhood with what seems to be an uncaring father that he has obviously Buried, but still has that anger while trying to be the good guy, decent husband, and good father he doesn’t want his family to have to deal with the same types of things that he did.

So eventually, unfortunately, it becomes like an incredible hulk situation, where he can’t help this other side of him coming out or really transforming him totally. 

As what the film does have going forward, is if the few scenes of style and prosthetic special effects. While the film does have violence, it’s also a secluded thriller where there aren’t that many victims so not so much useless bloodshed almost like Cujoh more of trying to survive the night and the ordeal, which also makes it feel a little bit more like most of the film takes place in real time

The Hulk analogy also works for this phone because it seems like it’s very hard for Hollywood to truly come up with a good or great werewolf movie and they’re either barely passable usually just OK or just bad or disappointing, whereas every other famous creature seems to have more than a few defining films to the repertoire.

The film isn’t bad it just is that you go in, expecting one thing and coming out with another and even the other that it is is pretty plain and bland, feeling more melodramatic with supernatural horror and thriller elements.

Which is a shame, because with the invisible Man, leave, Wagner came up with a film that felt inventive, but then again, he also had more room to work with as THE INVISIBLE MAN, while a memorable character isn’t as popular isn’t ball down by as many rules and lower, so you can kind of create an ad more than you can with well established, vampire, zombies, or where wolves

At least I can say that the film is Earnest in it’s

depictions of werewolves as it tries to create, but it seems like it’s problem was It wants

to dip itself a little in the fantasy, but also be somewhat grounded in reality-based as well as offering some scientific explanations, and while they work well enough off of each other, they don’t create a satisfying formula completely.

No, maybe the focus was too much on the transformation giving it a sort of THE FLY comparisons only not as focused on the Body Horror

Grade: C

UPGRADE (2018)

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Written & Directed By: Leigh Whannell
Cinematography By: Stefan Duscio
Editor: Andy Canny 

Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson, Benedict Hardie, Richard Cawthorne, Christopher Kirby 


A vision of a Utopian future where technology is supremely ubiquitous. In that future, technophobe Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) embraces an experimental computer chip implant named STEM after a mugging incident leaves him paralyzed and his wife dead. STEM proves to possess its own agency, making for an unpredictable ally in Trace’s vendetta.

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