The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie known as “FNAF” made $132 million opening weekend, on October 27, in theaters and on October 26, on Peacock, Five Nights at Freddy’s which is made by Blumhouse, is a horror movie based on the popular game series from creator Scott Cawthon. Cawthon was also a writer on the film, along with Seth Cuddeback and Emma Tamm. Like all movie adaptations from books and games, fans of the original content had high expectations for the movie.
Five Nights at Freddy’s stars Josh Hutcherson of the Hunger Games franchise as security guard Mike Schmidt. Mike takes a job at an abandoned Chuck E. Cheese knockoff, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where he learns the creepy animatronics are not only alive but double as murderers The movie opens with a gory scene that likely explains the rating of PG-13 for strong violent content, bloody images and language.
After an unfortunate mistake and assault, Mike was fired from his last gig. We also learn of his motivations, including the care of his younger sister and the trauma of his brother’s kidnapping. Throughout five nights, Mike’s dreams become nightmares, and he must fight to save his sister while learning the horrible truth about what happened to his brother.
Hutcherson did an admirable job with displaying the character’s thoughts and emotions, and he was fully committed to the main character’s journey. Still, as someone who played the games, I felt the movie was only moderately loyal to the lore and lacked the tension that made the games scary. Knowing what will happen before it happens because everything is laid out in front of you takes the fun out of it. The storytelling felt rushed, which I guess happens when you try to make a series of games into one movie.
Overall, it was okay. The characters were there to tell the viewer what was happening or what was going to happen, and so it lost the impact that the games had when major story plots were revealed. But it was a great way to introduce a tween or teen to the horror genre in a way that wasn’t overly scary or especially suspenseful. Rotten Tomatoes, a popular movie and TV rating website, gave the movie a 30% on the Tomato Meter and an 88% audience score. In my opinion, it is suitable for tweens and teens looking for their first scare.