Pizza, a security guard, and – most importantly – homicidal robots are key elements of Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s, based on the popular video game.
Five Nights focuses on Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), a former mall security guard who was recently fired for beating up the father of a little boy who he mistakenly thought was a stranger trying to kidnap the child. Mike can’t really be faulted; he’s haunted by the memory of witnessing his little brother being kidnapped when he was 12.
Desperate to find another job to retain custody of his 10-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio), Mike reluctantly accepts the job of overnight security guard at the closed, formerly family-friendly restaurant Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. The restaurant was extremely popular in the 1980s (think Chuck E. Cheese) but was shut down after several children went missing and were never found. Mike’s told by the career counselor that all that’s expected of him is to watch the security monitors and make sure no one breaks in.
Mike’s visited on his first night on the job by Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), a local police officer who takes a quick interest in Mike and has an unusual fondness for the closed pizzeria. One night when Mike can’t get a hold of Abby’s babysitter, he has no choice but to take her with him to work. And, of course, that’s the night that Mike discovers, much to his surprise, that the creepy animatronic animals – Freddy Fazbear, a bow-tie-wearing rabbit named Bonnie, Chica the giant chicken, and Foxy the pirate fox (complete with a hook) – come to life. And these bizarre animals are very interested in Abby.
Vanessa, who’s made it her business to visit Mike every night, reveals that the animatronics are possessed by the ghosts of the missing children. While Abby is delighted to play with her huge new friends, Mike is uneasy and concerned for his little sister’s safety. He doesn’t yet realize that Freddy and his friends are extremely dangerous and have something special planned for him and Abby.
Dark, weird, and disappointingly dull, Five Nights at Freddy’s is a campy horror film that never figures out what it wants to be. The tone’s all over the place, and it lacks any sense of suspense. It’s a slow-paced horror film missing any true terror or chills.
Josh Hutcherson is solid as Mike, the troubled security guard who still blames himself for his little brother’s disappearance and is failing to be a good caregiver to his little sister. But even Hutcherson’s performance isn’t enough to salvage the film.
The animatronics, created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, succeed in capturing the cheesy look of the game and are effective, especially when coming alive and interacting with Abby and Mike. They’re just not quite disturbing enough to be terror-inducing.
The film’s backstory is too dark and disturbing for young kids, and horror fans are sure to be bored out of their minds. Five Nights at Freddy’s might interest fans of the video game, but after sitting through the first 20 minutes, the novelty will wear off and they’ll be wishing they were playing the game instead.
GRADE: C-
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for strong violent Content, language, and bloody images
Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Release Date: In theaters and streaming on Peacock on October 27, 2023
Directed By: Emma Tammi
