Old children’s media has become a common topic for horror in the last decade or so. From Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared to a short from the latest V/H/S (which I covered recently), the mise-en-scène of ‘80s and ‘90s kids’ shows has often been replicated to create feelings of unease and distrust. Buddy is probably the biggest feature-length example, excluding Five Nights At Freddy’s and its countless imitators.

But can a feature sustain such an atmosphere and tell a relevant story?

Buddy opens with an episode of a Barney the Dinosaur-like kids’ show starring a big orange unicorn called Buddy. We see two episodes in a row, meeting the characters and learning the lore. However, cracks appear in Buddy’s perfect world, and as more episodes pass us by, the cracks only get bigger.

The Horror

Buddy’s first act is pretty perfect. Seconds into Buddy’s first episode, you’re looking for reality. You’re waiting for the episode to end, to hear someone yell ‘cut!’ or see what’s happening behind the scenes.

But that moment never really happens. You realise that the story is taking place inside the show itself, and the children on set are our leads.

Buddy looks and sounds creepy enough, but it’s his constant gaslighting that makes him really disturbing. The children investigate Buddy’s behaviour yet whenever they confront him, the big jolly unicorn always has an excuse on hand to deflect the accusation.

As the children investigate further, Buddy eventually resorts to violence, prompting the children to flee from the unicorn’s magical kingdom. This is when ‘reality’ kicks in. The film keeps you hooked, however, questions of how and why emerge regarding certain plot points.

Why?

The Sesame Street-style characters are wonderful; the contrast between them and the grotesque violence is both funny and horrifying. Buddy’s show looks straight out of the ‘1990s. A lot of love and care was put into the production design.

But by the end, and I am evading spoilers here, the whole retro aesthetic seems almost pointless.

In the second act, it’s implied that Buddy and his TV show may have a supernatural source, but I don’t know what that has to do with late 20th-century children’s media. Maybe I’ve misread the film, or I just don’t get it, or Buddy is actually the worst kind of arthouse that deflects all questions by referring to your own interpretation.

Buddy is engaging and well-made, with a novel concept that quite rightly makes it a standout in horror this year. Beyond all that though, I don’t think there’s any more to it.

I give Buddy a cuddly 7 out of 10.