Review | “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is a baffling mess for fans, casuals

After several years of delays, the popular indie-horror game series finally made its motion picture debut. However, there are several flaws with the film that will turn away even the strongest of fans. Photo collage by JACK SUNDBLAD, Staff Photographer

Ever since I was 12 years old, I have been engulfed in the world of “Five Nights at Freddy's,” a popular indie-horror game series created by Scott Cawthon that took the world by storm in 2014. Introduced to the series by my older cousin, there was something fascinating about diving deep into the lore that supported a relatively simple point-and-click survival horror game.  

After years of promises and anticipation, the motion picture adaptation of the games finally came into fruition via Blumhouse Productions, director Emma Tammi and Cawthon’s tight knit cooperation.

Benjamin Moscoso, senior broadcast journalism major

However, while my expectations were high, I left the theater feeling disappointed. Despite being told that the film’s eight-year delay promised an enticing script, “Five Nights at Freddy's” leaves a sour taste in the mouth of both casual filmgoers and hardcore fans alike. 

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” follows the story of a troubled Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) trying to make ends meet to support himself and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) while struggling to find a job. After meeting with career counselor Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard), Mike secures himself a position as the night shift security guard at an abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, where spiritual anomalies cause Mike to deal with the likes of the pizzeria’s four animatronic mascots: Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. In the midst of all this, Mike’s dreams and Abby’s mind are slowly revealed to have a connection to the spirits that haunt the animatronics, which makes their experience with the pizzeria much more cryptic. 

There is no doubt that this film was created with love and with the fans in mind. The set designs and animatronics created for this film feel like this world was ripped directly from the games and into real life, with an exceptional amount of detail put into making the stars of the show phenomenal. This is one aspect of Cawthon’s input into the film that is most prevalent and could have only been achieved with him fully present in the film’s production.

The actors also did their jobs wonderfully with the source material that they were given. While limited on screen time, Lillard’s portrayal of the film’s main antagonist was a delight to see on the big screen, with him bringing the terrifying and creepy performance that I was looking for in the character that he played from the games. And, of course, there is no shortage of easter eggs and references that will surely satisfy the fans who have loved this series since its release.

However, while there are certainly loads of aspects that fans will adore, the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie is not without several fatal flaws that diminish the film’s quality substantially. While some were mostly out of Tammi’s control, there are simply too many questionable creative decisions that will not only completely displease casual filmgoers but also confuse the fans who have dedicated themselves to the franchise’s already confusing lore.

The initial concept of Mike’s dreams may seem intriguing to dive into on paper, but in practice, it creates a confusing subplot in the film that doesn’t get nearly enough time to fully develop. Having that time dedicated to exploring Mike’s dreams would require it to come full circle in a way that not only ties into the main aspect of the story but also leaves feeling fully developed as a concept.

However, while it comes around towards the final act of the film, it never gets quite enough time for it to feel complete, with the dreams being rushed and missing a crucial element that would’ve given the concept so much more depth and satisfaction. On top of that, it takes away time that could’ve been spent exploring the eerie night shifts and creepy animatronics, which is what the source material is entirely about. 

This is not the only aspect where unique “film only” concepts fall flat. While this film’s version of Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) has elements that create a genuinely interesting character during the story, her climax in the film feels far too rushed and is only reached by more confusing choices in her writing that almost feel like a crucial chunk of the film was missing from the final cut.

Similarly, Abby’s connection to the animatronics is just not given enough time for any viewer to fully grasp and gives baffling moments where these supposed killer robots turn into oversized playthings that never strike the comedic chord that they attempt to do while also completely removing any fear factor that they ever had.

This lack of fear is present in the film’s entirety, largely because of its PG-13 rating.While I can understand that such a rating was necessary to lure in the franchise’s largely kid fanbase, it absolutely rips the film off of any sort of real horror that this series was built upon. The fact that there are hardly any jump scares with the main cast of animatronics is so perplexing to me, as it is the core concept that gives these characters any sort of real threat that they need to be scary. While I will agree that creative decisions to show some of the kills in this film were intelligent and well-executed, the lack of any gore or rapid jump scares takes away so much of what this film needed to have any hope of being considered a scary horror flick, which is almost the opposite of what I would say for any other horror film.

It’s decisions like these that not only disappoint as a filmgoer, but also as a die-hard fan of the franchise, as it distances itself from what has made the video games so enjoyable in their own right.

These games were built on the concepts of suspense, eeriness from the deceiving animatronic mascots and fear from the loud jump scares that would catch anyone off guard if they weren’t expecting it. A lot of that is just not present in this film, and while I can appreciate the clear amount of effort put into making the film look visually stunning, its script and creative decisions to try and portray the franchise as a motion picture made it lose the charm that brought it to light in the first place.

This is especially confusing to me since the whole reason this film took over eight years to complete was because of Cawthon’s constant rewrites and throwaways of the script, causing Warner Bros. to ditch the project and for it to go through multiple directors in the process.   

While I respect Cawthon wanting full control of his series, I also expected this final version of the script to be the magnum opus of the series with how dedicated and well thought out he made it seem. In reality, this film’s script ultimately caused its downfall, and if not for the absurd popularity of the franchise, would have caused it to drown in the sea of other awful cheap Hollywood horror flicks that never quite get remembered again.  

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is always going to have a special place in my heart, from my love of the series, to remembering how long I waited for the games, books and film, and to how it became my introduction to both the indie game genre and the horror genre. While I will forever appreciate the film given the context, there’s just no going around with how it stands as a lackluster element of this franchise that is filled with much more interesting content than the general audience will never see because of its big screen debut. 

To quote one of my favorite critics that sums up my thoughts perfectly: “You can like this movie, and still acknowledge that it’s really bad as a film and not even that great as an adaptation.”