Is Buddy a Good Movie? 5 Reasons To Give The Nostalgic Slasher A Try
Buddy is the new buzzy horror on the streets, here is why it deserves the hype.
Casper Kelly’s feature debut, Buddy, premiered back in January 2026 at Sundance Film Festival as part of its Midnight Madness strand of programming. Since then the movie has been steadily picking up buzz as more and more people get to see it.
While it has already been released in America, audiences in the UK have a little longer to wait, although a recent appearance at genre festival FrightFest proved just how popular the film already is over here; Buddy screened twice at FrightFest and both screenings sold out almost instantly.
As one of the lucky few to snag a sneak peek at the maniacal unicorn movie, here are five reasons to get Buddy on your watchlist.
1. The Premise Is Insane
The main reason that Buddy has garnered so much attention is its frankly insane premise. Buddy takes all of the tropes of a kids show like Barney & Friends and gleefully distorts them into something very sinister.
Set inside the world of a children’s TV show, Buddy follows a group of kids as they discover that their giant, cuddly, orange unicorn friend is hiding homicidal tendencies. As they attempt to escape, the group find themselves hunted relentlessly by Buddy with devastating consequences.
2. Buddy Has Plenty Of Catharsis For Parents
One thing that isn’t made particularly clear before you become a parent is that at some point your child will take over the television. Suddenly you will find that your day will be spent watching hours of programming targeted at young children. While a few of these shows such as Hey Duggee and Bluey provide some sustenance for the grown-ups, most of them are focused purely on the very young.
These shows are overwhelmingly positive and teach children valuable lessons such as sharing and being kind. There is nothing wrong with this. But, when stuck watching them on a loop, the excessive cheer can start to grate. Buddy begins with this set-up inside its episodes of ‘It’s Buddy’ before slowly distorting them, which is an unexpected cathartic release for parents.
Buddy perfectly answers the question of what would happen if Barney lost his cool, and is the ultimate antithesis for the daytime torment of over-the-top kindness. Buddy is purely for adults only, though, as it will 100% traumatise younger viewers.
3. It Commits The Ultimate Horror Movie Taboo
Although horror movies are not meant to have boundaries, there is one thing that is typically off-limits: the harming of children. So often, despite being placed in peril, child characters survive horror movies unharmed; films that don’t follow this pattern often find themselves singled out for criticism.
Terrifier 3 is a prime example. The recent movie featured a controversial scene set in a shopping mall, which saw Art the Clown murder a crowd of children. Many audience members were unhappy with the sequence, believing it to be a step too far for the franchise. While Buddy doesn’t go quite as far as Terrifier 3, it is safe to say that not all of the young characters make it to the end credits.
4. The Film Makes A Fantastic Calling Card For Casper Kelly
Anyone familiar with the previous work of director Casper Kelly will not be at all surprised that a movie like Buddy marks his feature debut. For those unaware of his history, Buddy is a great entry point into the filmmaker's back catalogue.
Prior to Buddy, Kelly famously directed the Blair Witch Project inspired episode of Scooby-Doo, ‘The Scooby-Doo Project’. If you haven’t sought out the cartoon yet, you really have to as it perfectly recreates the ‘90s found-footage phenomenon.
Casper Kelly was also one of the contributing directors to horror anthology V/H/S/Halloween, directing the segment ‘Fun-Size’, a story which featured some rather dastardly Halloween candy and a bizarre looking antagonist.
5. Buddy Is A Visual Delight
Casper Kelly and his hardworking crew have managed to perfectly recreate the recognisable world of children's television shows. Kids programming, especially those aimed at the very young, is renowned for being exceptionally colourful. Children engage better with vibrant colours and Buddy nails the technicolour aspect of that aesthetic.
The set is wonderfully realised too, and it doesn’t take long to recognise that the primary kids show that Buddy is distorting is Barney & Friends. Not only does the mechanism of Buddy starting as a small toy before becoming real marry with the origins of Barney, but both the exterior and interior setting mirror many aspects of the iconic ‘90s TV series.
The keen attention to detail with the visual language enables the audience to readily accept the in-universe programme of It’s Buddy, which provides the perfect jumping off point for the rest of the story.
