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It's been a trend lately to take children properties and turn them into cheaply made horror films. Every character from Winnie-the-Pooh to Peter Pan has been given the R-rated treatment, and while Casper Kelly's "Buddy" doesn't quite fit that mold, it's clear the new horror movie (which is several steps above "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey" in terms of its filmmaking) is inspired by a certain purple dinosaur that was a part of many childrens' upbringing.

For many, Barney felt like a friend and teacher throughout their adolescent years. "Barney & Friends," which ran from 1992-2010, was wholesome children entertainment, teaching the values of friendship and education, and it brought emotional intelligence to a young crowd without ever pandering. In Kelly's world, that's a bright orange unicorn named Buddy (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), who goes from being a stuffed animal to towering over the children on the show when one of them calls his name.

"Buddy" opens like an episode of the show "It's Buddy!" and is meticulously designed to look like a late-90s afterschool show. From the boxy aspect ratio to the screen transitions, Kelly transports viewers of a certain age to their childhood living room floor as they look up at the screen to watch their favorite character. But, when one kid decides to not participate in Buddy's fun, things start to get a bit unsettling.

A couple of the kids on the show, Freddy (Delaney Quinn) and Wade (Caleb Williams), start to get suspicious about what happened to that kid that didn't want to participate with Buddy's fun and games. When Buddy returns and the kid is nowhere to be found, and the only trace of him is his bloodied book in the garbage, Freddy and Wade decide to find a way to escape Buddy's increasingly menacing behavior.

The attention to detail in creating a television program set is crucial in conjuring a comforting sense of nostalgia, and production designer Anna Kathleen and Teresa Strebler created the right design to bring the late-90s back to life. Kelly, who makes his feature directorial debut here, has committed to the gimmick of crafting a movie that looks like a PBS show. The colorful and calming sense of innocence, juxtaposed with the menace behind the scenes, creates effective tension and unease for the first portion of the movie.

Kelly then takes the movie into the real world, where "Buddy" gets a bit less interesting. Grace (Cristin Milioti) is married to Ben (Topher Grace), and it appears things aren't well between the two of them. Grace is constantly filled with a sense of dread and Ben is unsupportive and impatient with whatever is happening to his wife. Obviously, there will eventually be some connection to the "It's Buddy!" show, but the screenplay (co-written by Kelly and Jamie King) feels padded with the scenes that take place outside of the television show.

For its originality and design, "Buddy" proves to be frustrating at times because it's great in parts and lags in others. Once the movie begins to reveal itself, there are some hangups on the logistics of it all, which stalls the movie and overshadows some of its strong points. As a debut feature, however, it's got enough daring and craft to make Kelly's next feature a must-see.