Now this looks great on paper. The core idea revolves around a group of pathology interns playing murderous games after dark. Commit the smartest murder you can, submit it to the group who then have to work out how you did it. There's a quality idea in there and plenty of opportunity for a gritty and intelligent thriller exploring the darker side of our naturally murderous psyches. It's pretty obvious that's not what the writers of "Crank" are going to give you though.
In practise it all feels a tad eighties, like a cross between "Flatliners" and "The Lost Boys", and when the edgy bad boy pathologists are roaming the halls it's like the brat pack never went away. However, where Keifer Sutherland's pack of vampires were an understandably seductive prospect, it's impossible to believe that all it would take was some gentle bullying and a hint of potential lesbian action to turn Milo Ventimiglia's posh grade A super student into a murderous crack addict.
Still, suspend your disbelief and that's forgive-able. There is some good fun here, particularly in the performances which are all pretty decent, and things (ahem) perk up whenever Alyssa Milano is on screen. The main problem is how hard the movie tries to be adult, and the constant swearing, rutting and drug use has a whiff of "Hollyoaks In The City" desperation about it. It's such a constant barrage that it becomes, well, a bit dull unfortunately. Shame, there's a good movie in there somewhere and with a defter touch and a bit more maturity this could have been pretty special.
