As someone only vaguely familiar with the video game property that the 2023 film Five Nights at Freddy's is based on, I have no idea if fans of the series appreciate it. I have no clue if it follows the lore of the series. The only thing I know about the video games is that there's animatronic animals that kill people and lots of jump scares. So, yeah, the movie holds up to that!
As an old man who's seen way too many horror movies, this isn't made for me. That's ok. What I do appreciate is that it's a good entry level horror for a younger audience. It's a gateway movie to the genre. In fact, I watched this with my 8 year old daughter who does know a little about the games and she loved it.
It's the story of Mike, the new night security guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. His brother was kidnapped when he was a child, and it's been haunting him since that day. The whole plot of the brother and the dreams was meant to be mysterious. Ultimately, I didn't necessarily care about any of it. The subplot of Mike's relationship with his younger sister Abby was more interesting. When does this movie even take place? Is it the 90's? Who knows.
On a budget of only $20 million, director Emma Tammi made it work. The visuals are the real winner here. There's some legitimately eerie shots and sound design. The Showbiz pizza style animatronic animals all look like relics from the 80's while also being sufficiently creepy. It certainly looks better than a $20 million dollar movie should.
While this is a movie that I'll probably never watch again, I do realize that it wasn't made for me. That's ok. I like a horror adjacent movie that I could watch with my 8 year old daughter. There's some good atmosphere and creepiness. There ain't much story and what there is barely gets tied up by the end. What about the aunt? It's just kid of left out there. Crazy.
2 springtraps out of 5
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