REVIEW #322 Five Nights At Freddy’s (2023)

Mike is employed as the new security guard at an abandoned child’s pizzeria called Freddy’s Fazebear’s Pizza. But how long will he last as he soon realises all is not as it seems!

I must admit that I went into the movie with no nostalgia or appreciation for the Five Nights at Freddy’s IP. I wasn’t familiar with the game and although the title felt familiar, that’s about as far as my knowledge stretched. Nonetheless I had hear rumours of it being a PG movie and I couldn’t quite believe it, fortunately what was actually released was a 15+ in the UK and the subtle gore and darkness was a pleasant surprise. With Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard and Elizabeth Lail, leading the film, my interest peaked! They certainly didn’t disappoint, I enjoyed seeing Josh as the lead, playing the troubled Security guard packed full of trauma and of course Lillard was perfect as the twisted William Afton, even if he did have limited screen time. It was almost reminiscent of his appearance in scream! The cinematography itself was pretty good, suiting the genre well and bringing a truly creepy feel to proceedings. They also used real animatronics to bring the possessed robots to life and that authenticity definitely worked in the movies favour.

Unfortunately it’s pretty obvious from Lillards first appearance as the career advisor that he was the owner of the haunting Pizzeria. That predictability was a running theme throughout the movie and that did nullify the shock factor a little. The story itself was pretty entertaining though, despite its obvious twists, it incorporated some pretty decent character development for Mike, centring his trauma around the antagonist so everything comes full circle by the time the film reaches its conclusion. There’s a little love story in there between Vanessa and Mike, a pretty messed up one come the end of the movie but it’s one the audience can root for. FNAF, in my opinion has been unfairly rated by critics, especially Rotten Tomatoes (no surprise there). Although the 88% audience score is probably a little inflated by fans of the IP. So I think a fair score is somewhere in the middle, it’s really enjoyable and was a good film to see on the big screen. 

Overall (6.8/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan