Truly Dreadful Film

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Moving to a new neighborhood, a teenage computer whiz attempts to save his dying girlfriend decides to place the brain of a robot in her body which turns this into a ravenous killing machine that seeks revenge on his tormentors forcing him to have to stop his creation.This here wasn't all that enjoyable an effort. One of the few good aspects here is the fact that this one really tries to something original with the concept of the returning victim being brought back to life. This one nicely forsakes the concept of the Frankenstein motif it easily could've gone to and instead brings out a brain swap with the robot, making the switch to be quite fun and unique. That also leads into the fun attacks and revenge that she takes on, with these scenes not only being quite cheesy and silly but also providing some solid action into the proceedings as this is what really gives this a fine second half. That the romance isn't excruciating also helps the first half here which does come off nicely and sets up the later half rampage quite nicely. While these do manage to work for this one, it does have a series of somewhat troubling flaws found throughout here. The main issue to be had is the fact that there's just not a whole lot going on here for the first half of the film which manages only a few interesting concepts without really doing much else here. As the main focus in the film is the rather overlong romance angle, from the initial meet-cute and their strained relationship with the abusive father trying to keep them apart even though she keeps sneaking over to his house, the majority of this one runs through a romance angle between them is where the vast majority of that comes from, as the lives of the kids is set-up in a fine matter but doesn't really offer this one the chance to really explore the idea at its center which indeed comes quite late into the film. This is quite fine and generally, makes for a decent intro to the group but it also gives this quite a lengthy setback to get to the rampage which feels rather at odds with this whimsical beginning as it doesn't generate the required empathy in their relationship to make it feel like a rampage works. It's a fine start to a relationship, but in terms of being a full-on exploration of their life together, all it does is draw the film out longer. There's also the fact that this one doesn't really do much with the rampage that really lets this one work-out it's central premise once it occurs as there's far more screen time devoted to trying to have him hide her from the others rather than actually accomplishing anything so that it really doesn't feel all that interested in the vicious robot going out seeking revenge for anything that occurs. As those scenes are over quickly despite the action, it doesn't focus on that issue the way it could've. These here are what hold this one back.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Deadly Friend (1986)* (out of 4) Whiz kid Paul Conway (Matthew Labyorteaux) and his mother move to a small town. Paul's best friend is a robot named BB that he built by himself. Once in town he becomes friends with neighbor Samantha (Kristy Swanson) who is constantly being abused by her father. After the father accidentally kills the girl, Paul decides to put the brain of the robot into the girl. This brings her back to life but with deadly consequences.DEADLY FRIEND came just after director Wes Craven had struck gold with A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET but no amount of talent can overcome stupidity. The term "stupidity" is certainly the key word to this movie, which is downright crazy to begin with and it certainly ranks as one of the dumbest horror films of the decade. It's really a strange mix of FRANKENSTEIN, E.T. and a number of science fiction movies from the 1950s but sadly they all mix into a really bad movie that is just too silly to be scary or even entertaining.The biggest problem with the film is without question the screenplay. The whole idea of the robot's brain being put into the girl simply doesn't work and more times than not you're laughing at the entire concept. There's no question that the relationship between Paul and BB is modeled after E.T. but it just doesn't work. It really doesn't work whenever the film attempts for comedy, which usually comes from the supporting friend character. Even worse is the fact that there's not a single scare to be found anywhere in the movie and I'd go even further to say that Craven never even builds up any tension.It also doesn't help that the Paul character isn't very likable and it's clear the screenplay really doesn't know what to do with him. Labyorteaux is okay in the role as is Anne Twomey as the mother. Anne Ramsey plays her typical grumpy character but her performance just really takes away from the story and is rather off-putting. The one bright spot is Swanson who is certainly charming in the early parts as the human and she also is quite believable later on once the robot's brain is in her. It's really too bad she wasn't given something better to work with.DEADLY FRIEND is a pretty awful movie that does feature one terrific gore sequence that at least keeps it from being a total waste.

