RoadsideFlix has released the official teaser for Buddy, a new horror film from Casper Kelly, the creator of Too Many Cooks.
The teaser introduces Buddy, a bright orange unicorn who once starred in a classic children’s television show full of songs, lessons and colourful make-believe. On the surface, everything looks sweet, safe and aggressively cheerful. Naturally, that is exactly why it feels so wrong.
The official teaser description describes Buddy as the star of a children’s show who brought joy and life lessons to audiences, until cracks begin to appear in his seemingly perfect world. That is the central hook: nostalgia curdling into horror, with the soft, familiar language of kids’ TV slowly becoming something trapped, sinister and deeply uncomfortable.
Directed by Casper Kelly and written by Kelly and Jamie King, Buddy stars Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Patton Oswalt, Michael Shannon, Topher Grace and Keegan-Michael Key. Roadside Attractions and Saban Films are handling the theatrical release, with current teaser coverage listing the film for August 28, 2026.
That creative pedigree is the real reason Buddy feels interesting. Kelly’s Too Many Cooks became a cult favourite by taking familiar TV language and letting it decay into surreal nightmare logic. Buddy appears to push that instinct into feature-film horror: what if the cheerful mascot was not comforting at all, but the thing everyone should have been afraid of?
The film also premiered in Sundance’s Midnight section, which feels like exactly the right home for this kind of warped concept. Horror built around corrupted nostalgia can easily become a gimmick, but the teaser suggests a very specific kind of unease: the feeling of remembering a childhood show and slowly realising something inside it was always watching back.
For fans of strange horror movies, Buddy looks like a twisted little nightmare wrapped in bright colours, puppet-show energy and a smile that absolutely cannot be trusted.
Buddy opens in theaters on August 28, 2026.
