Five Nights At Freddy's (2023) review

Is this adaptation of the beloved video game franchise worth the almost 10-year wait, or does it deserve to be stuffed inside a Fazbear suit and left to rot? Let's uncover the answer to this question as we make it through: 

Five Nights At Freddy's (also abbreviated as FNAF) follows Mike Schmidt, who was just given the boot from his position as a mall security guard over a heat-of-the-moment misunderstanding. In order to provide for his younger sister Abby (as their mother has long since passed away and their father left shortly after), Mike takes up a security position at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place, essentially a fictional version of places such as Chuck E. Cheese that was once extremely popular during the 1980s, but was ultimately abandoned following the disappearance of 5 children at the pizzeria. However, shortly after Mike starts his new gig, he comes to learn that the pizzeria's animatronic mascots come to life at night and are hostile to (almost) everyone. As Mike learns more about the family entertainment center's history, the plot thickens whilst steadily becoming much darker and more personal than Mike or Abby could imagine...

As someone not deeply familiar with the FNAF lore prior to seeing this movie, I was pleasantly surprised with how thoroughly invested I was in the narrative; the way Mike's story arc (trying to figure out the identity of who abducted his younger brother Garrett years beforehand) ends up intertwining with the mystery of the missing pizzeria kids helps to keep the main plotline engaging, even if one is already familiar with the backstory behind the animatronics' sentience from the games; the way the plot threads connect with one another makes things intriguing enough that one can't help but have to know how things are going to be resolved, which is testament to the screenwriting of Seth Cuddeback, FNAF's director Emma Tammi, and Scott Cawthon, the man who created FNAF in the first place (who also has a 'story' credit and serves as a producer on the film). Combine this with more Easter eggs to the wider series than can be listed here, and you have a flick that's written in a way that long-time fans will relish while serving as an effective introduction to the FNAF franchise for newcomers!

It can be confidently said that the child actors who portray the missing kids (Grant Feely, Asher Colton Spence, David Houston Doty, Jophielle Love, and Liam Hendrix) have bright futures ahead of them (career-wise), as their performances (particularly Feely's) manage to come off as mysterious and disconcerting (in a good way, mind you), and help to amplify the atmosphere of the scenes they're in. While the rest of the 'human' cast do well in their respective roles (especially child actress Piper Rubio as Mike's sister Abby), special props have to go to Matthew Lillard (best known as the current voice of Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo franchise, having also played the character in the 2 live-action movie adaptations released in the early 2000s) WARNING: SPOILER ALERT! as the FNAF series' iconic 'big bad' William Afton. Lillard successfully captures the aura of a depraved (and abusive on top of that) child murderer, and despite Afton being such a despicable piece of work onscreen, Lillard somehow infuses his portrayal with enough liveliness/charisma that viewers will likely be unable to help but be hooked when Afton emerges to wreak havoc. Being able to tow this line of playing someone so reprehensible whilst being a treat to watch onscreen isn't exactly an easy feat, yet Lillard manages to pull it off rather deftly; it helps that he does have experience playing a repulsive, yet enjoyable to watch serial killer, having previously made a name for himself playing Stu Macher in the late Wes Craven's 1996 slasher Scream. While there could've been other options in terms of who to play William Afton that might have been impressive in their own rights, END SPOILERS Matthew Lillard arguably makes the role his own, and is a more-than-worthy addition to the cast of Five Nights At Freddy's!

For the main animatronics of FNAF, the filmmakers could have easily chosen to realize them onscreen via digital effects, but instead, recruited none other than Jim Henson's Creature Shop, a puppetry and visual effects company which has a filmography including The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, the very first live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles adaptation (from 1990), and of course, the two most recent Muppets movies. Suffice to say, director Emma Tammi made the right call bringing Jim Henson's Creature Shop on board, as the resulting animatronics are incredibly faithful to their video game counterparts, and the fact that they're physical creations present on-set adds to both the atmosphere of their scenes and the performances of the human cast (when the animatronics share the screen with them) in a way that only practical effects could bring out. In an era where CGI dominates mainstream films, it becomes that much easier to appreciate instances where practical effects like what Jim Henson's Creature Shop produced are utilized, and even if one isn't really into the FNAF series, one could argue it's worth seeing this adaptation just to appreciate the hard work and craftsmanship that went into bringing the iconic animatronics to life onscreen! Heck, part of me is glad Five Nights At Freddy's is currently doing so well at the box office, as maybe this will prove to Hollywood that there's still a strong appetite among film-goers for practical effects with the level of care and attention to detail showcased in this movie!

If it wasn't obvious already, I very much enjoyed Five Nights At Freddy's, as while it may not be on the level of classics like Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street, it provides an intriguing mystery-thriller plot that's accessible to general audiences whilst being a narrative hardcore franchise fans can appreciate, has a well-directed and talented cast who prove you don't need to have the biggest stars on the planet to create decent characters, and terrific work on the animatronics for Freddy and co courtesy of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, and you have an ideal movie for the Halloween season that arguably deserves the financial success it's been enjoying!