FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S [2023]

Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)
Directed by: Emma Tammi
Written by: Elizabeth Lail, Emma Tammi, Scott Cawthon, Seth Cuddeback
Starring: Elisabeth Lial, Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Piper Rubio

USA 

IN CINEMAS NOW

RUNNING TIME: 112 mins

REVIEWED BY: Dr Lenera

Back in the ’80s, Freddy Fuzbear’s Pizza was a highly thriving restaurant and family entertainment centre whose star attractions were its five animatronic mascots Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Mr. Cupcake. Now. it’s long been abandoned and not in very good shape, though for some reason its owner won’t relinquish control of the building. Enter Mike Schmidt, a shopping mall security job who’s fired when he attacks someone he wrongfully thought was a child kidnapper. He’s haunted by seeing his brother Garnett kidnapped many years ago, and social services are threatening to take custody of his younger sister Abby and pass her over to their estranged aunt Jane, whose motive is a monthly paycheck from the state due to custody of Abby. He’s offered a job as a night guard at Freddy Fuzbear’s Pizza, and he takes it, but is soon to discover that these mascots are far from dead and actually rather dangerous,  and why are his dreams of Garnett’s kidnapping getting weirder?

I suppose I should begin this review by admitting that I know very little about the Five Nights At Freddy’s video games and, not being a gamer apart from a few brief periods back in the late ’80s, certainly haven’t played any of them. I didn’t do any reading up on them, and haven’t even seen Willy’s Wonderland either which is apparently very similar. So you could, with some justification, say that I’m not qualified to do a writeup of this movie version. However, on the other hand, I do think it possible that maybe I’m able to look at it more as a separate entity, and the review won’t be dominated by comparisons with the games which could get boring. One thing I am sure of, though, is that a lot of people, both parents and children, aren’t happy at the ’15’ rating that it’s been given here in the UK by our censors the BBFC, and that cinema staff are being given a lot of hassle. I even saw an argument about this very issue take place today in my local cinema right before my very eyes, with the guy behind the counter refusing to sell a ticket to two youngsters who seemed 12 or 13 years of age even though they were with an adult. The games may be basically horror but are aimed principally at younger teenagers, so one should reasonably accept that this film, which received a ‘PG-13’ in the United States, would be a ‘!2A’, but no, it’s got a ’15’. And, to be fair, while I often criticise the BBFC and find some of their decisions baffling even these days [and don’t get me started on their abomination of a website which used to be very useful and interesting indeed], there’s a very dark tone to some of Five Nights At Freddy’s, and some very dark ingredients, so one can see why they gave it the rating they did. They can’t win really; a ’12A’ may have resulted in lots of complaints from parents that it was too scary like The Woman In Black, though I’ve always thought the ’12A’ certificate [which has made the ‘PG’ virtually worthless]  to be ridiculous anyway. If there has to be something inbetween ‘PG’ and “15”, why not just carry over the ’12’ that’s used for home viewing?

Anyway, none of this waffling about our wildly inconsistent censors lets you know if the film is actually any good or not. I gather that it hasn’t been very well reviewed, but I found it to be a pretty reasonable chiller which is eminently suitable for teenagers who aren’t ready for the really scary stuff yet. There’s a nice ’80s feel about the whole thing and having its animatronic creatures realised by actual animatronics rather than CG was an excellent decision, though it’s possible that the mascots, who are employed quite sparingly – maybe too sparingly for some – may still have been a little unnerving if they’d been realised digitally, as there’s something “off” about these goofy but also somewhat sinister creations. The main setting is both creepy and colourful and overall well used, while the plot develops rather nicely until the final act where, if you think about it, some large holes do then appear. The slasher liker in me could have done with the few deaths being stronger, and wonders if this may have increased the film’s effect, but gore and violence was obviously not what Five Nights At Freddy’s was ever about. However, screenwriters Emmi Tammy who also directs, franchise creator Scott Cawthorne and Seth Cuddeback clearly felt that copying many of the ingredients of the games wasn’t enough, and the very nature of games does sometimes require that things be added because involvement in a motion picture can be different from involvement in a computer game, but did we need such an elaborate backstory for our main character? Josh Hutcherson is very likeable in the lead role, but some of the material he’s given would have made no difference to the main action if it were removed, and one wonders if losing fifteen or twenty minutes around the beginning and the middle would help the film somewhat, though these breaks away from the restaurant do open things out a bit more.

