Buddy (2026) Review – This Year’s Most Surprising Horror Film

Welcome to Knockout Horror and to day 3 of our 2026 31 Days of Halloween feature. We are checking out a relatively new horror movie today and it might be the most surprising of the year – Buddy (2026). If you ever had a slight inkling that there was something a tiny bit sinister about Barney & Friends, you are in for a treat. Let’s take a look.

The Year’s Most Surprising Horror Movie

Now, I should make it clear, before we start, that I had heard rumblings about this film. I wasn’t going in completely blind.

Director Casper Kelly brought us the Fun Size segment on last year’s V/H/S/Halloween so it was very clear that he had a talent for making childish things utterly chilling. I just didn’t think that there would be anything to necessarily rave about, here. How wrong I was.

The story follows child actor Freddy (Delaney Quinn) and her friends as they attempt to escape from a kid’s television show hosted by an anthropomorphic, magical, talking unicorn called Buddy (brilliantly voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) that’s gone seriously rogue.

Anyone who grew up in the 90s or 00s is going to recognise this format immediately. The show, It’s Buddy!, is basically a Barney & Friends knockoff. A large Unicorn teaches children to be kind through the medium of song and rhyme.

The only difference is that the children actually exist within this world. They aren’t actors and they don’t go home at the end of the day. They have no clue where they came from or who they are; they only know their lives as members of the cast.

“I just didn’t think that Buddy would be anything to necessarily rave about, here. How wrong I was.”

Incidentally, said members of the cast keep depleting and many are replaced with little explanation. I wonder why?

It really leans into the kid’s TV show stuff

It’s an obvious concept, really, but it is immediately captivating for anyone with nostalgia for this era of kid’s television. I mean, let’s be honest, there was always something a tiny bit sinister about those shows.

Where Buddy works so damn well is how it leans into this format with intent.

Back in 2024, we were introduced to Mr Crocket, a demented kid’s TV presenter. While that movie was enjoyable, it was certainly nothing to write home about. It did feature segments presented as if they were a television show made for children but, for the most part, it played out as a standard horror.

It basically took the one thing that made it unique and did virtually nothing with it. The result was a film with an intriguing concept that simply felt like a Nightmare on Elm Street rip-off more than a truly original idea.

Buddy immediately writes that wrong. We do take a brief trip into reality, but it is mercifully fleeting. The vast majority of this movie takes place in the same world as the television show itself. As far as horror goes, this is a genuinely unique location that really couldn’t have been done better.

Genuinely unique

The majority of the picture is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio with that distinct, taped-off-television feel that is going to tug on your nostalgia strings. The world is overly saturated, extremely bright, and just a little uncanny.

“Each new area is flawlessly designed to capture that quintessential 90s nostalgia”

The cast of characters are exactly what you would expect to see in a show like this, too. Talking backpacks, living mail-boxes, a cheery mailman, and, of course, Buddy himself. This movie leans fully into its playful premise and, as a result, it feels immediately stylistically singular.

We won’t be stuck with this one aesthetic, though. Later in the film, it expands into an almost technicolor, dreamlike interpretation of the world that exists just outside of the television show as the group journey to find escape.

We still have an interesting assortment of colourful individuals to meet here, but the vibe changes up quite a lot. It’s actually quite impressive to see the array of different styles director Casper Kelly has managed to capture, here.

There was an obvious possibility for some visual fatigue staring at that 90s style video footage for the entire film so the mixup is quite welcome.

The shift also offers up a massive opportunity for the set designers to flex their skills and they don’t falter a single time. Each new area is flawlessly designed to capture that quintessential 90s nostalgia and keep the viewer wondering what is coming next.

It’s actually an effective horror

Aside from the fact that Buddy looks and feels extremely unique placed against a backdrop of facsimile genre films, the childish presentation actually works in its favour when it comes to the horror.

“You never know what is going to force Buddy to swap an informative song for a swing with the axe”

As I mentioned earlier, there’s always been something a tiny bit sinister about these types of shows. Maybe it’s the over the top optimism? Perhaps it is the constant obnoxious singing? Or maybe it is the fact that this huge, anthropomorphic creature could probably really harm the kids that it is spending far too much time with.

Either way, Buddy puts paid to that sinister tinge in the best way possible.

The character himself is actually pretty intimidating. The way his personality flips from lovable to extremely angry in one quick beat makes him unpredictable. Due to the fact that the majority of the cast are children, as well, the tension is heightened. Said child cast all do a fantastic job, by the way.

You never know what is going to force Buddy to swap an informative song for a swing with the axe which serves to keep you on edge in the early parts of the film.

Later on, some excellent creature design work and a Wizard of Oz style trip to a fabled sanctuary transforms the movie into a fun, and pretty scary, cat-and-mouse thriller.

It’s extremely effective and you might be surprised at how gory and nasty it can be. We even have some puppet based body-horror which is genuinely quite gross. Buddy is just so damn sinister that it’s impossible not to feel on edge.

It’s not quite perfect

There are some criticisms here, worth noting.

I couldn’t help but feel like the pacing was a little bit messy. The opening gets right into the action establishing that Buddy is completely demented. Perhaps ten minutes of normalcy might have been a good idea to build the characters just a little.

A mid-way jaunt into the real world to meet Grace (Cristin Milioti) does serve to break up the flow quite a bit, too, and perhaps not in a good way.

It ties into the story later on but not in a way that feels all that meaningful. It’s almost as if it was tacked on to add an extra 25 minutes of story to a movie that would have otherwise been a bit too short. I think many viewers will appreciate the diversion, but I just wish it did a bit more than act as a protracted exposition dump with little in the way of substance.

The initially unique concept does start to lose some of its bite later in the film. You will inevitably get used to the formula and it really doesn’t have enough tricks up its sleeve to keep it completely fresh. There’s also a few illogical story beats that feel less like the magic of kid’s television and more like holes in the narrative.

This is a movie that, by its very nature, isn’t going to be for everyone. If you don’t buy into the theme, you probably won’t find it scary or all that interesting. If you do, however, Buddy is one of the most unique horror movies in years and an absolute blast.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.