My girlfriend told me of a movie she saw when she was little, about a robot who starts killing people. She couldn't remember much of it, but as I searched for it, she kept telling me how much it impressed her... Obviously this is, as with a lot of child's movie memories, a film which is over-romanticized but in actuality less good then you remember... Though after seeing it I was not really impressed, it left me with some mixed feelings..
GOOD FEELINGS: Positive aspects of the film are in my opinion the idea behind it, Kristy Swanson, Wes Craven and the sometimes eerie music score by Charles Bernstein. Not really knowing what to expect, the film's opening of a car thief being stopped by BB (the robot) made me laugh immediately. The movie made me sad in a way, especially when BB gets blown to bits and the scenes with Kristy Swanson in her zombie form, desperately longing for Matthew Laborteaux' love. Wes Craven's signature is all over the film. With some scary dream sequences (I WAS scared when the father squirted blood all over the place while laughing like a madman) and some sets which looked extremely familiar to me (the cellar in which the father dies for instance, did anyone else got flashbacks of A Nightmare on Elmstreet?)
BAD FEELINGS: On the other hand, there were numerous things which I found annoying. A at times very laughable plot, a basketball as a murder weapon and most of all an extremely lousy ending... I've read that Wes Craven wasn't particularly happy with this, wanting another ending and less mindless gore for gore, but the President of Warner Bros. thought differently. Too bad, as it doesn't do ANY good to the movie, which could have been so much more...
CONCLUDING: Mixed feelings... Deadly Friend could have been a real cult classic, but doesn't reach for it in my opinion. Though there are some memorable moments (though the basketball-murder is absolutely ridiculous, I'll probably remember it for the rest of my life) and some good emotional moments (how did I feel for poor Kristy Swanson.) The BB robot is cute and you really feel sorry for Matthew Laborteaux when it gets destroyed, but all this barely saves the movie. Though I do not blame Wes Craven, who probably did everything he could to make the best of it, Deadly Friend is JUST good enough... The ending is a real downer, as it left me with disbelief and almost made me forget all the positive aspects of the film and I think the added gore doesn't add much to it as well... 5,5/10!
GOOD FEELINGS: Positive aspects of the film are in my opinion the idea behind it, Kristy Swanson, Wes Craven and the sometimes eerie music score by Charles Bernstein. Not really knowing what to expect, the film's opening of a car thief being stopped by BB (the robot) made me laugh immediately. The movie made me sad in a way, especially when BB gets blown to bits and the scenes with Kristy Swanson in her zombie form, desperately longing for Matthew Laborteaux' love. Wes Craven's signature is all over the film. With some scary dream sequences (I WAS scared when the father squirted blood all over the place while laughing like a madman) and some sets which looked extremely familiar to me (the cellar in which the father dies for instance, did anyone else got flashbacks of A Nightmare on Elmstreet?)
BAD FEELINGS: On the other hand, there were numerous things which I found annoying. A at times very laughable plot, a basketball as a murder weapon and most of all an extremely lousy ending... I've read that Wes Craven wasn't particularly happy with this, wanting another ending and less mindless gore for gore, but the President of Warner Bros. thought differently. Too bad, as it doesn't do ANY good to the movie, which could have been so much more...
CONCLUDING: Mixed feelings... Deadly Friend could have been a real cult classic, but doesn't reach for it in my opinion. Though there are some memorable moments (though the basketball-murder is absolutely ridiculous, I'll probably remember it for the rest of my life) and some good emotional moments (how did I feel for poor Kristy Swanson.) The BB robot is cute and you really feel sorry for Matthew Laborteaux when it gets destroyed, but all this barely saves the movie. Though I do not blame Wes Craven, who probably did everything he could to make the best of it, Deadly Friend is JUST good enough... The ending is a real downer, as it left me with disbelief and almost made me forget all the positive aspects of the film and I think the added gore doesn't add much to it as well... 5,5/10!