What to Watch Verdict
A Five Nights at Freddy's movie had potential but with a lack of any significant scares or key moments from the game, it falls flat.
Pros
- +
The costumes look great and are true to the game design
- +
The Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria set design is also good with lots of little details throughout
- +
Matthew Lillard gives a great performance as always
- +
Sound design is effective and fits with the game's style
Cons
- -
Misses out key elements that made the original games so great
- -
Cheap jump scares that are repetitive and nothing like the game series
- -
Awful pacing, at least 20 minutes longer than it needed to be
- -
Doesn't seem to understand what tone it's going for, feels very confused
- -
There's a subplot that adds nothing of value and feels boring
- -
You barely see the animatronics which is silly, that's what the fans are here for!
When Five Nights at Freddy's first arrived on the scene in 2014, it was widely praised for its use of tension, where players were literally praying they wouldn't get jump scared. It's a shame we can't say the same about the movie adaptation.
In fairness, it's tried to stick to the original source material, considering the game's creator Scott Cawthon is on board. Much like the first game, the movie sees a new night security guard starting at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.
The movie introduces us to Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), a down-on-his-luck man who is in search of a new job after an incident at work, which leads him to the cursed pizza restaurant.
Much of Mike's character in Five Nights at Freddy's has been edited for the sake of the movie, as we don't actually know much about the playable character in the first game. So they've attempted to humanize him with a tragic backstory.
Mike had been triggered by the sight of a man getting angry with his son, which reminded him of the horrifying moment his younger brother had been abducted while he and his family were camping in the woods.
Naturally, Mike got fired because his job wasn't okay with him punching a man in front of his own child, and now he's got even more things to worry about. His primary concern is finding a new job so he can keep custody of his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio).
He's currently fighting with his truly awful aunt who wants custody of Abby purely for the monthly paycheck, resulting in a convoluted subplot that no one actually cares about. When can we get to the creepy animatronics, please?
When we do finally step inside the pizzeria, credit where credit's due, it looks very good. Since we spent most of the time hiding in the security office in the video game series, it was cool to see it come to life with themed decor, arcade machines, and the stage where the animatronics would entertain guests.
It's just a shame that the movie doesn't spend a lot of time there and we're always flitting about between various locations, which takes away from the overall experience. If any movie could have benefited from being a one-location piece, Five Nights at Freddy's is it.
If you're expecting tense, creeping scenes where Mike desperately hides in the pizzeria away from Freddy and co, you'll be hugely disappointed because it's so different from the game.
There are no real camera jumpscares or moments where they attack when the power is down, and most of the scares are cheap and unnecessary, sometimes even downright funny. Whether or not this was intentional is beyond me.
Even little Easter eggs aren't enough to save this movie, and there are no iconic moments from the game such as The Bite of '87 (if you know, you know) and Phone Guy, which makes it feel like a Five Nights at Freddy's rip off rather than an adaptation.
It's not all bad, though. The costume design for the animatronics is good and actually redeems the movie somewhat because getting the look of the four characters was very important. Jim Henson's Creature Shop has absolutely nailed the costumes, it's just a shame we didn't get to see them in action as much as we should have.
Meanwhile, Matthew Lillard is as good as he always is, but we shouldn't be too surprised given his standout performances in Scream and Scooby-Doo. He's back to his spooky routes here and seems to carry the rest of the cast at times.
Perhaps I was simply too optimistic given my love of the original game series, but Five Nights at Freddy's was a real let down, and nothing like the impression we got from the trailers. With no tension or genuinely impressive scares, we're not left with much to rave about.
There's also the problem of it being unappealing to newcomers. It's not massively accessible to people who have never played the games and leaves out a lot of features and lore which makes the series so great.
Want a good scare this Halloween? My advice would be to stay home, turn the lights down, and play the original Five Nights at Freddy's. You'll have a much better time.
Five Nights at Freddy's is in cinemas worldwide from Wednesday, October 25 and arrives on Peacock in the US on Friday, October 27.
