Deadly Friend (1986)

After his friend is killed by her abusive father, the new kid in town attempts to save her by implanting robotic microchips into her brain.

Director:

Wes Craven

Writers:

Diana Henstell (novel), Bruce Joel Rubin (screenplay)

Stars:

Matthew Labyorteaux, Kristy Swanson, Michael Sharrett

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Labyorteaux	...	Paul Conway (as Matthew Laborteaux)
Kristy Swanson	...	Samantha Pringle
Michael Sharrett	...	Tom 'Slime' Toomey
Anne Twomey	...	Jeannie Conway
Anne Ramsey	...	Elvira Parker
Richard Marcus	...	Harry Pringle
Russ Marin	...	Dr. Johanson
Lee Paul	...	Sergeant Volchek
Andrew Roperto	...	Carl
Charles Fleischer	...	BB (voice)
Robin Nuyen	...	Thief
Frank Cavestani	...	Angry Resident
Merritt Olsen	...	CAT Scan Technician
William H. Faeth	...	Doctor in Sam's Room (as William H. Faeth M.D.)
Joel Hile	...	Deputy

Storyline

Paul Conway and his mother Jeannie Conway travel to a new town where Paul will join the local university invited by Dr. Johanson. They bring the robot BB that was developed by Paul, who is a genius in robotics. Paul befriends the paperboy, Tom Toomey, and has a crush on his next door neighbor, Samantha Pringle, whose abusive alcoholic father Harry Pringle frequently hurts her. One day, Paul, Sam, Tom and BB are playing basketball and the ball falls in the field of their paranoid grumpy neighbor Elvira Parker who won't give it back to the teenagers. On Halloween, Tom convinces Paul to let BB open the padlock of the entrance to Elvira's house. However, there is an alarm system and Elvira blows up BB with her shotgun. Then Harry pushes his daughter down the stairs, and the doctors leave her brain-dead connected to life support. However, Paul convinces Tom to go to the hospital to rescue Sam, and then he implants BB's chip into her brain, resurrecting Samantha. But will she come back to ...

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Plot Keywords:

robot | basketball | 1980s | abusive father | morgue | 

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Taglines:

Grab A Friend before someone in the audience grabs you!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an 1996 interview Kristy Swanson said about 'Deadly Friend': "It was my first starring role in a feature. I was 16. I committed myself completely to it. I just went full out with it. I wanted to do the best job I could possibly do. I was having the time of my life. As for the movie itself, some people love it, some people hate it. It is what it is. I really enjoyed making 'Deadly Friend'. At that point in my life, it was spectacular."

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Goofs

When Paul tells his mom he is picking up the broken glass, you see his hands are holding the glass. In the next shot, his hands are not holding the glass.

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Quotes

Paul Conway: [yelling at Tom as they're getting ready to flee the hospital, with Sam's body, in the VW bus] Goddammit! There's still a chance! Things we can do! We've gotta' go now - sit down!
Tom: I want out. I mean it... I'm gonna' throw up.
Paul Conway: Throw up later.
[they speed off]

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Alternate Versions

The original release of the movie contained cuts which were implemented by the MPAA in order to prevent an X rating. Scenes for which movie kept getting X rating were all the gore scenes which were re-shot by studio orders. Movie was submitted to the MPAA 13 times before it finally got an R rating. Uncut scenes have been restored on the DVD release from the Twisted Terror Collection released by Warner Bros. on Sept. 25th, 2007. These scenes are:

• When Samantha is dreaming about her father coming into her bedroom and she breaks a vase and stabs him with it, close-ups of Sam's face getting hosed with blood are present.
• After Samantha murders her father in the basement boiler, Paul comes in and pulls the upper half of his body from the boiler and you get several more seconds and close-ups of his charred skeletal face.
• The infamous 'basketball' scene in which Samantha kills Elvira with a basketball is extended to show more of Elvira's head exploding all over the wall and her headless body walking directly from the wall instead of cutting back to Samantha's face and then showing the body walking around as in the VHS release.

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Connections

Featured in Top 10 Movie Moments That Have Nothing to Do with the Scene from Frankenstein Where the Monster Throws the Girl into the Pond (2010)

User Reviews

A clever, if dated take on Frankenstein

"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+

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Friend

Filming Locations:

Midwest Street, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,804,429, 13 October 1986

Gross USA:

$8,988,731

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,988,731

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Pan Arts, Layton

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1