Five Nights at Freddy’s Review: Creates A Genuinely Creepy and Suspenseful Atmosphere
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard
Director: Emma Tammi
Where We Watched: In Theaters
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
It took eight years, but Five Nights at Freddy’s became a film. The video game won over young people in one of the golden ages of YouTube, launching the careers of many gameplay channels, and will soon debut on the big screen. If you want to see it, we are ready to tell you something in our review of Five Nights at Freddy’s… The film had a long gestation that began in 2015 with Warner Bros, then moved to Blumhouse in 2017. After several director and script changes, filming began in February 2023 in New Orleans and concluded in April. The film would like to offer an engaging experience to fans of the videogame saga, inevitably also capturing lovers of the horror genre, but the large and evident effort made to complete the work did not lead to an equally flattering result. After all, you can’t expect every single film produced by Jason Blum to be a guarantee of triple “A” entertainment, but neither can you find yourself as spectators of a story that smells like recycling right from the prologue, where there isn’t a single moment that isn’t trite and trite.
The transposition of a video game to the big screen has rarely led to a show above the level of acceptability, and by this, we are not just referring to the bad films of Uwe Boll. At least in the case of Five Nights at Freddy’s the expectations were higher due to the presence of Blumhouse on the one hand, and the aforementioned high-voltage and successful video games on the other. At the base of everything are the infernal animatronics from which to perhaps start to develop a slasher narrative structure, possibly peppered with some good jumpscares and the certainly not secondary contribution of the cast. Josh Hutcherson (Hunger Games franchise), Matthew Lillard (Scream franchise), and Mary Stuart Masterson (loved since the ’80s with films like Heartbeat Wonderland, Benny & Joon, and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Train Stop) put their own spin on it, but within a worn and stale script.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Review: The Story Plot
We find ourselves approximately in the early 2000s, our protagonist is Mike (Josh Hutcherson), a tormented boy who goes from one job to another while trying to raise his little sister Abby (Piper Rubio) alone. To prevent his unpleasant aunt Jane from gaining custody of him, Mike accepts a new job as a night watchman at an abandoned pizzeria. He is directed towards work by Steve Raglan, an employment consultant who seems to genuinely want to help him. The pizzeria is Freddy Fuzbear’s Pizza, a place famous in the 1980s for its cutting-edge animatronic puppets that entertained adults and children. The place, however, was closed after the mysterious disappearance of some children. After a few nights of work, Mike realizes that something strange is hidden in the dilapidated pizzeria and that the disturbing puppets could hide an evil soul. With the help of Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), a policewoman who seems to know the past of Freddy Fuzbear’s Pizza well, Mike will discover what ties his sister Abby to the place and its terrifying inhabitants and will face a painful trauma from his past, the kidnapping of his little brother Garrett.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Review and Analysis
Talking about Five Nights at Freddy’s is not easy. It’s not easy because when you watch it, you’re not watching a bad film, let’s be clear. Because, with its strengths and weaknesses, this cinematic FNaF works in a certain sense. But paradoxically, if it weren’t for the places and elements of the franchise which have now become nothing short of iconic in the community when you watch it, you have the impression of not exactly watching something linked to Five Nights at Freddy’s. As mentioned, the most important characterizing factors are all there and the lore, with the necessary physiological modifications, is also present. The film, however, fails when we remember that we are not talking about an original title, but still an adaptation. Precisely from this point of view, Five Nights directed by Emma Tammi will not be able to make its way into the hearts of fans of the game and, by extension, also into the hearts of the wider public.
This is because the decidedly creepy, suspenseful atmosphere linked to the possibility of being hit by a jump scare at any moment in the game on the big screen has not reached the big screen. True, dealing with jump scares and cinema-like elements is always difficult because the audience who is more expert in the horror genre tends to superficially judge a tension built solely on this factor; it is also true, however, that this very factor made the fortune of FNaF and not only are they not present in the film except in some scenes placed – paradoxically – almost to lighten the tension, but not even the dynamics that led to the game feeling scared. With an almost inexplicable choice, Scott Cawthon chooses to cut from the script and consequently from the staging any type of moment that could recall the actual gameplay of the game, in favor of a narrative that tries to arrive more directly and suddenly to the heart of the game’s lore, exploring the facts of the series’ plot almost in broad daylight, rather than leaving dots to be connected by those who previously played and now watch the film.
Without a doubt, approaching a more linear narrative is an almost obligatory choice when talking about cinema and not video games, but the impression is that a middle ground could have been at least attempted and explored, while in the end the truest spirit of the five nights never manifests itself and this will only disappoint fans. Regardless of what the work of adaptation may be, if we take the film as an absolute value, then we are certainly talking about an overall decent film. With a plot that is not excellent and not developed to perfection, but which still has its reasons to be followed if you don’t know the game. The changes made to the events also allow gamers to find – or at least try – new interest in this new version of Five Nights at Freddy’s, but in any case, we are not talking about anything exceptional, also due to a perhaps excessively slow pace (this yes, like that of the video game) but which never has those peaks that the video game counterpart has during the gameplay.
If the narrative framework is promoted halfway, the same can be said – and here in a sadly negative sense – of the absolute protagonists of the film, the animations. Or rather, those who should be the absolute protagonists. Freddy, Bonnie, and the other animatronics are rendered in an overall good manner in the general context, but it is undeniable that here too the spark that contributed to making the characters so penetrating in the heads of gamers is missing. The big screen versions, ironically, are perhaps too refined and with too many details which, for example, make Freddy the animation of a friendly bear, losing that contrast dictated by the “official” role and the glassy appearances. Nothing ruins the experience, let’s be clear, but to this, it must be added that these animations, perhaps, after having seen the whole film, do not pose any real dangers.
