Wes Craven’s Deadly Friend has become something of a go-to meme for over-the-top, goofy violence with the titular “deadly friend” popping an old woman’s head with a basketball. (Mama Fratelli even!) For years I’ve chuckled at that goofiness, but I’d never actually seen the movie. I knew it was Craven. I knew it was sci-fi horror (a fav of mine). And I knew not much else about it. It just never piqued my interest before now for some reason. Now that I’m looking to watch and review 31 new-to-me horror movies again this October, I figured I should check it out. I mean, it’s from a heavyweight horror director, how bad can it be? Let’s get into it, shall we?
Paul is a teen super-genius. He, BB (his homemade advanced AI robot), and his mom move to Welling after he is accepted into the prestigious “Polytech” to study “brain physiology and cognitive theory” (but also robotics?). He befriends the paperboy, Tom, (who seems to be his same age) and the girl next door, Sam. Sam’s dad is an abusive, overbearing alcoholic. The three run afoul of the local mean old lady on Halloween and she shoots BB. Soon after, Sam is killed in a domestic violence accident. The pieces are in place for Paul to apply his genius and medical skills to put BB’s “brain” into Sam’s body. Things do not go swimmingly from there.
So… Deadly Friend is not great. I know that pretty much spoils the review part of this post right off the bat, but if you’re curious as to why it’s not great you can read on. First off, there is no better time than now (October 2026) to shit on AI. The myriad problems that it brings don’t seem to be outweighing the promised benefits. At least not for the masses. (i’m sure tech companies and politicians are seeing a very nice profit regardless of any harm done to us little guys) And BB shows right away that its programming allows for independent learning and actions in the absence of conscience and morality when it nearly kills a dude breaking into Paul’s mom’s car. Sure, we viewers get a little dopamine hit when we see the assholes of society punished Falling Down style but death is an objectively harsh punishment for trying to steal a purse. Paul’s genius has far outpaced his maturity, leading to his emotional reaction to Sam’s death. He’s too heartbroken to see that reanimating his girlfriend with BB’s chip will not be the same as having Sam back as he loved her. Of course, if he did recognize that fact, we wouldn’t get a horror movie out of this story. So, we see Kristy Swanson in constantly changing amounts of blue make-up moving jerkily like a stereotypical robot and blurting out BB’s vocal (voice chip?) tic – “BB”. BB/Sam now has some bad people to punish with murder (and one of them deserves it). The audience gets to feel a little schadenfreude and Craven gets to nod to his magnum opus via an old boiler, a burned up bad guy, and said burned up bad guy coming up through a bed to jump scare Johnny Depp Paul in a dream sequence. (i’m talking about A Nightmare on Elm Street in case you didn’t pick up on that) Overall, it’s a fine 80s shocker that comes nowhere close to Craven’s best but still entertains enough to mostly keep viewers off of their phones while they watch.
The Final Cut: Deadly Friend is an OK 80s sci-fi horror that doesn’t break any new ground with its too few shocks, logical leaps, and hokey make-up.
