What if the safe and colorful world of a children’s TV show was actually a sinister alternate dimension? Writer-director Casper Kelly’s Buddy takes the familiar feel of a 1990s children’s show and turns it into a funny and creative horror film. 

When we look back as adults, there’s something inherently unsettling about a lot of the children’s media of the past, creating fertile ground for horror. From the animatronics of Showbiz Pizza and Chuck-E-Cheese inspiring the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise to the colorful and surreal world of the Teletubbies, it’s easy to pivot from playful to terrifying.

Buddy brings us into the world of the fictional children’s show “It’s Buddy!” about an orange unicorn and his kid pals who hang out in a clubhouse at a park. Like most kids’ programming, the singing and dancing are occasionally broken up by a life lesson or a visit from one of the friendly side characters, and every episode ends with a hug.

But soon, things start to shift. The usually jovial children notice that something is not quite right with Buddy, setting the story on a path toward murder and mayhem.

The recreation of a ’90s kids’ show is spot-on, very much in line with Kelly’s viral Too Many Cooks short. The sets, the puppets, the costumes, and even the music all feel like they could have been pulled right from an old VHS tape. Our Barney-coded Buddy (Sergey Zhuravsky in the suit and Keegan-Michael Key providing the voice) feels totally accurate for the mascot-led shows of the era. 

Much of the comedy derives from Buddy’s turn from jolly to sinister within the Pee-wee’s Playhouse-like setting. Friendly puppets and furry-suited animal characters being thrown into a world with blood and gore can create a lot of laughs and build fun tension. The increasingly terrified reactions of the children (Delaney Quinn, Caleb Williams, Tristan Borders, and Madison Skyy Polan) amp up both the humor and the horror of being trapped in a world where the lovable character you trusted most might actually harm you. 

While the film spends a lot of time in Buddy’s world, it wisely breaks things up with a parallel storyline about a suburban family (Cristin Milioti, Topher Grace, Seamus Flynn, and Bryson JonSteele) and their ties to the universe of the TV show. This keeps the pace moving and prevents the Buddy segments from losing their luster. 

By the time the storylines converge, we get a conclusion that is as funny as it is fucked up, giving us a message about children’s screentime while still being entertaining.

One of the best things about horror is that it’s a genre where filmmakers are still allowed to take creative risks, to try new ideas, to make a film that doesn’t have to aim for the broadest audience possible. Costs are relatively low, which allows creativity to surge, and we get fun ideas like Buddy.