Scream Factory Releasing Deadly Friend

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Another one coming 10/26/21.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

Haven't seen this since it was making the rounds on Pay TV back in the day. Wonder how it holds up.

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

Haven't seen this since it was making the rounds on Pay TV back in the day. Wonder how it holds up.

It's shonky and all over the shop, Mark. Can't make up it's mind if it's fish (a kids film) or fowl (a horror movie).

I rewatched it twice recently, via the Spanish (bootleg?) Blu-ray - once on the home projector - in preparation for a podcast we recorded about the film about a month ago.

[agent999 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close agent999]

I'll be charitable as I think Craven got seriously fucked by the studio on this one, but it's not great and it doesn't have the goofy charms of Swamp Thing to help it.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

I've always liked it. Such a weird and campy mishmash, which is actually aided by the studio-mandated gore scenes IMO. Kristy Swanson has huge knockers. You can't beat the basketball head explosion. BB is dope and I would've liked to have seen it battle Johhny 5 in a DEADLY FRIEND/SHORT CIRCUIT crossover movie.

[Spaghetti Monkey Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Spaghetti Monkey]

^ That pretty much nails it for me too.

[James Reed Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close James Reed]

I think this movie reeks. I saw the novel it was based on, "Friend" by Diana Henstell, in a book store years ago, and had to buy it. I figured it had to be better than the movie, and I was right. It was amazing! The book was about a chubby 13 year old genius who moved into a new home with his single mother. The people next door was a widowed drunk and his 11 year old daughter. The 13 year old was smart enough that he built a robot named BB, his constant companion. The boy attended a school for smart kids and gained a crush on the girl next door. A mean old woman who lives across the street takes a rifle and destroys BB. One dark night the drunk hits his daughter and knocks her down the stairs. This puts her in a coma. The father orders the hospital to pull the plug on her. This act drives the poor boy over the edge. The boy steals the girl's body, takes the microchip from BB and creates a Frankenstein-like zombie. She starts to turn purple from decomposing and begins to smell, but he does his best to hide her. Well, she has a mind of her own and kills her father and the old woman while the boy is sleeping. This leads to a tragic ending which actually brought a tear to my eyes. I won't spoil it, for those who want to track down a copy of the novel and read it yourself. But the final sentence is this: "So this is what loves comes to." Effing brilliant!! Along with "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, "Friend" is the best novel written by a woman!! There was a petition years back that I signed to get Wes Craven's director's cut released. It's too bad that this didn't happen. I have no interest in the film as it is now. I won't watch it again, but don't let me stop you guys from doing so.

[agent999 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close agent999]

the best novel written by a woman!!

They need to put that quote on the cover! Bet she can't drive for shit though

[Barry M Super Fiend Find all posts View Profile Close Barry M]

It's nice to see women getting stuff done. Good job, Ms Henstell. Her obituary says she was editor-in-chief at NAL/Signet; did Mary Shelley ever even have a job?

Another thing to watch for while thumbing the used paperback racks -- thanks!

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

They need to put that quote on the cover! Bet she can't drive for shit though

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

Kristy Swanson has huge knockers.

Ha, when we recorded our podcast ep, we got some mileage out of Michael Sharrett's 'Great tits' line, which comes out of nowhere and seems utterly superfluous.

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

I think this movie reeks. I saw the novel it was based on, "Friend" by Diana Henstell, in a book store years ago, and had to buy it. I figured it had to be better than the movie, and I was right. It was amazing! The book was about a chubby 13 year old genius who moved into a new home with his single mother. The people next door was a widowed drunk and his 11 year old daughter. The 13 year old was smart enough that he built a robot named BB, his constant companion. The boy attended a school for smart kids and gained a crush on the girl next door. A mean old woman who lives across the street takes a rifle and destroys BB. One dark night the drunk hits his daughter and knocks her down the stairs. This puts her in a coma. The father orders the hospital to pull the plug on her. This act drives the poor boy over the edge. The boy steals the girl's body, takes the microchip from BB and creates a Frankenstein-like zombie. She starts to turn purple from decomposing and begins to smell, but he does his best to hide her. Well, she has a mind of her own and kills her father and the old woman while the boy is sleeping. This leads to a tragic ending which actually brought a tear to my eyes. I won't spoil it, for those who want to track down a copy of the novel and read it yourself. But the final sentence is this: "So this is what loves comes to." Effing brilliant!! Along with "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, "Friend" is the best novel written by a woman!! There was a petition years back that I signed to get Wes Craven's director's cut released. It's too bad that this didn't happen. I have no interest in the film as it is now. I won't watch it again, but don't let me stop you guys from doing so.

I've heard good things about the book but never managed to track a copy down.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Ha, when we recorded our podcast ep, we got some mileage out of Michael Sharrett's 'Great tits' line, which comes out of nowhere and seems utterly superfluous.

Where can I listen to the podcast?

[James Reed Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close James Reed]

I forgot that the trailer and TV spot both contain footage from the original edit. You can see the original death of Anne Ramsey's character in the TV spot.

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

Where can I listen to the podcast?

I've not edited it yet, Matt. (There's a backlog and my time's been taken up with other projects.) But it should go online within the next couple of weeks and will be available at one of these links: https://linktr.ee/killitwithfirepodcast