Featuring the world's second most popular dinosaur (second only to the T-Rex from Jurassic Park), Barney & Friends was a flagship educational program on PBS for a generation of kids, myself included. The purple anthropomorphic dinosaur sang and danced as he taught children lessons about growing up, usually with help from his pals Baby Bop, BJ, and Riff. Everyone who grew up during the show's run has the "I Love You" song stuck in their brain, and the perfectly whimsical sets elicit a sense of nostalgia.

But what happens when that perfect world gets a little… imperfect? That's the question writer/director Casper Kelly asks with his feature directorial debut, Buddy. It extends his fascination with twisting previously comforting media into something absurdly creepy. His 2014 short film, Too Many Cooks, deconstructed the family sitcoms of the '80s, while Adult Swim Yule Log 2: Branchin' Out takes that iconic Christmas image and adds a murderous element.

Taking almost complete inspiration from Barney, the titular Buddy (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) is a magical orange talking unicorn mascot who interacts with children in his imaginary park. The children follow along to Buddy's every whim, singing and dancing whenever he politely instructs them to. That is, until one day when a child decides that he doesn't feel like dancing. Buddy doesn't handle rejection well, his cheery disposition replaced by a bloodthirsty rage still masked by his stitched-on smile. That disobedient child is never seen again, leaving behind his favorite book stained with blood, which Buddy laughs off as red paint.

Back in the drab real world is Grace (Cristin Milioti), a mother who can't help but feel that something is missing or wrong with her life. Her lame husband (Topher Grace) doesn't believe her, leading to arguments where she gets to spout such cliched lines like "You're not listening to me!" For as much as the children's television segments really commit to the bit through impressive production details and performances, the middle chunk of the film outside of that is an absolute bore.

Kelly may have (potentially) beaten A24 and Ayo Edebiri to the punch on riffing on Barney's cultural legacy; there is also the fact that YouTube has largely mined this twisted take for all its worth. I can recall several evil Barney animated videos I watched behind my parents' back, as well as the Don't Hug Me I'm Scared puppet series. Buddy's descent into a murderous rampage is a one-joke premise that is buoyed by a bigger budget and sense of craft than those archaic internet shorts.

The child performances are remarkable, balancing the poppy educational showmanship with the terror of a slasher film. Delaney Quinn - who starred as the unseen child from hell in last year's If I Had Legs I’d Kick You - plays the protagonist Freddy. Buddy teaches her early on that you gotta be scared to be brave, something she learns through much more terrifying methods later on. Too bad Kelly wasn't brave enough to fully push his vision into fresher territory.

Roadside Attractions will release Buddy in theaters nationwide on August 28th.