Film Review - Five Nights at Freddy’s
Images courtesy of Universal Studios.
Almost a decade after shaking up the video game scene, Five Nights at Freddy's has finally made its way to the big screen. For those uninitiated or unfamiliar with the cult-like following the series has - which currently includes over a dozen games, various novels and a mountain of fan-created content - it revolves around the animatronic animal inhabitants of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a fast food restaurant that went out of business in the 80s. When troubled security guard Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) is offered a gig playing caretaker of the defunct pizzeria, he finds himself uncovering a mystery that may tie into the kidnapping of his brother.
Even as someone who never really loved the games, I can understand the appeal and anticipation surrounding the FNAF film. Anthropomorphic, branded animatronics are inherently creepy, birthed almost directly from the uncanny valley, and for many of us, they sit in this odd haze of nostalgia as a ghost of consumerism's past, a relic belonging to the liminal space of family entertainment dining centres. The lore of the franchise is deeply complex and sometimes contradictory, yet sparse enough to make way for wild fan theories. Likewise, Freddy and his cohort's designs are iconic, while remaining simple enough for even the youngest of fans to draw.
But after eight long years of development hell, the result is a film adaptation that feels as though it's been on the shelf collecting dust for just as long. It pains me to say this, because I really wanted to like Five Nights after how dismal this month's Exorcist re-quel was, but it's honestly just kind of okay at best. The plotting is trite, full of clichés and poor writing, the characters are bland, and the scares are lame. I understand not wanting to prevent the younger members of the fanbase from being able to see it and in doing so, eschewing the more gory aspects, but it's still far too dark for most parents to be happy sending their children off to, and yet also not vicious enough to satisfy those who matured alongside developer Scott Cawthorn's creation. One of the most notorious parts of the games - the iconic jumpscares that propelled many a Let'sPlayer to stardom - are here reduced to mere boos, telegraphed miles ahead.
It feels like a pretty big disservice to the average horror fan, as the impressive practical effects for the animatronics brought to life by the Jim Henson Creature Shop wind up obscured behind a smokescreen of bland and uninspired filmmaking. Gateway horror films are a fun subgenre all on their own, but there's still a lot you can get away with if you're just willing to have fun with the material - look at Gremlins, for example, or even Blumhouse's other killer robot film released earlier this year, M3GAN. We've even got Matthew Lillard of Scream, Thir13en Ghosts, and Scooby-Doo fame on board, but the material is too dry for anyone to really sink their teeth into. There are brief sparks of goofy fun that hint at what could've been (or may still be, with Lillard signed on for a three-picture deal), it's just that the film falls short of having the bite (of 87) necessary to pull it all off.
While diehard fans should find themselves having fun with the material once more as it makes its way onto the silver screen, FNAF lacks ambition, content to play in the kiddy pool instead of vying to be the Halloween blockbuster audiences so clearly deserve (that title remains firmly in the grip of Saw X). Serviceable but not particularly functional, Five Nights at Freddy's is a horror film that's as clunky and awkward as the lumbering animal robots it revolves around.
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Five Nights at Freddy’s is screening in cinemas from Thursday 26th October. For tickets and more info, click here.