Deadly Friend (1986)
Review by the Fiend of Grue
Paul (Matthew Laborteaux) is a teen that is so far advanced that he is teaching brain research at a college level even though he is only a teen himself. On the exterior Paul looks just like any other teen you’d see in high school. Although he has the everyday look of most teens, he’s is obviously far above most in IQ. Paul has created an intelligent robot that is capable of independent thought, named BB. BB is a robot who can talk, think and form his own train of thought and is also Paul’s best friend. Along with BB and his mom Jeannie (Anne Twomey), Paul moves into a new neighborhood home. He soon becomes friend with Tom (Michael Sharrett) who is interested in BB and also becomes befriends Sam (Kristy Swanson), the beautiful blonde who lives next door. Paul and Sam quickly become good friends but Paul soon learns that Sam’s father Harry (Richard Marcus) is both physically and verbally abusive towards her.
All in one night Paul’s world comes crashing down around him as two separate tragedies take away the most important things in his life: Sam and BB. First, BB is shot by a local crazy old paranoid lady, Mrs. Parker (Anne Ramsey) and then Sam is killed when her father knocks her down the stairs in their home. Devastated but not defeated, Paul thinks up a way to save Sam by using the computer chip from BB, but he must get it in her brain before they pull the life support plug on her. He manages to convince Tom to help him. After drugging his Mom, Paul and Tom head to the hospital only to find out that they are too late and the doctors have already stopped life support on Sam, ending her life. Paul refuses to give up and implants the chip in Sam anyways, explaining to Tom that the chip should act just like a pacemaker for the brain and if there is any life at all left in her, it should work. At first it doesn’t appear as though it’s going to and Tom insists that Paul is crazy (in which he obviously is), but Paul’s mad scientist plan DOES end up working and Sam comes back to life.
After a brief moment of elation, Paul realizes that Sam is no longer the person she was before when she was alive and he also realizes that he doesn’t have control over her like he did with BB. Sam is hell bent on revenge and will stop at nothing to get back at everyone who wronged her when she was alive.
I’m not going to beat around the bush or lie to you, this movie is cheesy as hell and has a stupid premise in logical terms, but if you grew up with this movie like I did, or if you like 80’s-style, over-the-top, fun horror, then this is a movie worth watching. Deadly Friend is directed by Wes Craven and it embodies the “fun” side of horror that is sadly missing from a lot of today’s films. The back of the DVD case could not sum up the movie better: “A Breakfast Club version of Bride Of Frankenstein”
Likable characters that are easy to enjoy without any effort and also easy to root for make Deadly Friend a good way to spend 90 minutes of your time. Despite Paul being super intelligent, he is also undoubtedly insane. Matthew Laborteaux plays the character very well and even though he’s crazy, you’ll still find yourself feeling sorry for the guy and hoping all turns out well for him. Paul is the genius who is devastated at his unthinkable loss, and in turn, looses all rational thought and for his own selfish desires fights against the natural death process to try and save Sam. Even though he has clearly crossed over to a world of madness, the way in which the part was wrote and acted, makes it easy to sympathize with him.
Michael Sharrett as Paul’s side kick, Tom, also does a good job here as a teen who is fascinated with Paul’s work, but is also apprehensive of the consequences of their actions. At any sign of trouble, Tom has a propensity to faint and does so throughout the film. Kristy Swanson as Sam (in her first role) is also good, but it is a real marvel that she has went on to such a successful career with this being her first appearance. A girl who dies and comes back to life as a computer chipped zombie with robot mobility doesn’t exactly seem like a role that would win you more, and not only that, but she is like this for more than half of the film, but somehow though, she was able to beat the odds and has since done many movies and continues to act to this day.
For all of its cheesy absurdity, Deadly Friend does have some genuinely different moments. One such scene is a dream sequence in which Sam dreams that she stabs her father with a broken vase and as it sticks in his chest, he laughs and taunts her even more as a thick stream of blood sprays all over her. It makes for quite the twisted moment. Not only does it have this crazy scene, but it also has perhaps one of the best kills in horror history! There is a scene where the revived Sam is in the house of the overly paranoid Mrs. Parker. Earlier, Mrs. Parker had stolen a basketball from Sam, Paul and Tom when it bounced in her yard. As Mrs. Parker checks around her house when she hears some noises, Sam appears, takes the stolen basketball and with inhuman strength, launches it at Mrs. Parker’s head, exploding it in a shower of bloody gore. Mrs. Parker’s headless body sprays blood all over the room and staggers around before falling over dead. The whole scene comes out of nowhere and is easily the bloodiest scene of this relatively mildly gory film. You won’t soon forget it once you see it.
Deadly Friend is by far not Wes Craven’s best work, but it’s also not his worst work either…not by a long shot, this is just a fun way to spend a Saturday night. So if you like Wes Craven, the always gorgeous Kristy Swanson and an enjoyably cheesy 80’s romp, then Deadly Friend is for you.
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