Five Nights at Freddy's

Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kat Conner Sterling, David Lind
Directed by: Emma Tammi
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror, Thriller
2023

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Josh Hutcherson) who can't shake the darkness of his past takes a job at a security guard for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where he soon discovers a sinister force lurks within the animatronic creations.

Review:

Tim: Although I consider myself at least decently versed in the world of video games, I'd never heard of the Five Nights at Freddy's series. It seems like it's more of a commercial success than a critical one, which feels appropriate, given this film. Watching this movie, I tried to like it. There's definitely some positives here. However, the weaknesses ultimately overwhelm the positives. I still think this is a decent horror film, but not a good one.

The concept itself (at the basic level) is intriguing. We've all seen animatronics from back in the day, and there's always a creepiness associated with them. Imagine if they could move freely and even murder people. That's a frightening concept, one that's worth exploring for its cinematic potential. I wouldn't claim this movie is scary- I can't remember a single time I felt even the tiniest bit afraid. The PG-13 rating contributes here- we don't really see any blood- most murders are hinted at, rather than shown. I actually thought this was okay, because the movie leans into the narrative and dramatic elements more than I expected. It feels like the film is focused on telling the story first, and any scares or thrills are secondary.

The issue with this is that the narrative gets weaker as the film progresses. At first, it's really solid. The protagonist is a man with a darkness in his past (SPOILER, but not really)- as a child, his brother was kidnapped in front of him. It's haunted him ever since. That aspect of the film was the strongest- it sets this up as a potential redemption story for this good but flawed character. The issue is that as the story progresses and more is revealed, the narrative begins to fray before finally snapping. The logic of the revelations become weaker and weaker and the whole thing feels sillier and sillier. For a while, I considered this might be a "good" film, but the narrative is full of holes and nonsense. That's the weakest part of the film.

Part of the reason I liked the movie as much as I did is because Josh Hutcherson was great in it. It feels like the rest of the movie let him down- he shows up and delivers a heartfelt, engaging, believable performance. I connected with his character, felt his pain, and had sympathy for him. The relationship between he and his sister is intriguing. In too many horror films, I couldn't care about the characters any less. That is not the case here- Hutcherson is compelling as a character and he builds an emotional connection between this character and the audience. That's why I enjoyed the movie as much as I did. I give Hutcherson great credit, for delivering such a strong performance in a movie that doesn't deliver.

Piper Rubio was fine- I didn't love her performance, but it was okay. Matthew Lillard was fun to see, although his role is so limited that he doesn't make much of an impact. I do wish he was on screen more. I struggled with Elizabeth Lail- she felt familiar, although I've never seen in her anything before. There were moments when it felt like her performance could have worked, but there's a dozen moments where her performance fails. It felt like she was capable of more, but she's unable to convincingly sell much of her dialogue. I never quite believed anything she did on screen. At times, it was a bit painful to watch her. I think she could have some talent as an actress, but it didn't show up here. She had some chemistry with Hutcherson, although her performance definitely gets in the way of that. I'd be curious to see her in something else, but this performance was pretty bad.

The animatronics themselves are interesting to see. Without any knowledge of the game, they mostly meant nothing to me. Like I said, this film is surprisingly not scary the least. The visuals of these characters were slightly cool, but it's not like they talk or have any real personality. I don't know any of their names or anything about them. The visuals look good, but director Emma Tammi (who seems somewhat untalented, sorry) never really puts the right emphasis on these characters. This aspect of the film could have been much better. It's really the whole horror aspect- these characters should be leveraging the uncanny valley to really make us squirm. That never happens. Sure, the mask saws thing is a little creepy, but the animatronic characters are surprisingly bland. This is certainly one of the weakest aspects of the film. The lightning, the character design, the way these animatronics are shot- none of it really works, none of it ratchets up suspense.

In the end, Five Nights at Freddy's isn't a good film. The surprisingly effective performance of Josh Hutcherson absolutely saves the film from a much worse fate. His character and story are the most compelling of the film- all the craziness about the animatronics and the spooky supernatural elements feel generic, half-baked, and occasionally absurd. This is a film that starts out much better than it finishes. I'm also a bit disappointed that the film doesn't take place over five nights. I get that's a reference to the levels in the game, but unless I miscounted (possible), this movie doesn't involve five nights. Alas, it seems like a sequel has already been green-lit (the movie did an impressive $137 million domestically!) with the director and cast returning. I'd definitely give it a watch, but I hope Tammi learned from this film and doesn't follow the typical horror sequel route. I don't have great trust in that happening. While this movie isn't bad, it's frustrating to see a film not capitalize on some of its obvious opportunities.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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