20s Movie Review - Five Nights at Freddy's

Director: Emma Tammi
Genre: Horror
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Matthew Lillard, Mary Stuart Masterson

Description: A troubled security guard (Josh Hutcherson) begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. During his five nights on the job, he realizes that something is wrong with the pizzeria and pretty soon finds the truth about its animatronics.

Review: I have to start by saying I knew nothing about the game before watching this film. In the computer game “Five Nights at Freddy’s”, the player takes on the role fo a security guard. During the night shift, you must ensure that the branches of a fictional pizza chain remain safe. The main threat is the animatronic bear Freddy, after whom the restaurants are named. With his friends, Freddy has a pretty hostile attitude. There are over ten games out now.

In the movie the “player” is Mike, who gets the job as security guard at the pizza restaurant, which is now completely rundown. He is given a backstory, to give the film and character a bit more substance. He is sometimes visited by cop Vanessa, who seems to know a lot about the pizza place. And it’s about to get scary.

We quickly learn that the animatronics at this restaurant are coming alive and it is kind of strange to me how easy Mike goes along with this story. There isn’t much explanation given.

Director and co-writer Emma Tammi has put a lot of time into the dramatic element of her game adaptation. As a result, her second feature is constantly held up by hassles surrounding the introverted Abby, the tug-of-war over custody and Mike's recurring dreams. Clearly, everything will eventually come together, with coincidence playing a bizarrely large role. But is the horror audience actually interested in this?

A good horror film needs a ton of suspense and build-up, everything “Five Nights at Freddy’s seems to be missing. There is a handful of jump scares and little is left to your imagination. With an absurd premise like this it can go either way. It worked for the game, because these are immensely popular. It however does not work for the film.

Rating: 1,5/ 5