The original Five Nights at Freddy's game (which this film is largely based off of) was a super simple but surprisingly innovative game about a security guard in an abandoned Chuck E Cheese style pizzeria hiding from the animatronics while trying to make it to the end of their shift. There were hints given about the overall arc of the story but they were doled out slowly and a lot of it came in after-the-fact. We focus on Mike and his tireless pursuit of his missing brother Garrett while he simultaneously looks after his sister Abby. You would think a movie about killer animatronics would be fast-paced but in a different tactic, Five Nights is content to slow things down for most of the run time. It wants to setup the mystery surround Freddy Fazbear's and Garrett's abduction which is a choice but it's an odd one. There's something to be said for fleshing out the characters but I was certainly expecting something a little more visceral. The rest of the movie is geared toward the fanbase and if you're a fan, you know the story so all the buildup seems a little redundant if you already know what's going to happen.
Casting Josh Hutcherson in the lead was an interesting pick. Hutcherson is in his early 30s but he looks like he's in his early 20s. To be fair, the games don't go into Michael's appearance a ton so it's not like Josh is cast against type. Hutcherson is giving it his all in this and I thought he succeeded as much as he could as Mike. He's appropriately frantic when called upon and he's fine acting beside Piper Rubio and Elizabeth Lail. Matthew Lillard was a pleasant surprise as Steve Raglan, he's appropriately campy and he got a few solid laughs out of me as the career counsellor. Piper Rubio was alright but I thought her performance was a little uneven, I had a hard time understanding where her character was at mentally because how affected she was didn't seem consistent from scene to scene. Abby was also a hard character to portray however. I really liked Elizabeth Lail in some of her previous work (mainly the 1st season of You) and while I don't think she was bad, she's kind of brought down by her character. Vanessa is really wishy-washy in this and she's all over the place emotionally. I just didn't see the same kind of spark from Elizabeth in Five Nights. The cast was mostly passable as a whole but while I don't like singling out one member, I was taken aback by how off pitch Mary Stuart Masterson was as Aunt Jane. While Lillard's work was more playful, she was unintentionally comedic and her bluntness didn't have the desired effect that I think Five Nights was going for.
As much as Five Nights has a ton of moments for the fans between the small nods in the set dressing, in-jokes in the dialogue and it brings in many of the fan-favourite characters, it still doesn't accomplish the most basic thing it needs to do. There's barely anything unsettling in this version of Five Nights let alone anything scary. The movie feels neutered to cater to its target audience. I understand that making it a conventional R rated slasher was never going to be in the cards but any violent deaths or maiming is done off-screen and it just sucks away any possible tension or thrills. To me it made the movie come off as accidentally goofy, the mythology of this series of games is surprisingly dark and relying on jump scares so frequently or choosing "simulated horror" over showing anything that could have possibly raised your pulse paints the original material in an unflattering light.
I wouldn't describe myself as a Freddy's fan but I do know a fair amount of the larger story of the franchise and I respect how much work went into creating the phenomenon that the Five Nights at Freddy's morphed into. The early games were basic and even cheap when it came to the scares but people gravitated toward them in droves and I think there was a lot of vision in how the series unfolded. This movie will give the die-hard members of the community what they want (this was evident in my theatre where a large percentage of the audience was cheering and clapping when the film ended) and Emma Tammi and her team (including Scott Cawthon and the writers) deserve credit for clearly prioritizing/caring about the fans and pleasing them first. But I can only imagine this will entertain those fans and few others, they needed to push the envelope a little at least but Five Nights is too safe and too contemplative for anyone interested in a legitimate horror movie. I have to think this will get a sequel and colour me interested if they try to go a different direction in the next chapter. If you're a fan, I think you should check this out but expectations should be kept low. If you've missed the hype train to this point and are only coming to this now, this version of Freddy's isn't going to win you over, you can skip it.
Casting Josh Hutcherson in the lead was an interesting pick. Hutcherson is in his early 30s but he looks like he's in his early 20s. To be fair, the games don't go into Michael's appearance a ton so it's not like Josh is cast against type. Hutcherson is giving it his all in this and I thought he succeeded as much as he could as Mike. He's appropriately frantic when called upon and he's fine acting beside Piper Rubio and Elizabeth Lail. Matthew Lillard was a pleasant surprise as Steve Raglan, he's appropriately campy and he got a few solid laughs out of me as the career counsellor. Piper Rubio was alright but I thought her performance was a little uneven, I had a hard time understanding where her character was at mentally because how affected she was didn't seem consistent from scene to scene. Abby was also a hard character to portray however. I really liked Elizabeth Lail in some of her previous work (mainly the 1st season of You) and while I don't think she was bad, she's kind of brought down by her character. Vanessa is really wishy-washy in this and she's all over the place emotionally. I just didn't see the same kind of spark from Elizabeth in Five Nights. The cast was mostly passable as a whole but while I don't like singling out one member, I was taken aback by how off pitch Mary Stuart Masterson was as Aunt Jane. While Lillard's work was more playful, she was unintentionally comedic and her bluntness didn't have the desired effect that I think Five Nights was going for.
As much as Five Nights has a ton of moments for the fans between the small nods in the set dressing, in-jokes in the dialogue and it brings in many of the fan-favourite characters, it still doesn't accomplish the most basic thing it needs to do. There's barely anything unsettling in this version of Five Nights let alone anything scary. The movie feels neutered to cater to its target audience. I understand that making it a conventional R rated slasher was never going to be in the cards but any violent deaths or maiming is done off-screen and it just sucks away any possible tension or thrills. To me it made the movie come off as accidentally goofy, the mythology of this series of games is surprisingly dark and relying on jump scares so frequently or choosing "simulated horror" over showing anything that could have possibly raised your pulse paints the original material in an unflattering light.
I wouldn't describe myself as a Freddy's fan but I do know a fair amount of the larger story of the franchise and I respect how much work went into creating the phenomenon that the Five Nights at Freddy's morphed into. The early games were basic and even cheap when it came to the scares but people gravitated toward them in droves and I think there was a lot of vision in how the series unfolded. This movie will give the die-hard members of the community what they want (this was evident in my theatre where a large percentage of the audience was cheering and clapping when the film ended) and Emma Tammi and her team (including Scott Cawthon and the writers) deserve credit for clearly prioritizing/caring about the fans and pleasing them first. But I can only imagine this will entertain those fans and few others, they needed to push the envelope a little at least but Five Nights is too safe and too contemplative for anyone interested in a legitimate horror movie. I have to think this will get a sequel and colour me interested if they try to go a different direction in the next chapter. If you're a fan, I think you should check this out but expectations should be kept low. If you've missed the hype train to this point and are only coming to this now, this version of Freddy's isn't going to win you over, you can skip it.