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Celebrity Crush
USA 2019
produced by Michael Baumgarten, Oliver Robins, Tel Ganesan (executive), G.B. Thimotheose (executive)
directed by Oliver Robins
starring Oliver Robins, Alissa Schneider, Melissa McNerney, Jonathan D. Lee, Wade Hunt Williams, Eddie Craig, Sage Croft, Tia Castle, Jim Horning, Jake T. Getman, Ellah Durliat, Kenny Pollone, Kenny Remmel, Sebastian Vale, Kira Howe, Erin Sheahan, Heather Budzian, Hailey Escobar, Rowena Hover
written by Oliver Robins, music by Karim Elmahmoudi
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Back in the eighties, when he was a kid (and played by Jake T. Getman),
he starred in a movie called Chain-Face Clown, a run-of-the-mill
slasher ... that's seen as a classic by today's audiences, so to his
surprise, Jonathan (Oliver Robins) is invtied to a comic book store
opening as the special guest, and to his surprise, people even line up to
get his autograph - all but shy but gorgeous Emily (Alissa Schneider), who
seems to be circling Jonathan though and watching him from the corner of
her eye, so when he stumbles into her again at his hotel, he decides to
chat her up, taking her for a fan just to timid to approach him. Emily
claims though she has never heard of Chain-Face Clown, but also
suggests she might be interested in him anyhow. And even though Jonathan
has a loving fiancée, Michelle (Melissa McNerney), at home, he follows
her to her place - basically because in looks alone she's way above his
pay grade. They spend the night together doing you-know-what, and it's
only the next morning that he notices she has a Chain-Face Clown
tattoo on her leg, showing his face as a kid. This freaks him out a
little, especially since Emily has claimed she has never seen the film,
and he tries to make a getaway - but he tazers him, and when he comes to,
he finds himself chained to the floor. Turns out Emily's a highly
delusional psychopath who basically wants to re-live the movie, with
Jonathan playin his role and herself playing the Chain-Face Clown, who has
been Jonathan's guardian angel in the film, killing all his bullies. To
that effect, she has even killed the actual title role actor of the film
(Eddie Craig) and eaten from his flesh. And now she does round up those
who (in her imagination) bullied Jonathan, like a couple of producers
(Jonathan D. Lee, Wade Hunt Williams) who rejected one of his scripts. Of
course, Jonathan doesn't take long to realize his situation is dire, but
how to escape a crazy woman who seems to have covered all the bases? On
the surface a psycho thriller, Celebrity Crush also works as a very
dark satire on today's fandom, especially its weird excesses on social
media, taking them back, to some extent, into the "real world".
And what's making this work is that the film on one hand shows a deep
understanding of the horror genre, horror fandom, and 80s slashers, but on
the other always seems to have a twinkle in the eye, even if never going
the straight comedy route. Plus relatable characters brought to life by
solid performances sure help to make this one a winner that's ought to be
well-liked by those into geek horror with a sense of humour for sure - and
the film even gets extra geek points as its writer-director-star played
the young boy in the classic Poltergeist back when ...
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