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With: Matthew Laborteaux, Kristy Swanson, Michael Sharrett, Anne Twomey, Richard Marcus, Anne Ramsey, Andrew Roperto, Lee Paul, Charles Fleischer, Tom Spratley, Jim Ishida, Russ Marin
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Written by: Bruce Joel Rubin
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Directed by: Wes Craven
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MPAA Rating: R
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Running Time: 91
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Date: 10/10/1986
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Ms. Roboto
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Wes Craven's follow-up to his hit A Nightmare on Elm Street fared considerably less well. Craven had intended Deadly Friend — based on a novel called Friend by Diana Henstell — to be a simple character-based movie, but test audiences (who expected horror and gore from Craven) were disappointed, and the studio interfered. The result, while not one of Craven's best, is still interesting and worth a look. A genius kid, Paul (Matthew Labyorteaux), moves to a new town with his mom (Anne Twomey) and his robot, B.B. (voiced by Charles Fleischer). He quickly befriends paperboy Tom (Michael Sharrett) and the pretty girl next door, Samantha (Kristy Swanson), who is being physically abused by her father (Richard Marcus).
After a tragic Halloween encounter with nasty neighbor Elvira (Anne Ramsey), and a fatal fall by Samantha at the hands of her father, Paul decides to use B.B.'s circuitry to bring Samantha back to life. Then, made up with blue circles around her eyes, she becomes a psychotic killer. Despite its flaws, the movie manages to take a look at the resilience of teens in a world of damaged, brutal adults. Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin went on to write Jacob's Ladder and won an Oscar for Ghost, both in the same year. Fleischer went on to provide the voice of Roger Rabbit, Ramsey went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Throw Momma from the Train, while Swanson, unfortunately, went on to become a psycho Trump supporter.
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