Wes Craven directed a lot of films in his storied career, and "Deadly Friend" was definitely one of them. Hot on the heels of Craven's previous success with "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Deadly Friend" was originally intended to be the seasoned horror director's break away from genre conventions. Conceived as a teen coming-of-age story with a sci-fi twist, the film quickly spun out of control when it was decided by the studio that it needed more scenes of graphic violence and surreal dream sequences in the same vein as "Elm Street," culminating in an ending so stupid, it could only have been dreamed up by a braindead studio exec (spoiler alert: it was).
Paul (Matthew Laborteaux), a young genius with a penchant for neural science, is the new kid in town. Together with his single mother (Anne Twomey) and his robot companion (the scene stealing, anti-R2- D2, BB), he adapts quickly to life in his new town, drawing the ire of some really dull bullies, making friends with a spaz (Michael Sharrett) and sparking up a potential romance with the lovely girl next door, (Kristy Swanson). His luck soon takes a turn for the worse as his best friend is terminated at the hands of Mama Fratelli from "The Goonies," while an unfortunate accident similarly leaves his prospects for love in dire straits. When one door closes, another opens, and before long, his young love is resurrected and not quite acting herself, lashing out at her abusive father and playing pickup games of basketball that go a little too far (culminating in the most memorable and laugh-out-loud moment of the entire film).
Packed with an oddball sense of humor and some pretty gnarly if not somewhat out of place gore effects, "Deadly Friend" is a film any '80s horror fan should see at least once. While not a high point in Wes Craven's career (the director all but disowned it), it moves with a fine pace and is underlined by a gorgeous score from "Elm Street" composer Charles Bernstein. The leads are likable, the plot is silly and the basketball scene is worth the price of admission alone. It's a heavily compromised film and it shows in the final product, but the seeds of what could have been (and what Joe Bob Briggs sells as "A 'Breakfast Club' version of 'The Bride of Frankenstein' on the back of the DVD) are definitely there. "Deadly Friend" is worth catching up with if only for sheer entertainment value alone.
Paul (Matthew Laborteaux), a young genius with a penchant for neural science, is the new kid in town. Together with his single mother (Anne Twomey) and his robot companion (the scene stealing, anti-R2- D2, BB), he adapts quickly to life in his new town, drawing the ire of some really dull bullies, making friends with a spaz (Michael Sharrett) and sparking up a potential romance with the lovely girl next door, (Kristy Swanson). His luck soon takes a turn for the worse as his best friend is terminated at the hands of Mama Fratelli from "The Goonies," while an unfortunate accident similarly leaves his prospects for love in dire straits. When one door closes, another opens, and before long, his young love is resurrected and not quite acting herself, lashing out at her abusive father and playing pickup games of basketball that go a little too far (culminating in the most memorable and laugh-out-loud moment of the entire film).
Packed with an oddball sense of humor and some pretty gnarly if not somewhat out of place gore effects, "Deadly Friend" is a film any '80s horror fan should see at least once. While not a high point in Wes Craven's career (the director all but disowned it), it moves with a fine pace and is underlined by a gorgeous score from "Elm Street" composer Charles Bernstein. The leads are likable, the plot is silly and the basketball scene is worth the price of admission alone. It's a heavily compromised film and it shows in the final product, but the seeds of what could have been (and what Joe Bob Briggs sells as "A 'Breakfast Club' version of 'The Bride of Frankenstein' on the back of the DVD) are definitely there. "Deadly Friend" is worth catching up with if only for sheer entertainment value alone.