What was wrong with me in the mid-1980s? I didn’t like most horror films. Take 1986, the year today’s film, Deadly Friend, was released. Chopping Mall – never saw it; thought it looked bad. House – hated it. Invaders from Mars – awful. Maximum Overdrive – despised it. Night of the Creeps – nope. Vamp – awful. Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Psycho III – terrible. I did, though, like The Fly.
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What’s changed for me in the early 2020s? I’ve re-watched some of these with different feelings about them. Chopping Mall – enjoyed the heck out of it. Night of the Creeps – didn’t love it, but I appreciated it. And now, Deadly Friend. What I remember as being a terrible film now actually has some terrific moments. Overall, it’s an inconsistent mix of ideas and tone, but it’s sort of fun to watch.
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In the science fiction part of the story, Paul (Matthew Labyorteaux) and his mother, Jeannie (Anne Twomey) move into a new house when he, as a high school student, receives a scholarship at Poly Technic because of his brilliant work in robotics and artificial intelligence; specifically, the creation of “BB,” a robot with artificial intelligence. Naturally he’s tormented by the “goon squad,” motorcycle-riding townie thugs.
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In the drama part of the story, Paul’s next-door neighbor, Samantha (Kristy Swanson) is being regularly abused by her father. She finds comfort and friendship with Paul until the fateful night that her father, Harry (Richard Marcus), socks her and sends her tumbling down the stairs. She hits her head at the bottom and eventually lies in the hospital brain-dead. Bridging the two parts, Paul races to revive her before the doctors pull the plug.
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In the horror part of the story, things don’t go well when Paul implants BB’s chip into Samantha’s head. She takes revenge on those that have wronged Paul. First, she breaks her father’s neck and shoves his head in the furnace. Next, she throws a basketball real hard at neighbor Elvira’s (Anne Ramsey) head. (She had earlier destroyed BB with her shotgun.) And so on… I mean, there are motorcycle-riding townie thugs, right?
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During my research, I learned that director Wes Craven was not happy about the way Deadly Friend turned out and disowned it. What’s funny is that the scenes I enjoy most are the ones Warner Bros. ordered as reshoots when test audiences didn’t get what they expected. Craven wanted a Starman (1984)-like romance between Paul and Samantha that was barely horrific at all. Warner Bros. wanted more of another film from the same year: A Nightmare on Elm Street.
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We’ll never know if Craven’s vision would have resulted in a better movie, but we can assume it would have been more even throughout. And we’ll never know if jettisoning Craven’s vision entirely would have resulted in another nightmare blockbuster. We do know that what we got was a critical failure and a box office bomb. However, today it exists as simple entertainment with missed opportunities for something more significant.
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