Those who know the original video game and have become passionate about the saga over the years know well that the basic idea is quite simple. You play a night guard, who is tasked with guarding Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, an abandoned children’s restaurant. During the night, however, the animatronic animals come to life, and it will be up to you to manage the energy resources to defend yourself from their attacks. Just for five nights. But behind this apparent simplicity, there is an extraordinarily intricate story. Through some Easter eggs and stories, from the first chapter, we can reconstruct a complex story, which passes through possessions, children, ghosts, serial killers, obsessions, and traps. A puzzle with countless pieces, which multiply as the chapters progress.
Here, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie follows a similar approach. Because on the one hand, it is a very simple story, about a boy who finds himself struggling with a new job that has some disturbing and unexpected aspects. On the other hand, it is filled with many details, creating a very complex backstory that is at times difficult to unravel. An accumulation that is perhaps the result of the long process, from which the film does not particularly benefit. You find yourself managing more character than expected motivations that come and go, supernatural explanations that don’t go perfectly. All things can be overlooked because “it’s just a light movie to watch on Halloween”, but for this very reason, they are doubly superfluous.
Critics have not received this film particularly well, at least judging by the many negative reviews that the Five Nights at Freddy’s film already has on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the feeling is that they are only partially justified. Yes, it is a work that has problems, from the overly intricate story to some moments that greatly undermine the suspension of disbelief (which is already, particularly at risk in a story about killer bear puppets) to a paradoxical scarcity. of jumpscare. But it’s a fun film that doesn’t have to make horror history but just gives a taste of fear to young fans of the game, with whom they can spend their Halloween evening. You will hardly want to see it again unless you want to dig for Easter eggs or review given a probable second chapter, but in an increasingly crowded panorama of barely sketched horror films, Five Nights at Freddy’s is far from the worst.
But as in every transition from one medium to another, Five Nights at Freddy’s also has its flaws and negative nuances. In recent times there have been many video games that have been transposed onto the small and big screen, just think for example The Last of Us, Mortal Kombat, and Super Mario Bros. Each with its mythology that, for better or worse, the film or serial counterpart has had to support. We know well that it is not easy to satisfy the tastes and expectations of the public, especially if they are regular players, and it may happen that in transforming it into a cinematographic material something is forgotten, or some narrative solutions are not properly understandable. The same happens with Five Nights at Freddy’s: if on the one hand, we can appreciate the in-depth analysis (psychological and character) that is given to the character of Mike – very exhaustive – with related relational and family problems, on the other hand, this same choice it caused some internal holes towards the conclusion.
Meanwhile, the dream component that gradually makes its way into the story is not very clear and the final act does not help us understand its importance; the character of Vanessa, who appears as Mike’s helper and becomes a fundamental part of the film, has a poorly defined resolution at the end; even how the animations are connected to the drawings posted on the walls remains a considerable question mark. If it weren’t for the fact that they are linked to the very meaning of the puppets, these omissions – or we could even say not given explanations – might not be a problem, but in the general economy of the film, they were a necessary fact to pay more attention to in drafting the script for Don’t let him have any flaws. Despite these flaws, Five Nights at Freddy’s remains a product that fulfills its entertainment function. Someone will undoubtedly turn up their nose at the predictable and scholastic jumpscares of horror or the lack of a strong gore and splatter component, but let’s remember that the film was designed to embrace a large audience of spectators, so from this perspective this decision makes sense. We can conclude by saying that Five Nights at Freddy’s is a horror movie to watch without too many pretensions, with visual and narrative inserts that are all in all functional to spend a couple of hours in the theater having fun and a pinch of healthy and harmless fear.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Review: The Last Words
Five Nights at Freddy’s gives the impression of having wanted to play too quickly with cards exposed, revealing practically immediately the mysteries and secrets that could be addressed in the next chapters at the cinema, which will probably be put in the pipeline, given the economic success that at least in the United States the film is enjoying success. In a certain sense, a more classic and less virtuous adaptation would have benefited a story that reveals itself too soon for what it is, without the film managing to give too much importance to its twists and turns. We are talking about the classic mild horror, which is more of a sort of thriller, which despite doing its homework never manages to excel in anything. During the viewing, Five Nights at Freddy’s will certainly involve and be interesting, but in the end (after the post-credit and the end-credit song which we recommend listening to carefully) the feeling of having seen something that potentially could have been better will be stronger.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Review: Creates A Genuinely Creepy and Suspenseful Atmosphere - Filmyhype
Director: Emma Tammi
Date Created: 2023-10-27 15:03
3
Pros
- Atmosphere: The film creates a genuinely creepy and suspenseful atmosphere. The animatronics are well-designed and convincingly terrifying.
- Jump scares: The film makes effective use of jump scares to startle and scare viewers.
- Mystery: The film does a good job of building suspense and keeping viewers guessing about what is really going on at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.
Cons
- Pacing: The film's pacing is uneven. Some parts of the film are very slow-paced, while others are rushed.
- Characters: The film's characters are underdeveloped. Viewers don't learn much about Mike or the other characters, making it difficult to care about them.
- Lack of originality: The film is very similar to other horror films, and it doesn't do anything new or original with the genre.
