“Buddy” and Analogue Horror

On July 29, 2011, a short film titled Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared was uploaded to YouTube.  It would become a viral hit, partially as a prank, as it was a super violent parody of family-friendly entertainment like Sesame Street. 

At 4:00 a.m. on October 28, 2024, a short film titled Too Many Cooks aired on Adult Swim.  It would become a viral hit, partially as a prank, as it was a super violent parody of family-friend entertainment like Full House. 

Buddy shares a lot of DNA with both of these shorts.  However, despite being a parody of shows aimed at preschoolers like Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared is, it shares much more with Too Many Cooks.  The most obvious parallel is that Casper Kelly, who wrote and directed Buddy, also created Too Many Cooks. 

But there’s more to it than that.  Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared has been praised for being thematically rich, both in its original short and in its numerous sequels.  Too Many Cooks, by contrast, is mostly notable for its commitment to absurdity than any strong meaning (though there is certainly commentary if you dig deep enough).  Buddy might not even have that layer of depth.  Buddy is a surface-level horror film utilizing the bits and pieces collected from different forms of viral horror that it is imitating – not just Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared and Too Many Cooks, but also Petscop, Amanda the Adventurer, Catastrophe Crow, and a myriad of properties covered on the Game Theory and Film Theory YouTube channels. 

Of course, being mostly a surface-level film does not preclude quality.  Buddy boasts numerous tense and exciting sequences, featuring clever scenarios that seem to grow naturally out of the (admittedly absurd) plot.  It also features convincing child performances, and while the adults aren’t quite as compelling, the fact that a small film was able to direct four children to act this well is nothing short of incredible.  But even on the surface, Buddy isn’t perfect.  It makes the creative decision to abandon the creepy atmosphere and quiet tension that make other analogue horror projects so magnetic, instead opting for the in-your-face, blood-filled horror abundant with chase sequences, to the point where Buddy feels more like Jason Voorhess than William Afton.  Perhaps that comes down to the fact that this is being distributed theatrically, while most other analogue horror projects are distributed online, and thus, a different type of experience is required.  The same thing, ironically, happened to Five Nights at Freddy’s. But it still feels like something of a downgrade. 

Perhaps there is something thematically rich contained here.  From the get-go, the actions of Buddy (played by Keegan-Michael Key) echo that of real-life domestic abusers.  There is a scene involving the character of Grace that especially cements this.  But this idea is not explored further, and even if it is, it mostly just boils down to “violent people bad.”  True statement, but, not exactly a thesis.  There is a chance that, once this comes to streaming, internet theorists will pick apart the DNA of this film and discover its subtleties, and this article will be defunct.  Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared was assumed to be shallow exploitation upon first watch by most people, and that turned out to not be the case.  But upon first watch, Buddy feels like it would have been best received if it aired on Adult Swim at four in the morning, just like Casper Kelly’s most famous work.