Movie Review: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’

The latest Blumhouse offering tries to expand the story beyond the source material but loses sight of the horror aspects in the process.

'Five Nights at Freddy's,' from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse in association with Striker Entertainment.

In theaters and on Peacock beginning October 27th, ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ is an attempt by horror powerhouse Blumhouse to channel the wildly popular video game franchise, in a way that fans will appreciate, while also making the story work for those who’ve never heard of the cult titles.

It’s a fine line to walk, and not one that the movie always succeeds at, looking to cram in a rarely convincing emotional throughline for its main character, one the script can’t really support.

Does ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ effectively adapt the video game?

'Five Nights at Freddy's,' from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse in association with Striker Entertainment.

Perhaps the biggest question going into ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ is how well it works for fans of the games. After all, creator Scott Cawthorn shut down a version set up at Warner Bros. that had Chris Columbus attached to write and direct when he didn’t like the course that the script was taking, fearing it veered too far from his original work.

And it has taken Blumhouse, working with Cawthorn, nearly a decade to get this version to screens. For those who have fond memories of playing the ‘Freddy’s titles, there will at least be plenty of references to the expansive lore (for those unfamiliar, the franchise has expanded to several games and a wealth of spin-off books and other material) and, of course, the movie features both Freddy Fazbear and his animatronic gang and the night watchman character players usually inhabit.

Yet therein also lies part of the problem with the film –– the games are interactive and let you fully inhabit the world, while the movie’s story puts you one step removed. And the work done to fill out the Mike character’s backstory, while extensive, ends up defeating the main object of a horror movie, rendering most of the plot singularly unscary.

Is ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ script and direction up to the task?

'Five Nights at Freddy's,' from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse in association with Striker Entertainment.

In looking to open up the world of ‘Freddy’s beyond the basic structure of players trying to avoid the roaming animatronic characters, co-writer/director Emma Tammi has come up with an elongated emotional backstory for Mike (Josh Hutcherson), in which he feels huge guilt for his younger brother’s disappearance years in the past.

While it gives Hutcherson more to play than simply reacting to the jump scares of different scenes, it also slows the story down to such a degree that it makes the whole affair drag out a lot longer than even its 110-minute running time.

Outside of Mike, the other characters beyond young sibling Abbi (who he’s trying to keep custody of) are largely sketches, archetypes designed to drive the plot along. Police officer Vanessa, played by Elizabeth Lail, is confoundingly unclear when it comes to filling Mike in on the dangerous backstory of Freddy’s, though that a reason for that is at least given down the line.

Tammi and her team also rarely find a successful way to balance the tone of the movie, letting humor and pathos undercut the scares, leaving the horror aspect mostly to one or two sequences. There’s a real chance that those who are approaching the movie without an encyclopedic knowledge of the games will come away wondering if they’ve been sold a bill of goods, wondering where the creepily atmospheric horror movie the trailers promise vanishes to for a good portion of the time.

A PG-13 rating means the kills are largely offscreen or neutered, though one effective moment, played out in shadow, works on a visceral level.

How are the performances in ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’?

'Five Nights at Freddy's,' from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse in association with Striker Entertainment.

With the lion’s share of the script material, Hutcherson has more to work with, but the story mostly makes Mike into a mopey loser desperate to understand his troubled sister and to figure out the tragedy of his past. He’s far from the most compelling character, and given he’s the core of the movie, that makes it more of a chore to sit through.

Elsewhere, Mary Stuart Masterson has fun as Mike’s snarky, officious and scheming aunt, who wants to take custody of his sister, but she’s largely a cartoon villain. Outside of Lail’s police officer (whose constant hanging around with Mike at night when she should be on duty makes little logical sense), most of the other characters are largely fodder for the animatronic creatures to take out.

Kudos does have to go to the Jim Henson Workshop team who bring Freddy and the rest to life –– the puppeteers and performers lend practical and physical weight to the characters, and an emotional inner life missing from some of the humans they encounter. They are, without a doubt, a highlight of the movie and sorely missed when the plot spends so much time mired in confused misery with Mike.

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.

Five Nights at Freddy's

"Can you survive five nights?"

PG-131 hr 50 minOct 27th, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch Five Nights at Freddy's Online

What’s the story of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’?

Mike (Josh Hutcherson) is a troubled young man caring for his 10-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio), and haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his younger brother more than a decade before.

Recently fired and desperate for work so that he can keep custody of Abby, Mike agrees to take a position as a night security guard at an abandoned theme restaurant: Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.

But Mike soon discovers that nothing at Freddy’s is what it seems. With the aid of Vanessa Shelly, a local police officer (Elizabeth Lail), Mike’s nights at Freddy’s will lead him into unexplainable encounters with the supernatural and drag him into the black heart of an unspeakable nightmare.