By Bailey McLaughlin
The Five Nights at Freddy’s film focuses on a trouble security guard, Mike, who begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria in attempt to retain custody of his younger sister, Abby. While working the night shift, Mike soon discovers that there are murderous animatronics that stalk the family fun diner.
The story line is very simple and it’ll either have you interested in the first 10 minutes or it’s not going to grip you at all. However, it is pretty easy to guess where the story was going by the midway point. Also, the pacing of this film being very unbalanced. There’s a lot of setup to the story but not enough thrills. Part of the film is fun and somewhat exciting but then there’s the other side which feels rushed and messy. The actual Five Nights at Freddy’s storyline is largely secondary to the plot of lead character trying to uncover who kidnapped his brother as a child.
What this film did get right was the visuals. The way that the virtual word was brought to life was perfect. The set design, the costumes, the animatronics and the cinematography were all brilliant. I appreciated the use of animatronics over CGI but sadly that alone was not enough to make this an amazing film.
There is one scene in particular that I feel does not work. It’s the fort scene. In the original Fiver Nights at Freddy’s the animatronics would never get together to build a fort and lay down in it looking up to ceiling. I do understand the thought process behind it, but I just do not think it works. It really pulls you out of the film.
This film is supposed to be a horror movie, but I did not find myself scared at any point, if anything it was more of a comedy. There were multiple scenes that had everyone in the cinema laughing. The poor jump scares, lack of real gore and poor script turn this film into a mediocre family drama with a hint of horror rather than an outright horror film.
I didn’t hate it. I actually liked it. I had a great time. It was not good, but I had a lot of fun. Not every film is going to be a 10/10 or an absolute masterpiece, especially not this film, but it’s okay to find enjoyment in something that is not very good and kind of dumb. Overall, Five Nights at Freddy’s is lukewarm “horror” that if you lower your expectations, you may enjoy.
VERDICT: 2 stars out of 5.