Writer Nick Eliot secures a job at Pique magazine and lodging in a guest house belonging to Cliff and Liv Forrester. The handsome Nick soon makes the acquaintance of the Forrester's 14-year-old daughter Adrian, a precocious girl who develops an intense attraction to him. She secretly helps Nick by sneaking into his room and rewriting one of his Pique stories, which subsequently wins a rave review from his editor/boss, Michael. At a party thrown by the Forresters, Nick agrees to accompany the lonely girl on a nighttime drive to a romantic spot, where she kisses him. This intensifies Adrian's crush on Nick, but he quickly wises up and attempts to put her off, having begun a budding romance with coworker Amy. Adrian continues to boldly pursue him, even going so far as to undress in his view while he is hiding in her closet. Nick, however, continues to rebuff her advances, and Adrian’s actions become destructive. She defaces a car he's restored and erases his computer discs, yet he's unable to convince Cliff and Liv of what's going on. Cheyenne, a friend of Adrian’s who tries to warn Nick about her, meets with an "accident" at the riding school they attend together. After Adrian spies on Nick in bed with Amy, she locks Amy in her darkroom and empties a wasps' nest into the vents, knowing of Amy's spheksophobia. Amy survives, and Nick, now convinced that Adrian is big trouble, attempts to find new lodging. However, Adrian manages to sabotage his efforts. She accuses him of sexually assaulting her with "evidence" obtained from a used condom from Nick's trash, leading to his arrest. After Michael bails him out, Nick is met once again by Cheyenne. She informs Nick that she knows he did not do anything to Adrian, and that Adrian had behaved like this before to a previous crush, a camp counselor named Rick who "accidentally" died by eating something poisonous. Cheyenne also informs Nick of a diary Adrian kept that can exonerate him. When Cheyenne leaves, Nick goes looking for her when he hears strange noises from the Forrester's house. He discovers Cheyenne bound and gagged in the attic on the carousel, and is confronted by Adrian and then an amazed Cliff, who attacks him thinking he is the enemy. Adrian, while still infatuated, knocks her father unconscious, leaving Nick free to subdue her with one punch, knocking her out cold and freeing Cheyenne. Acquitted, Nick goes to live with Amy while Adrian, confined to a psychiatric hospital, wishes to express her remorse for what she has done to Nick. Her doctor comments that she is making good progress, unaware she is developing a crush on him now. Ultimately, she returns to her room in the psychiatric hospital, where she looks at her doctor's wedding photo with an evil glare.
Writer and director Alan Shapiro based the film on events from his own life. The girl on whom he based Adrian sued him for using her real name, Darien, for Alicia Silverstone's character. As a result, when the film was re-edited for TV, the character's name was changed from Darian to Adrian. Silverstone is still credited as having played Darian Forrester on IMDB. The VHS and laser disc releases retained the original spoken dialogue that called the character Darian. The original theatrical trailer also refers to the character as Darian.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 25% rating from critics based on 28 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.
