My Review of Five Nights At Freddy's (2023)

 

Written by Scott Cawthon And Seth Cuddeback And Emma Tammi

Directed by Emma Tammi

Steve: "And you only have to worry about one thing. Keeping people out. And, and you know, and keep the place tidy."

Mike: "That's two things."

Full disclosure: I have never play this game and likely won't either but I've been curious about this movie for a while now. The trailers certainly sold it for me but did it turn out to be as good as it looked?

For the most I would say yes to this. It helped that it had a likeable main protagonist with Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson). Mike's an ordinary guy trying to look out for his younger sister, Abby (Piper Rubio). Sadly for Mike, he has a few obstacles against him.

Notably his ruthless Aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson) who won't stop in order to separate Mike and Abby. This included getting Abby's babysitter, Max (Kat Conner Sterling) and getting the latter's family to sabotage Mike's latest job. However that's something that turned out to be fatal for Max and her family.

Speaking of Mike's new gig, it's one that career counselor Steve Raglin (Matthew Lillard) encouraged him to take - a security guard gig at an abandoned family restaurant. An ordinary however it's not as Mike soon realised the animatronic creatures. - Golden Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Freddy Fazbear are possessed by dead kids.

Yes, there's a big plot about dead children, including the murder of Mike and Abby's brother, Garrett (Lucas Grant) and Mike spends a good portion in dreams wanting to bring his brother back and nearly losing Abby as a consequence. Then there's also policewoman Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail).

Again as someone unfamiliar with the lore of this franchise, the reveal of her being the daughter of the real villain was a decent twist. The real villain being serial killer William Afton, aka Steve Raglin aka the Fazbear Entertainment founder. Lillard makes the most of his killer reveal and he's a solid baddie whose reign of terror on children saw him get his just desserts.

- The Jim Henson company did a wonderful job with the animatronics.

- Nice use of Atari computer graphics to fill in the backstory for Freddy's in the movie.

- Blumhouse did a dual release on Peacock and in theatres like they've done with other movies.

- Chronology: 80s flashbacks with present day setting.

Five Nights At Freddy's I get the feeling might have appealed more to newbies like myself than the game fans. It's an enjoyable outing with good performances and some family friendly gore to boot. Given its success, a sequel will definitely be happening.

Rating: 7 out of 10