It makes sense that the mastermind behind brain-melting productions like Too Many Cooks and V/H/S/Halloween’s “Fun Size” segment would opt for unorthodox marketing tactics when advertising his first major horror feature. However, notorious online artist and genre filmmaker Casper Kelly continues to subvert audience expectations with the viral campaign meant to promote his upcoming mascot horror flick, Buddy.
A nostalgic horror romp that feels like a nightmarish combination of Five Nights at Freddy’s and classic online Creepypastas in the vein of Channel Zero: Candle Cove, the teaser trailers for Buddy offer brief glimpses at the in-universe ’90s show starring an overly friendly unicorn. However, the online rabbit hole goes a lot deeper than that, with these teasers actually being only one small part of a larger analog horror ARG that might turn out to be just as thrilling as the film itself.
Through frequent uploads on the official It’s Buddy channel on YouTube, which is masquerading as a fan account uploading brief VHS rips of the “real” TV show, the filmmakers have slowly been drip-feeding fans with period-accurate advertisements and background information about “everyone’s favorite orange unicorn from a magic land.”
Many of these videos harken back to harmless knock-off productions from the ’90s, most of which were trying to capitalize on the success of titans like Barney the Dinosaur, but certain ominous details occasionally remind viewers that there’s something not quite right with Buddy. From the theme song claiming that he’s “cuddly and a little bit nutsy” to the children occasionally acting like they’re in danger, it doesn’t take long for you to realize that there’s some dark stuff going on behind the scenes.
The scariest video so far is probably the Scared to be Brave Sing Along, with this seemingly innocuous recording containing near-subliminal shots of violence and gore interspersed between footage of kids dancing and singing alongside Buddy. Of course, there are also rumors of “fan channels” on YouTube posting more lost scenes from the show, though it remains to be seen if these extra videos are an official part of the ARG or just horror fans having fun with a new genre icon.
That’s not even mentioning scattered social media posts that appear to reference the program as if it actually aired on TV during the ’90s!
While the official channel’s overt references to the upcoming film kind of spoil the fun by admitting that it’s all a work of fiction, there’s still plenty of spooky goodness to discover when researching the It’s Buddy show. In fact, the indie developers over at ModRetro’s Chromatic division have just announced another entry in the ARG via Buddy: The Video Game – a fully playable Game Boy Color-inspired “kid’s game” that appears to morph into a survival horror title as you play.
These bits and pieces of lore will likely only be fully explained once Kelly’s movie comes out on August 28, but let us know in the comments below if you have your own theories about what the hell is going on with Buddy!