Things do begin in fairly intense fashion, with the previous night guard desperately attempting to flee the building but being captured by a red pirate-themed fox animatronic thingie and strapped to a device which plants an empty animatronic head onto him by brutally mutilating his face, killing him in the process. Even if we don’t see the gruesome parts, this is quite strong stuff, and, while some might say that a gradual buildup to a relisation that this place is not a safe one is preferable, maintaining more of a sense of mystery, the scene was probably thought necessary seeing as it’s some time before anything’s like it again. Then we meet our troubled hero. When he was very young, he literally saw his brother being driven away by kidnappers while out in the woods on a family picnic, so it’s very understandable that he’s troubled, perhaps even very understandable that, when he sees a small boy being taken away by his somewhat negligent father, he attacks said father. He’s sent to visit career counselor Steve Raglan who offers Mike a job as a night guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. He doesn’t want to do it, but his sister Abby could possibly be taken away from him, and he does love her so, even though he doesn’t pay much attention to her while she’s lost in a world of drawings. Yeah, we’ve seen this depicted over and over again – yawn – though at least the girl is a sister rather than a daughter, and it’s reasonably involving here, with also doing very well in the role of Abby. The many scenes involving the two therefore do convince, even if there are maybe too many of them taking up the running time. However, we never learn why their aunt is the way that she is, and the way that a family has obviously been torn apart by a terrible tragedy is barely more than suggested, though in these days of explicitly stating everything that’s rather nice.

On his first night, Mike falls asleep and dreams about Garrett’s kidnapping and presumed murder, which he probably does often, but here he also sees five children who witnessed it; when Mike tries to approach them, they run away. On the second night, he attempts to confront one of the children, but is attacked by something. Police officer Vanessa Shelly notices his wounds and patches him up, then shows him around the restaurant and tells him that it closed in the 1980s after five children were murdered there; their bodies were never found. Meanwhile Jane hires a group of juvenile delinquents to vandalize the restaurant in order to get Mike fired, an act which would enable her to gain custody of Abby. As the break-in occurs, the restaurant’s animatronic mascots come alive and slaughter the delinquents who include Abby’s babysitter Max, whose death results in Mike having to bring Abby to his next shift. This portion for a while brings the proceedings close to that of a slasher movie and there is a sense of terror, not full-on but quite surprising, while the kills are well handled considering that they couldn’t be properly shown; a lifting up and body snapping  in silhouette is pretty effective. Far from being frightened, Abby likes the thought of sleeping in a tent because it’s just like camping, then, when she’s awoken by noises, goes for a wander and is befriended by the animatronics. What or who’s possessing the animatronics [well that’s probably bleedingly obvious]? Why do they suddenly turn on Abby? Why does a blonde boy keep mentioning a “Yellow rabbit”? And why does one particular character turn into Mrs. Exposition three quarters of the way through, despite having had plenty of opportunities to spout such vitally important information before? Because the structure of the story required it, that’s why!

Despite this film being longer than it probably needs to be, some scenes look like they’ve been cut down to almost nothing, meaning that the overall pacing is rather uneven. And unfortunately, while there’s some good staging throughout, the thing does look rushed. Yes, it’s great that we’re seeing actual animatronics, but corners have clearly been cut here and there. For example, there’s a shot of Foxy where he’s supposed to be running down the hallway, but if you look down at his legs, you can tell that he’s not running, but gliding. Obviously there wasn’t enough money to do the shot properly, but in that case why wasn’t it cut out? Such things are a shame, because Five Nights At Freddy’s does often still work the way in which it was clearly intended. The very small amount of humour is perhaps surprising and may take a bit of time getting used to, but a nice chill does pervade a lot of scenes, especially when Abby’s with her new strange friends, and an attack by ghost children might be positively nightmarish if it were any longer, but this film isn’t trying to scare the living daylights out of you – even the jump scares are rather muted – unless you’re around 12 or so [if you can get in, that is]. It’s just trying to keep things just a bit sinister and just a bit scary; somebody I was chatting to earlier who hasn’t seen it mentioned Goosebumps, though it’s a bit stronger than that. Of course this means that it falls between two stools for some, and one must say again that scrutiny of the plot is not recommended. Questions involving motivation and the seeming inconsistency of at least one of its ghosts will otherwise arise; seemingly signs of a script that was rewritten quite a few times, though I remain astonished that in this day and age these kind of issues remain prevalent. Don’t people check such things?

Five Nights At Freddy‘s remains rather enjoyable despite its flaws. Director Emma Tammy keeps as strong a hold over it as she can, but then again it would be very hard not to exploit its great setting with its neon lights and dusty remnants of what was once family fun. Those animatronics really are unsettling. And there seem to be a lot of nods to the various games – well, I failed to see the point of a fair few things so they must mean something to some, surely? I imagine that the nature of Matthew Liliard’s cameo will be predicted by many fans. Okay – maybe I should have read up on the games after all.

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