By Keith Walther
Reminiscent of childhood memories of going to birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese or Showbiz Pizza, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” attempts to harness that nostalgia and twist it into a horror infused thrill ride. However, you quickly realize how similar this movie is to those past experiences, which always left you with the dissatisfying taste of cardboard quality pizza and trinkets from all those game-rewarding tickets you saved that break upon opening. The worst part was realizing you spent your entire weekly allowance on overpriced video games while those goofy, gyrating animatronic animals gleefully sang the same cheesy song repeatedly in a poor attempt to entertain, just like this movie.
Dealing with a traumatic and troubled past, security guard Mike (Josh Hutcherson) struggles to maintain gainful employment as he relives the nightmare and guilt of seeing his little brother kidnapped every night that has plagued him for years. With his parents out of the picture, Mike has the added responsibility of parenting his little sister, Abby (Piper Rubio). Desperate for work, he agrees to a night shift security gig at a vacant place called Freddy’s, which has been shut down for decades ever since a group of children mysteriously vanished on the premises.
Mike quickly learns that Freddy’s is not as vacant as it appears. The grungy, aged animatronic animals are brought to life by homicidal ghost children who have found a new playmate in Abby. Assisted by his new friend, Officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), Mike looks for a way to protect his little sister from the maniacal machines while trying to solve his brother’s kidnapping.
Emma Tammi is a relatively new director with an unremarkable filmography to date and her latest effort fails to impress. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is billed as a horror film, but there is very little from start to finish that yields any kind of scary response. Tammi attempts poorly telegraphed jump scares as a cheap thrill tactic, complimented by unimaginative cinematography and a complete absence of suspense. The action scenes themselves with the lumbering animal themed band members are silly and over the top, resulting in more condemning laughter than actual horror, which is a form of entertainment, just not the type audiences are promised.
A valiant attempt is made to make the story somewhat compelling with an interesting backstory of unsolved kidnappings, but subtlety appears not to be Emma Tammi’s forte, resulting in obvious foreshadowing with a silly “Scooby Doo” type of finale that is only surprising to viewers who slept through the first half of the film. A climax that features a hastily scribbled picture in crayon as the turning point also represents the turning point of the audience’s investment to one of ambivalence and animosity.
The unconvincing acting only drives this film further into the dumpster. Leading the cast is Josh Hutcherson, who hasn’t been relevant since his role as Peeta in “The Hunger Games” series. His constantly stupefied facial reactions in every situation painfully illustrate his inability to portray a character with any type of depth. His co-star Elizabeth Lail is even worse, lending zero credibility to her role as a police officer to the point she must remind the audience and her fellow characters in the film that she’s a cop despite wearing the uniform. She could not muster the authoritative demeanor or mannerisms to embody the role, instead coming across as a one-dimensional character with no identity playing dress up. Most disappointing of all is Matthew Lillard, whose memorable performance in “Scream” back in 1996 built a long career for himself. He is so obvious in his role as the oddball career placement agent that he helps eliminate all semblance of mystery.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is another in a long string of movies adapted from video games that ultimately fails to entertain. The reason box office numbers are higher than they should be is there’s no real competition and people are desperate for a solid horror film to ring in Halloween. Your best bet is to find a classic horror film to watch at home for the spooky holiday, maybe one that features another, scarier Freddy.
This movie earns:
