phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2026

Buddy



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2026
Runtime: 1h 36m
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre Tags: Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Plot Summary: A brave girl and her friends must escape a kids television show.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: Pitch perfect recreation of a Barney-esque kids show, if Barney was a reality-warping demon who gained power from children singing his theme song. Starts out normal (for a 90s kids show) and gets progessively weirder and darker, then shifts gears on you... And gets progessively weirder and darker. By the end there is so much implied by peripheral story and design elements you could start a Buddy Cinematic Universe, which he'd probably like you to do. Features excellent child actors and surprise appearances from Cristin Milioti, Topher Grace, Clint Howard and the voice of Keegan-Michael Key.


Outside Reviews:

Tomris Laffly
3.5 out of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

Most people growing up and coming of age across the ‘80s and ‘90s have probably crossed paths with one of those oppressively happy children's TV programs with plush animals, various cheery side characters, and a group of kids harmonizing and doing daily chores with a smile. Indeed, I'm chiefly talking about "Barney & Friends" and its purple dinosaur, and perhaps a little bit about "Sesame Street," too. These are the shows that not only used to be daily staples of our after-school lives, but are also at the heart of the ingenious and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny horror-comedy "Buddy," that gleefully spoofs them to brilliantly dark, blood-splattered ends.


Monica Castillo
Grade: B+ - Buddy takes a "killer Barney" premise to its delightfully unhinged conclusion

There's so much to love about Buddy, from its blender full of references as disparate as H.R. Pufnstuf and An American Werewolf In London, to its deranged whimsical world. More than just a pastiche, it's its own weirdo film built from TV parts, a horror movie about childhood that's meant for adults who can look back at their own half-forgotten shows, laugh, and wonder why they liked these oddly endearing, sometimes alarming, programs. Kelly recreates the look of these shows right down to their transition wipes and hip hop-lite choreography, but his darkest scares come from how someone who's not-so-nice gets away with bullying. Everyone pledges their love to Buddy, poking fun at the cult-like cadence of these shows, but it doesn't spare them from the cute ‘n' cuddly killer.