Deadly Friend

Directed by Wes Craven, Deadly Friend follows Matthew Laborteaux’s Paul Conway as he eventually brings a murdered next-door neighbor (Kristy Swanson’s Samantha) back to life using a sophisticated computer chip. Before it reaches that point, however, the picture generally comes off as a watchable yet entirely unmemorable drama detailing the aforementioned characters’ tentative friendship and their less-than-enthralling exploits – with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by Craven’s flat, styleless approach to Bruce Joel Rubin’s hit-and-miss screenplay. The charm of the two leads, coupled with a periodic emphasis on engaging sequences, certainly goes a long way towards compensating for Deadly Friend‘s raft of underwhelming elements, although it’s equally clear that the narrative’s aggressively silly bent ensures that one’s interest dwindles steadily as the picture plods along. (This is despite the inclusion of several appreciatively gory, albeit somewhat incongruous, kill sequences within the second half.) By the time the padded-out and entirely anticlimactic closing stretch rolls around, Deadly Friend has undoubtedly cemented its place as a pronounced misfire that works neither as a coming-of-age romance nor a bloody sci-fi thriller.

** out of ****

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