[6]
In this PG-13, relatively ‘family friendly’ horror film based on a video game, the animatronic animals at a ‘Chuck E. Cheese’-style pizzeria and arcade come to life and slaughter anyone who breaks in and attempts to vandalize their abandoned building. At first, Five Nights at Freddy’s sounds like just another slight spin and the old slasher formula, but if you go into it with that expectation, it might surprise you.
Josh Hutcherson stars as an orphaned young man who’s going to lose custody of his little sister (Piper Rubio) unless he can find gainful employment. In desperation, he agrees to be the overnight security guard at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s amusement center where he’s frequently visited by a cop and possible romantic interest, played by Elizabeth Lail. Lail slowly lets Hutcherson in on the secret of Freddy’s — the animatronics are possessed by the ghosts of dead children who were kidnapped and murdered long ago.
Five Nights at Freddy’s gets increasingly sloppy with its exposition and has to do some twisted narrative acrobatics to justify a few of its plot turns, but it’s nice to see an otherwise formulaic story try to distinguish itself. That Hutcherson’s character is haunted by the abduction of his little brother adds more creep factor to the film than the animatronics do. The most compelling and original thing about the film is that the animatronics are not intrinsically evil — they’re childlike spirits. Whether you meet their friendly or murderous sides depends mostly on your disposition and your intent. The best part of the film is when Hutcherson, Lail, and Rubio spend a night building forts and playing with the animatronics. The film would have been better if the animatronics remained friendly to the main human characters, but the third act instead introduces a new villain who confuses the robotic brutes into being evil again.
Even if the film doesn’t quite coalesce, it’s more interesting than most paint-by-number slasher movies and captures the essence of a fun ’80s horror flick. The PG-13 rating will likely not satisfy hard-core horror fans. Nearly all the violence is cartoonish, usually performed in silhouette or off-camera. It may be the perfect sort of film to welcome younger audiences and more timid viewers to the horror genre.
Directed by Emma Tammi. With Matthew Lillard (Scream), Mary Stuart Masterson (Fried Green Tomatoes), Kat Conner Sterling, and David Lind.