Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Plot: A troubled security guard begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. During his first night on the job, he realises that the night shift won’t be so easy to get through. Pretty soon he will unveil what actually happened at Freddy’s.
Review: There was a time when we would automatically assume a video game adaptation would suck, but that time is thankfully behind us and fans of the medium have been enjoying more winners (albeit mostly on the small screen) than losers.
Sadly, the very popular Five Nights at Freddy’s won’t be joining the likes of The Last of Us, Detective Pikachu or Sonic in the winner’s circle as this movie is a slogfest.
Let’s start with the good stuff first. FNAF is visually and thematically very faithful to the game. Even without the inevitable easter eggs the set pieces, specifically the Chuck-E-Cheese-inspired kid’s restaurant Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, will evoke instant flashback to the game’s most famous moments. And the animatronic antagonists don’t disappoint in this arena either. Freddy (Kevin Foster), Bonnie (Jade-Kindar-Martin), Chica (Jess Weiss), Cupcake and Foxy all look like their digital counterparts and when I saw them my hopes were high that the movie was on the right track.
Sadly, my hopes were dashed from the very first off-screen kill, one of many as the movie chooses to not show much (if any) blood and gore while relying on cheap jump scares to try and get a reaction out of viewers. I can’t think of a larger wasted opportunity; my equal congratulations and sympathy for the team behind the fantastic practical effects that were wasted on this film.
A premise as straightforward as this required a strong cast to sell it but once again FNAF fails to deliver. Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) plays Mike, the new security guard hired to watch over the property at night. Mike struggles with insomnia and the traumas of his childhood make it not only difficult to hold down a job but also to take care of his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio). There’s also a police officer Vanessa, played by Elizabeth Lail, who has a personal link to Freddy’s and a side plot concerning an evil aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson) who wants custody of Abby so she can collect the child support cheques.
Each and every one of these leave zero impact emotionally and lead Mike is so bland and uninteresting I couldn’t care less whether he made it out alive or not.
A fun premise that forgot to include the fun parts, FNAF was a huge disappointment. Willy’s Wonderland, The Banana Splits and now this? If I had to guess Five Night’s at Freddy’s wouldn’t be the best of the bunch (the title goes to Willy’s for me) I would’ve lost. Still, the movie is doing well in cinemas and with multiple sequels planned one can only hope Freddy’s next slice will be tastier than this one.
Sommer’s Score: 4 out of 10
And you check out more RMR horror content about cute things that kill below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More