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Thanks for the memories!

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

It's an odd one. At times it feels like a spooky film for teenagers, being itself about teenagers and a cute robot, but it was still strangely watchable. Kristy Swanson's plight is very moving and touching, and you know it's never going to end well. A young love that never has the chance to blossom, and through the young man's desire to keep her alive, it makes things worse. Even though it has dated in it's style, it's a nice adaptation of Frankenstein, bringing it into a contemporary setting, and the whole idea is a damn good one. Unfortunately the ending which should be reflective and downbeat is replaced by a shocker/scare, and it feels cheap and out of context with the movie we have just seen. This film was not about big scary moments and sudden shocks. It was more a dark romance that was never to be, and the ending jars, as well as not really making any sense. Overall, a good idea, with some nice moments, extremely watchabl, but somehow there's a sense that they missed a trick somewhere and it could have been even better.

Paul is a new kid in town with a robot named "BB". He befriends Samantha (Kristy Swanson) and the three of them have a lot of good times together. That is, until Samantha's abusive father throws her down some stairs and kills her.Whether you like this movie or not really comes down to how seriously you take it. Kristy Swanson walking and swinging her arms like a robot? Pretty silly. The acting is rather spotty at times. Some of the science and plot do not really add up. Calling this a "B" movie might be giving it too much credit.There is a lot of dispute about what aspects were Craven, what came from the studio and what was from different producers. Craven did not want the movie to be as dark or gory as it became. Respectfully, I would have to disagree with Craven on that. The gore effects (especially the burned father) look incredible, and by far the highlight of the film is the death of the neighbor woman (death by basketball!).This is a fun picture that seems to have been largely forgotten. Of course it is does not reach the status of "Last House", "Nightmare" or "Scream", but there is a lot to like about this one.

Precocious electronics whiz kid Paul Conway (a solid and likable performance by Matthew Laborteaux) brings his sweet girlfriend Samantha Pringle (ably played with bubbly charm by the lovely Kristy Swanson) back to life by placing a robot computer chip in her brain after she's killed by her abusive alcoholic father Harry (an effectively creepy turn by Richard Marcus). However, Samantha proceeds to exact a brutal revenge on everyone who's wronged her in any way. Director Wes Craven, working from an offbeat and thoughtful script by Bruce Joel Ruben, relates the quirky and entertaining "Frankenstein" variant story at a steady pace, grounds the fantastic premise in a plausible suburban reality, brings a real warmth to the opening third with the kids and Paul's adorable robot creation Bee Bee, treats the potentially laughable plot with admirable seriousness and sensitivity (the doomed romance between Paul and Samantha proves to be unexpectedly touching and leads to a heart-breaking tragic conclusion), and, naturally, delivers a few jolting nightmare sequences and several inspired moments of wild splatter (the infamous basketball decapitation rates as the definite outrageously gruesome highlight). The sincere acting from the capable cast helps a lot: Michael Sharrett as Paul's wimpy reluctant friend Tom and Anne Twomey as Paul's concerned mother Jeannie register well in their roles while Anne Ramsey has a terrifically nasty ball with the juicy part of mean and paranoid shotgun-toting old bat Elvira Parker. Moreover, Swanson deserves extra props for her remarkably expressive work as Samantha after she's revived as a super strong and murderous automaton. Charles Bernstein's excellent atmospheric score hits the shivery spot. Philip M. Lathrop's slick cinematography gives the picture a neat glossy look. Only the ridiculous surprise bummer ending falls markedly short of the mark. A cool little flick.

It sure has been a while since I last watched Wes Craven's "Deadly Friend", but I had forgotten just how much fun it was. The plot is so absurd and has murder sequences so surreal, I was completely won over. A bright teenager who can create artificially intelligent robots and understands complex matters concerning the human brain, responds to a crisis rather extraordinarily..his girlfriend is killed by her lousy, cruel, drunk of a father(..he knocks her down the stairs causing a head trauma/cerebral hemorrhage)and the kid, Paul(Matthew Laborteaux)resurrects the girl, Samantha(Kristy Swanson)by implanting his robot's computer chip intelligence in her brain! This Frankensteinian maneuver unleashes a cavalcade of problems he attempts to juggle with little success. First, Paul's friend, newspaper boy Tom(Michael Sharrett), who helped him kidnap Sam's body from the hospital, is having a hard time accepting what they had done. Second, the computer chip that Paul inserted in Sam's brain, is controlling her..this is a major setback because robot BB was starting to evolve into an entity which made it's own decisions without his master's approval, and it seems Sam is following orders directed by BB. Third, certain targets are being systematically murdered such as a paranoid neighbor who doesn't like people, Elvira Parker(Anne Ramsey; Throw Mama from the Train/The Goonies), always pointing her double-barrel shotgun at folks, who was responsible for destroying BB and Harry Pringle(Richard Marcus), the louse who sent his daughter crashing down the stairs to her demise. Fourth, Paul is having a difficult time keeping Sam stashed away, and getting her to follow instructions is not an easy task. With Tom about to crack, his mom(Anne Tworney) always close to discovering Sam, and a body count, Paul's life spirals out of control and it will only be a matter of time before the secret's out.I like how Craven creates what looks like a television movie, only for the outbursts of violence to shock the viewer into silence such as the celebrated head explosion gag by the use of a basketball(..this is followed by a body hopping about without the head as blood squirts out)..how Samantha is all of a sudden equipped with superhuman strength, allowed to lift a grown man in the air after snapping his wrist back, crushing his throat while having him extended high off the ground. Or, when Samantha lifts a biker bully, picking on Paul, over her head, hurling him into a cop car's windshield. Craven includes an amusing nightmare sequence many might consider a homage to "A Nightmare on Elm Street" where Paul finds someone slithering underneath his bed sheets, only to find the charred visage of a victim whose head had been eviscerated in an incinerator. We also spend time with Paul's cute robot before it's blown to smithereens by mean old hag Elvira, and it's established here that it's got some malevolence in it's evolving programming(..right at the start, BB nearly chokes the life out of a thief planning to lift money from Paul's mother's purse), how it could cause harm if needed. The plot itself is laughable, no doubt, and it's hard not to giggle at the ending where Paul hasn't learned his lesson, reaping unpleasantly for his interference in the process of life and death, having created a monster he will not be able to contain.