Paul moves to a new town with his mother and his robot "BB" to study brain research at the local college. He becomes close with a paper boy, Tom and his next door neighbor, Samantha. They have a lot of good times together until BB's shot to pieces and Samantha's abusive father throws her down some stairs and kills her. He tries to save her by implanting robotic microchips in her brain but she swiftly begins a killing spree in their neighborhood. This is a film that never becomes anything memorable but it has unique charm thanks to the robot's personality and it's fun enough to please B-movie fans with likeable characters and spectacular practical effects. The plot is as weird as it sounds and it gets even weirder as the film goes on. It's kinda odd how the first half gives you this heavy wholesome family PG vibe and then it introduces some nasty gore and just shifts to something darker. That being said, I do appreciate the attempt in mixing lighthearted coming-of-age drama with gory horror even though it feels disjointed. And I think for the most part it works quite well and reminds me of _Dolls (1987)_. Overall it’s a decently fun film that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

**_Underwhelming Craven film that meshes sci-fi, teenage romance and horror_**

A boy genius specializing in brain research and robotics (Matthew Laborteaux) moves to the town of Welling with his mother (Anne Twomey) where he starts an apprenticeship at the university. He befriends a paper boy and romances an abused neighbor girl (Michael Sharrett and Kristy Swanson respectively). When tragedy strikes, he uses his talents to rectify the situation with horrifying results.

"Deadly Friend" (1986) was Wes Craven’s next theatrical project after the success of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984). It was meant to be a sci-fi thriller focusing on a dark teenage love story, but the trailer omitted BB the robot and advertised the movie as another Wes Craven horror flick. The film bombed at the box office.

You might remember Laborteaux as Albert, the adopted Ingalls boy on Little House on the Prairie. Meanwhile Winsome Kristy was only 16 during shooting. These two and BB the cute robot give the film a likable innocent quality. In tone, it’s a cross between “Short Circuit” (1986) and “Silver Bullet” (1985) just with elements of the Frankenstein story thrown in.

Speaking of which, this is a modern-day coming-of-age take on Frankenstein and zombie tales exploring the idea of a dead person being resurrected by unnatural means with unpleasant results. It raises questions concerning when physical death actually occurs. Interesting ideas, of course, but the execution is so-so and yet kind of agreeable, a puzzling mix.

Craven is a hit-or-miss director IMHO. For instance, “Summer of Fear” (1978) is effective, but “The Serpent and the Rainbow” (1988) is mind-bogglingly bad. This one falls somewhere in between, but closer to the good.

The film runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot in the Los Angeles area as follows: Burbank Studios (Paul Conway's house), USC (university exteriors & lecture hall interiors) and Monrovia, which is just northeast of L.A. (Samantha on the loose).

GRADE: B-/C+