Deadly Friend (1986)

November 26, 2024 8:59 AM

[TRAILER] When tragedy strikes his remarkable robot and the beautiful girl next door (Kristy Swanson), lonely teenage genius Paul (Matthew Labyorteaux) tries to save them by pushing technology beyond its known limits into a terrifying new realm.

Also starring Anne Ramsay, Michael Sharrett, Anne Twomey, Richard Marcus, Russ Marin, Lee Paul, Andrew Roperto, Charles Fleischer, Robin Nuyen.

Directed by Wes Craven. Screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin (Jacob's Ladder). Based on Friend by Diana Henstell. Produced by Robert M. Sherman for Warner Bros. Cinematography by Philip H. Lathrop. Edited by Michael Eliot. Music by Charles Bernstein.

20% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently available for digital rental in the US. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (3 comments total)

I don't really know what this movie would have been like if it had remained the sci-fi feature that Craven shot originally. Based on the low budget, the aw, gee whiz teen scenes, and the sub-Johnny Five robot, probably not great then either.

I mean, Kristy Swanson's entire character rests on $1.75 worth of blue-green eye shadow smeared around to suggest a vague (but not cuteness-dampening) level of decay and the most wooden possible imitation of the way Karloff held his fingers/hands out as Frankenstein's monster. The male lead is twerpy little Albert from Little House on the Prairie.

It's like Craven saw Short Circuit and thought, "Needs some Bride of Frankenstein."

But the studio got this back from Craven and said, in as many words, "You're the Nightmare on Elm Street guy... why isn't this gory?" So he gave them gore. And supposedly had to cut out a bunch of character story beats to make it all flow faster.

So you end up with stuff like Anne Ramsay having her head exploded by a firmly thrown basketball.

I don't recommend this film, even if you're a fan of Craven and/or Swanson. But the basketball scene is hilarious and awesome, in a Riki-Oh kind of way.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:06 AM on November 26 [4 favorites]

I don't know anything about the making of this film, but I got the STRONG impression there was some production attempt to "save" it that resulted in a gigantic mess. So many weird tonal shifts! There could have been a good movie made from this premise, but this sure isn't it, lol.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 9:43 AM on November 26

And holy shit, that is a nonsensical ending.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:24 AM on November 26 [2 favorites]