Deadly Friend

Deadly Friend is a largely unknown film from acclaimed director Wes Craven, who became famous for movies like The Hills Have Eyes and The Last House on the Left. But if you give a chance to this thriller you will find something very original and scary...very scary!Deadly Friend is a genuinely frightening experience, it has such a great story that catches you from the beginning to the end. First of all, the plot is original and interesting - Deadly Friend isn't just another horror film, it's in parts a love story and in others it works as an old-fashioned gripping thriller that would make Hitchcock or De Palma proud of. Paul is a new kid in town, and he is a genius in computers and robots. He falls in love with the kind, sweet and vulnerable girl next door, Samantha, but everything ends up bad when Samantha's abusive father kills her. The guy freaks out and steals Samantha's body. He uses all his knowledge in machines and computer chips, and achieves to bring her back...as a killer robot!he takes her to his attic but she soon starts to kill the persons who used to humiliate her.

The Cast: the cast is great, terrific performances are delivered by the main actors. Kirsty Swanson is outstanding as Samantha, in the first hour of the film she is so sweet you may fall in love with her, in the last hour she is scary as hell. She is an excellent young star, and in certain ways, she reminds a lot another great young actress, Reese Witherspoon, she has that quality of delivering true-to-life, real performances, and like Reese she has an innocent beauty.Mathew Laborteaux makes a believable character, Paul is a guy who isn't a bad kid, he just is desperate to help the girl he loves but doesn't know how to deal with the consequences of his acts.

The Director: Wes Craven once again hits big time!this is one of his greatest films, but it will be a surprise for his fans because, instead of what they saw in The Hills Have Eyes and in most of Craven's films, Deadly Friend isn't so violent. Of course, you get some blood and guts here, but the deaths are relative low. If you want to see a body count, go rent Hellbound Hellraiser 2. Craven's goal here is that he sustains some kind of genuine suspense during the whole film with mastery, something that just Alfred Hitchcok used to do well.

The Story: in just one word - OUTSTANDING!this is a different, compelling story, it's a gripping tale that mixes such elements like love and horror, it's an appealing and charming material.

If you want to watch something really good, rent this great movie!here you will find suspense, humor, horror and love. It's a great job from great professionals!

Deadly Friend, a Frankenstein inspired tale in which dead teenager Samantha (Kristy Swanson) is brought back to life by the insertion of an artificial intelligence microchip into her brain, must be one of the dumbest movies in Wes Craven's erratic career, but to be fair, it might not be ALL his fault: studio intervention apparently altered Craven's original vision—a twisted love story between Sam and the genius boy next door—by forcing the director to add in extra scenes of gore and pointless dream sequences.

The result is a real howler, a film that features a cute Johnny 5 style robot that makes stupid noises, includes one of the most ridiculous horror movie deaths ever (a super-splattery decapitation by basketball), suffers from a truly awful performance from attractive young star Swanson, and closes with the silliest shock ending since…well, since Wes Craven's A Nightmare On Elm Street, actually. The funny thing is that it all proves reasonably entertaining—albeit for all the wrong reasons.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

"Deadly Friend" is one of those horror films that came and went without a trace; but for a die hard horror fanatic like myself, it certainly had it's share of scares, humor, and yes, a surprising human touch.

Matthew Laborteaux (a "Little House on the Prairie" alum) plays Paul; an egghead teen with a robot pal named BB. In the course of the plot, he meets Samantha or "Sam" (Kristy Swanson), an abused, lonely girl who catches the eye of young Paul. Needlessly killed, by her drunk father, Paul vows to make wrongs right, by implanting BB's superchip into Sam's brain....and that my friends, is where the fun (or nightmares) begin.

Sam is confused about her new identity, and is naturally seen as a freak. She proceeds to take it out on the locals (including Anne Ramsey, of "Goonies" fame, with above all things; a basketball!!), who want this abomination to cease from existing. Wes Craven didn't quite score with this outing, even after the phenomenal success of "A Nightmare on Elm Street", but even a flop has it's own merits. Find this little gem, and be sure the lights aren't off!!

Grade: C+

I had heard very mixed things about Deadly Friend so I was a little worried but I think this film is a little misunderstood. Much like Shocker(1989), this film gets a bad rep and I don't get it. We all know that Wes Craven is very hit or miss but I think is one of his hits. At least he's trying something different.

The acting is mediocre but I really like the story as a modern day Frankenstein. The direction and scares, I thought, were fantastic and the basketball scene was awesome.

I challenge all you horror fans to give Deadly Friend a chance. You might just find that you've made a good decision.

Cheesy cool movie that I must say was a surprise. Has one of the coolest kills in horror. Funny at times too.