Kid shows like The Banana Splits, Barney and Teletubbies might be for the young audiences, but they are the perfect platform for horror. Anytime you take a mascot in a suit to wreak havoc I am here for it. The latest Buddy features a great cast including Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Patton Oswalt, Michael Shannon, Topher Grace and Keegan-Michael Key from V/H/S: Halloween segment director Casper Kelly. Could this children’s horror show be worth singing along with or should the credits have rolled early?

 

Buddy follows the bright orange unicorn and star of that classic children’s television show who brought joy and life lessons into your living room where a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and helping Buddy spread happiness. But when one child refuses to play along, Buddy is not pleased and cracks begin to appear in this seemingly perfect world.

 

This is one of those strange films that borders on brilliance on its execution alone. It is simplistic set up feeling more like a YouTube or public access show than a film but that is exactly how it’s supposed to feel. With the majority of the film taking place on and during the TV show it keeps you invested in this kid-friendly world that never feels all that comfortable that in turn makes you wonder what the hell is going on.

 

Once it sets up the setting and brings to light that things aren’t as they seem it jumps out into the real world to expand the story to give it more depth. It could have just focused on the lovable murderer on the TV screen, but by stepping out it not only gives us some explanation to how we get there and more trauma to the characters without ever feeling the need to spoon feed some lame backstory. I love it when they take the less is more approach to this sort of world as it makes it all the more bizarre and fun.

 

Once we step back into the world of Buddy and his show the chaos continues