Deadly Friend es una película de terror de 1986 dirigida por Wes Craven protagonizada por Matthew Labyorteaux y Kristy Swanson.
Today, we want to bring back the memories of this Wes Craven film (the same director behind Nightmare on Elm Street) that wasn’t necessarily good, nor did it possess an exceptional cinematic treatment: a limited script, a bit of blood, and a lot of hype.
Yet, something grabbed our attention: the concept of Artificial Intelligence was there, already in 1986.
Plot
A boy moves with his mother to a new neighborhood. Some own dogs, others cats, and some, a robot with a somewhat rudimentary AI implanted into it.
As it turns out, a very blonde and friendly neighbor girl approaches the boy, but unfortunately, ends up dead in an accident involving her father. The boy, already having feelings for her, decides to revive her by implanting the CPU of the computer into her.
About the Movie
One of those films we watched many years ago and loved, but with the passage of time, has aged miserably: it’s not terrifying, it’s not well-executed, and it doesn’t have an exceptional script. But the idea of AI was there along with those chips which now seem revolutionary and are intended to be implanted into the brain.
The idea is not new and in the ’80s, Hollywood was already dreaming up similar concepts, this time channeling them into the horror genre with a bit of gore.
With time, it hasn’t become a classic, let alone a good film, but retains the charm of nostalgia and those ’80s horror films which we all loved and took somewhat lightly.
“Deadly Friend” is trashy, didn’t cost much money, and it’s one of those B movies that are highly profitable even though they are not blockbusters: it doesn’t have star actors or is the best from its director, but it was a good production that fulfilled its purpose of profitability.
One of those cases of low investment and high return that studios in the ’80s loved so much (and let’s be honest, also in the ’40s when not all films were so great).
Our Opinion
Somewhat shabby but funny and charming. A product aging with grace, and today, with AI already turned into a more terrifying reality, we can take it lightly.