Yes, it has very over the top plot and some scenes are both crazy and funny, but it's still one of my fave movies ever. For very long time now i am huge fan of it, and i don't care about all the crap i might get, i'm not gonna change my opinion.I know, this movie has lot of problems with mixed direction and forced horror scenes, but i don't think that it's as bad as some of the Craven's other work like Hills Have Eyes 2. And it's important to know that most of the problems that Deadly Friend has is not because of the director, but because of the Warner Bros studio. But getting back to the movie;Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin did a good job with script, even though it's somewhat obvious that some of it was changed and added because of studio requests. Rubin also wrote scripts for two great movies from 1990; Jacob's Ladder which i am a huge fan of, and Ghost.As for movie, i think that actors did a good job with their roles, script works for about 90% of the movie (hey,i have to be honest, right?), horror atmosphere is quite good, jump scares are sometimes predictable but they work, gore scenes were not really needed (more on that later), but even though some are laughable, i think that they are actually well done with solid makeup effects and infamous "basketball kill" is definitely one of the funniest kills ever and one of the best head explosions i ever saw in movie, along with the ones in Scanners, Maniac and Prowler. Nightmare scenes from movie are often called stupid, but i think that they were quite creepy to be honest, specially one where Sam dreams about killing her dad. Hey, if Wes Craven is directing a nightmare scene, then you know it's a good one.Some people would probably disagree with me, but i think that ending, at least first part of it, is quite sad. But that second part with ultra stupid and idiotic "she's a robot!" ending is one thing that i absolutely hate.After doing some research i found out that movie was originally very different then what was released. It was originally meant to be more of a love story then horror, but producers from Warner Bros had different ideas and Craven was told to make the movie bloodier. I think that it's damn shame. If all gore was taken out, movie would still be solid horror and with, like they originally wanted, interesting and dark love story.You can actually see that there was more to this film with the romance subplot, and few of those scenes between Paul and Sam after she's been brought back to life are very well done both by director and actors. And i'm not talking about scenes when he tries to hide her or when he runs into the murder scene, i'm talking about scenes like when Sam is looking at photos of her and Paul and when she shows him one of those photos. Movie would probably benefit more from those scenes, and original cut probably did have more of that.Instead, what we got is movie that jumps from "kids" horror to usual over the top 80's horror. More serious subjects that it touches, like child abuse are almost overshadowed with gore scenes that really don't feel like they fit anywhere.I can see why Craven and Rubin disowned the movie, which is too bad cause i would really like to see how different original version was before they had to changed it. I'm a sucker for movies that have been tempered with in post production from one reason or another, so maybe that's one of the reasons why i appreciate this movie for what it could have been or for what it originally was.I know that i'm probably one of the few fans that this movie has, but either way, i still love it and i would recommend it to everyone who are interested in entertaining, fun horror movie.

The everyday story of one boy and his robot moving to a new house and making new friends and enemies.But seeing as this is Wes Craven, something sinister is bound to happen. with a basket ball!It's an odd choice of movie for Craven, seeing that he had just made one of the most iconic horror movies of all time two years earlier, but there is still a lot of fun to be had.I had no idea what the main plot device was, I just knew it was a Craven film I had never heard of, so I thought the first act was about a killer robot, and that 'BB' would become more sinister as the film progressed.Then Kristy Swanson, gets thrown down the stairs, and then we are back in full Craven mode, with a little eighties cheese thrown in.The performances are okay, Paul spends the film looking sweaty, Swanson is good, but the Darryl Hannah eye make up thing doesn't look like your decaying. And for some reason, Paul's friend just keeps fainting.The basketball scene is truly amazing, and depending on how you are feeling, you will either laugh or just groan.It's a very hard to find movie, but if you do find it, and love all things eighties, this will suit you.And it's a guarantee this will never be remade..