The Blumhouse production of Five Nights at Freddy’s turns the favorite horror-themed, point-and-click video game series of ‘tweens everywhere into a live-action fright flick. For that target audience, this may well be the movie event of the year. Everyone else will probably wonder what the fuss is about.

Distributor Universal Pictures made an interesting decision to release the movie simultaneously in theaters and on the Peacock streaming service. While that was a common occurrence during pandemic times, right now it would seem to suggest a lack of confidence in the picture’s prospects. Nevertheless, based on early tallies, the film appears to be headed for a very big opening weekend at the box office. Whether fans will come away satisfied with the results may depend on how much they expect a faithful adaptation of the games, or how much tolerance they have for what ultimately amounts to a pretty middling horror movie.

Title:	Five Nights at Freddy’s
Year of Release:	2023
Director:	Emma Tammi
Watched On:	Peacock
Also Available In:	Theatrical Release

Josh Hutcherson stars as Mike, a troubled young man still haunted by nightmares about witnessing his little brother getting kidnapped when he was a child. In the present day, Mike can’t seem to hold a job, yet is in desperate need of stable income to support his young sister, Abby (Piper Rubio). Out of other options, he seeks help from a shady career counselor (Matthew Lillard) who offers him the position of security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s, a Chuck E. Cheese knockoff pizzeria/arcade that used to be super-popular with kids in the 1980s, but has sat abandoned for decades. The place probably should have been demolished years ago, but the owner refuses to let go of the building for some reason. These days, it needs protecting from squatters and vandals.

The job sounds easy enough, but has two significant drawbacks, one that Mike knows about and one he doesn’t. The first is that he’s being hired for the overnight shift, which leaves Mike in a bind when the babysitter who usually watches his sister flakes and leaves him with no choice but to bring Abby to work with him. Much more troubling, unfortunately, is that the restaurant’s animatronic animal mascots have come to life and have a habit of murdering anyone who enters their home.

The first Five Nights at Freddy’s video game debuted in 2014 and, although technically rated for players 12 and up, became a sensation with kids as young as 8-years-old via promotion through influencers on YouTube and social media outlets. A host of sequels and spin-offs followed, along with tons of merchandise including stuffed toys, action figures, posters, and clothing. The story premise was parodied in the 2021 Nicolas Cage horror comedy Willy’s Wonderland, which may have beaten this version to the punch by a couple years, but also put a decidedly bloody, R-rated spin on the material and targeted an older audience.

The official Five Nights at Freddy’s adaptation is rated PG-13 and straddles an awkward line trying to appeal to a broader swath of viewers. It can’t be too scary or intense for fear of traumatizing young kids. At the same time, if it were too kid-friendly, it would turn off teens and adults. The consequence of trying to pander to all ages leaves a final product that may not fully satisfy any of them. The movie as released is filled with jump-scares and references to child kidnapping and murder. As a parent, I don’t think my own 10-year-old boys are quite ready for it. On the other hand, the film is far too bloodless and tame for real horror fanatics, and I found myself quite bored with it. I was on my phone scrolling social media well before it ended.

The idea of cutesy animatronic mascots on a murderous rampage is more fun in concept than execution. The story has a ton of plot holes and contradictions, and can’t quite decide whether the robots are actually evil or just being manipulated. If they’re really evil, why isn’t the friendly cop who knows their secret (Elizabeth Lail) particularly worried about them? And if they’re not, why are they so eager to kill Mike’s little sister and turn her into one of them? The surprise twist revelation of the master villain is exceedingly obvious right off the bat, and the film also forgets an entire storyline with Mary Stuart Masterson as Mike’s duplicitous aunt without resolving it. For that matter, the movie never bothers to explain why the robots attacked previous security guards in the first place, which is the basic set-up for the whole story.

Having never played the any of the original games, I’ll concede that I’m not part of the intended audience for a Five Nights at Freddy’s movie. Regardless, the entire thing feels very slapdash and tossed-together. Even a minimal amount of research will reveal that the video games have a deeper and more complex mythology that’s been badly condensed in this telling. After the opening weekend hype dies down, will game fans continue to support the movie, or write it off as Hollywood blundering yet another game-to-film adaptation? I guess we’ll see. For my own part, while I don’t regret watching it, this is a one-and-done for me, and I doubt I’ll bother with any sequels should the producers’ plans to launch this into a new franchise prove successful.

Video Streaming

Peacock streams Five Nights at Freddy’s in 4K HDR. Subscribers to the service’s ad-supported tier will need to endure about two minutes of commercials before the feature, but none that interrupt it afterwards. The 2.00:1 aspect ratio is a bit unusual for a theatrical release, and suggests that this was always designed first and foremost as a TV movie during production.

As a horror film, the photography is of course pretty dark. Almost the entire movie takes place at night in the dimly-lit restaurant. Shadow detail is generally adequate, as are image sharpness and colors. This isn’t a particularly flashy or stylish movie, but the various neon signs and light fixtures pop nicely in HDR – as do the glowing robot eyes that pierce through the darkness.

The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack features plenty of loud stinger scare effects and throbbing bass. The metallic thunk of approaching robot footsteps is ominous and intimidating. The surround channels are also put to fairly immersive use.