What parent hasn’t had dark thoughts while watching “Barney & Friends?”
Enduring those limp melodies and cornball gags proved a chore, at best. “Buddy” has those beleaguered parents’ backs.
The horror comedy follows a Barney-like figure with a mean streak. It’s a clever premise, one of many lurking in this dark thriller. That ingenuity matters, since large passages are as dry as finding “Barney” outtakes on the web.
Shudder.
“It’s Buddy!” is the kind of generic fare that keeps kids distracted while Mom does the laundry. We watch the antics unfold, complete with authentic kid actors, talking objects like Strappy the backpack (Patton Oswalt) and, of course, the star of the show.
That’s Buddy (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), an orange unicorn who teaches valuable lessons with song and dance routines. Except he has a short fuse, something the children learn the hard way.
A separate story follows Grace (Cristin Milioti, “The Penguin”), a mom and wife who senses there’s something missing in her life. Her insensitive husband Ben (Topher Grace) has no patience for her emotional struggles, leading the two worlds to connect in a creepy, visually slick fashion.
“Buddy” deserves credit for taking an original premise and stretching it so far, but there’s not enough wit or scares to sustain a 95-minute feature. Director/co-writer Casper Kelly takes great pains to recreate a “Barney”-like production, and the attention to detail is impressive.
It’s a grand idea that keeps stalling, hoping we’ll cling to the cheeky production design to sustain our interest.
No such luck.
BUDDY: THE VIDEO GAME is coming soon on the ModRetro Chromatic and it’s fully compatible with the Game Boy® Color.
Based on the upcoming movie.
The game brings that world to a cartridge, mixing survival horror, visual novel storytelling, and a collection of mini games. pic.twitter.com/pvoga9Wayz
— Bloody Disgusting (@BDisgusting) August 20, 2026
Young Freddy (Delaney Quinn) anchors the story as a Final Girl, of sorts, and the other young stars walk a fine line between mediocre TV acting and genuine emotion.
Key is the main attraction, sounding credible as both a hacky TV performer and deranged killer. And it’s fun to watch the young kids break free from their G-rated shackles, giggling over naughty words for the first time.
Funny stuff, but “Buddy’s” sense of humor isn’t as bold as needed.
The film takes sweet moral lessons, like the power of facing our fears, and turns them on their heads. Smart, again, but these grace notes leave way too much time to fill. And “Buddy” spins its storytelling wheels early and often.
Even a cameo from genre favorite Clint Howard can’t spike this horror-comedy punch.
Milioti does her best to bring gravitas to the tale, and she partially succeeds in the third act. We finally get some genre thrills as Freddy and friends confront Buddy, but we’ve seen far better horror-comedies in recent years.
Any 10 minutes of “M3GAN” puts “Buddy” to shame.
“Buddy” is the kind of film you admire more than love, a noble effort that works better as a meme than a movie.
HiT or Miss: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Genre: Horror-comedy
Runtime: 1h 35 minutes
Where to Watch: Theaters (Aug. 28)
Family Friendly? No. Adult language, graphic violence, bloodshed and gore