This Craven film attempts to combine science fiction, a teenage romance, and horror elements, but doesn’t quite succeed. A young man with exceptional abilities in robotics and brain research, portrayed by Matthew Laborteaux, relocates to Welling with his mother (Anne Twomey) and begins an apprenticeship at the local university. There he makes friends with a paper delivery boy and develops a relationship with an abused girl next door (played by Michael Sharrett and Kristy Swanson respectively). Following a tragic event, he utilizes his skills to try and fix things, but the outcome is disturbing. "Deadly Friend," released in 1986, came after Craven’s success with “A Nightmare on Elm Street” a few years earlier. The intention was for it to be a science fiction thriller centered around a dark teenage love story; however, the promotional trailer left out BB the robot and promoted the movie as another horror film from Wes Craven. As a result, the movie did poorly in theaters. Viewers familiar with television might recognize Laborteaux as Albert, who was adopted by the Ingalls family on Little House on the Prairie. Kristy Swanson was just sixteen years old during filming. These actors, along with BB the robot, contribute to an appealing and innocent feel for the film. The overall tone is reminiscent of “Short Circuit” (1986) and “Silver Bullet” (1985), but incorporates aspects of the Frankenstein story. The movie offers a contemporary coming-of-age narrative inspired by Frankenstein and zombie stories, exploring the concept of bringing someone back from death through unnatural means with unpleasant consequences. It prompts consideration about what constitutes actual physical death. The ideas are certainly interesting, though the way they’re presented is merely adequate, creating a somewhat confusing combination. In my opinion, Craven's work can be inconsistent. “Summer of Fear” (1978) works well, but “The Serpent and the Rainbow” (1988) was exceptionally bad. This film lands somewhere in between those two extremes, leaning toward being good. The movie has a running time of 1 hour, 31 minutes and filming took place around Los Angeles at Burbank Studios (Paul Conway's house), USC (university exteriors & lecture hall interiors), and Monrovia, located northeast of L.A. (Samantha on the loose). GRADE: B-/C+

Source on TMDB