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.
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.