Written by: Jacob Tull / Staff writer
When I first heard about “Buddy,” I thought it was going to be a generic mascot horror film that has been tried and failed many times before. But, I was pleasantly surprised by how wrong I was. This movie is probably one of the best horror movies out there right now.
The plot revolves around Buddy, an anthropomorphic orange unicorn, having fun on a Barney-style show called It’s Buddy! with a bunch of other characters that have to do what Buddy says on the show or they get killed by him, so the kids have to escape. It seems like a simple plot, but it works well because most of the main cast are children. Children look up to the adult figures in their lives, and put their trust in them. But, when that trust is broken, it can be severely debilitating. Buddy uses that and makes it truly terrifying, which I really like about the movie. It also helps that at first, the kids don’t realize that if they don’t conform to what Buddy says, they’ll die. So when they find that the first kid, Josh, has died, that’s the moment they realize something’s wrong.
Another thing I really like about this movie is the deaths. My favorites are Oliver and Wade, who die by getting swallowed alive by Buddy and being impaled by his horn, respectively. Another death I liked was Willie, who died by getting drowned by Buddy. I liked them because they were unique and some used parts of characters to their advantage. However, some deaths I found lackluster because they didn’t have that, like Nurse Nancy, who was just bludgeoned to death. It just felt generic and could happen to anyone.
Yet another thing done well is the cast and their acting. The kids did a really good job at their respective roles, especially Delaney Quinn as Freddy and Caleb Williams as Wade. The voice actors did a great job as well, like Keegan-Michael Key as Buddy and Patton Oswalt as Strappy, a talking backpack. I find it really funny that Keegan-Michael Key also voiced Toad in The Super Mario Bros Movie, as the characters and the tone that comes with them are completely opposite to each other.
Overall, if you want a horror movie that has great acting, gruesome deaths, and a plot that keeps you on your toes, this is the movie for you.
