Five Nights at Freddy's (United States, 2023)
October 27, 2023
When it comes to making a movie based on an established IP,
like a video game, filmmakers can use one of two approaches: attempt to broaden
the scope with the goal of attracting a wider audience or hew close to the
source material, which is more apt to thrill die-hards. Without question, Five
Nights at Freddy’s opts for the latter. It is 110 minutes of pure fan
service. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and I have been told by several
committed gamers that it’s an excellent way to advance the brand, but unless
you have a history with one of the various video game iterations of “Five
Nights at Freddy’s,” the movie is unlikely to work for you. I have never played
the game and I felt like I was on the outside looking in. My son, on the other
hand, who is familiar with the franchise, enjoyed himself. (Afterwards, he was
able to point out to me all the things I had missed, like the cameos of various
Youtubers.)
Jason Blum knows his business model: make cheap horror
movies that come with sufficiently low budgets that they don’t require massive
box office receipts to break even. Five Nights at Freddy’s is a classic
Blumhouse project, coming with a $25M price tag. It features no big-name stars
– the most recognizable faces belong to Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, and
Mary Stuart Masterson. There are no expensive CGI effects – the animatronics at
Freddy’s were designed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, effectively making them
oversized Muppets. And the action is mostly confined to two locations: Mike’s
house and the pizza place. By making the movie PG-13 instead of R, the gates have
been opened to younger viewers – a necessary concession considering how
laser-focused Five Nights at Freddy’s is on wooing the gaming community.
This is HINO (Horror in Name Only). Oh, there are a couple of jump-scares and a
few atmospheric moments, but it often feels more like an unintentional parody
of PG-13 horror movies than a legitimate entry into the genre.
The plot is nonsensical in ways that makes something like Halloween
seem grounded. Mike Schmidt (played by Hunger Games contestant Josh
Hutcherson; no relation to the greatest player ever to put on a Phillies
uniform) is a newly-hired security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a defunct
family restaurant in the mold of Chuck E. Cheese’s. Desperately needing work
and advised by his career counselor, Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard), that
there’s only one available position, Mike has no choice but to accept. Freddy’s,
which hasn’t been open for at least a decade, has fallen into disrepair but
remains the “home” of four giant animatronic mascots - Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie,
Chica, and Foxy – that come to life every night and kill anyone on the
premises. A local cop, Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), offers a cryptic warning to
Mike after giving him a guided tour of a place where she had many happy
experiences as a child. When circumstances force Mike to bring his young
sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), with him to work, the mascots decide they want her
as a new friend.
As someone lacking a history with the game, it’s difficult
for me to assess the movie beyond recognizing that it wasn’t made for
outsiders. I can appreciate the set design and the creepy-cuddliness of the
mascots but there’s not much else to grab onto. I was more bored than scared.
The narrative is dumb and the writing cringe-worthy. The acting is amateurish –
over-the-top for veterans Mathew Lillard (who has always been pretty bad even
at his best) and Mary Stuart Masterson (who was delightful in the 1980s and
1990s but has pretty much slipped into obscurity since then), and understated
by Josh Hutcherson. Piper Rubio is a generic too-cute-for-her-own good child
actor.
Yet none of this really matters. The movie’s box office success is baked-in, much as it was for Super Mario Brothers and Barbie. It exists not as a standalone multiplex experience but as part of a marketing campaign determined to move beyond video games and toys. The movie lacks the nostalgia factor of those other two properties (the games have only been around for nine years, debuting in 2014) so it’s unlikely to find the level of interest with older viewers that exists for Mario and Barbie, but fans will be all-in. As a motion picture (in the traditional sense of the term), Five Nights at Freddy’s is disjointed and ultimately unsatisfying but as part of a larger cog in a cross-platform franchise, it does everything (and more) that is expected from it.
Five Nights at Freddy's (United States, 2023)
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard, Mary Stuart Masterson
Screenplay: Scott Cawthon and Seth Cuddeback & Emma Tammi
Cinematography: Lyn Moncrief
Music: The Newton Brothers
U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures
U.S. Release Date: 2023-10-27
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence)
Genre: Horror
Subtitles: none
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1
- Bridge to Terabithia, A (2007)
- Kids Are All Right, The (2010)
- Hunger Games, The: Catching Fire (2013)
- (There are no more better movies of Piper Rubio)
- (There are no more worst movies of Piper Rubio)
- (There are no more better movies of Elizabeth Lail)
- (There are no more worst movies of Elizabeth Lail)
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