Imagine the world of children’s television but, instead of the happy and friendly universe portrayed, the reality when the cameras aren’t rolling is that it’s a nightmare fueled by a murderous host. That’s what we get in Casper Kelly’s directorial debut- Buddy.
On the surface, it seems like a straight alternate universe to Barney & Friends, but it’s much more than that. Sure, the titular character- “Buddy” is a giant orange unicorn that sounds exactly like the purple dinosaur, but this film pays homage to many iconic children’s series- Dora, Pee-Wee, Thomas the Tank Engine and more are alluded to in Buddy and it’s done very well.
Cinematically, it’s shot in the same film dimensions and uses filters to give the same video quality used in the 1990’s and even uses cut-scenes to narrate the life lessons the show is teaching the viewers of “It’s Buddy.”
However, when one child refuses to play along and doesn’t do what Buddy wants, everything goes downhill, with the unicorn transforming into a murderous, bloodthirsty killer whom the other kids spend the rest of the movie trying to escape from. However, it tows the line to perfection, given the victims of the movie are children. Yes, kids get killed but it doesn’t go too far and doesn’t cross any visual lines.
Buddy’s threating delivery is hilarious when he starts intimidating and bullying the children- but it’s meant to be. With one hell of a twist toward the end of the movie, Buddy has everything you could possibly want in a movie like this and could easily have spawned one of the most iconic horror movie icons yet.
The marketing campaign for the film has been absolutely genius and the characters are easy to fall in love with and connect with. This is a home run of a horror movie.
Rating: 10/10
-Reggie Edwards