Starring Josh Hutcherson (“The Hunger Games”), Elizabeth Lail (“You,” “Gossip Girl”) and Mathew Lillard (“Scream,” “Scooby-Doo”), “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is the long awaited adaptation of the game series.
What started as an Indie Horror series from the mind of Scott Cawthon really took off after its release in 2014 largely because of its presence on Youtube.
Since the release of the first game, it’s spawned countless sequels, spin-offs, fan games, merch deals, music, and so much more. It was one of the earliest examples of a smaller independent video game receiving major success.
With this success, a major film adaptation was inevitable, being constantly teased by fans and studios alike over the years, only finally coming into fruition this past year.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” surrounds the main character Mike, played by Hutcherson. Mike is a down on his luck, jobless brother taking care of his younger sister Abby, played by Piper Rubio.
After multiple incidents at past jobs making him “unhireable,” Mike has to settle for a shady security job at the defunct “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzaria,” or risk losing custody over his sister
However, while on the job he learns a lot of the dark secrets behind the closure of the pizzeria and the true nature of the supposed animatronic mascots.
At the same time, Mike is fighting lucid visions of his kidnapped brother, trying to figure out what happened and piece together the ever growing mystery.
The movie shines in translating the games to the big screen, the animatronics look amazing and the pizzeria set is the perfect setting.
In terms of being scary, it’s pretty tame, only having a few genuinely unnerving moments, the blood and gore is pretty prominent for a movie rated PG-13, and they get away with some gruesome kills.
For as low my expectations were for the movie, it was surprisingly gratifying and decent. By no means is it exceptional, but the performances, setting and music are all really well done and the story is admirable.
The “Five Nights At Freddy’s” movie is a very enjoyable horror film that condenses an overly complicated game into a more digestible, likable story full of character.
