‘Can you survive’
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a 2023 American sci-fi horror film about a security guard who encounters killer animatronics at night. The concept has already been filmed as Willy’s Wonderland and a British mockbuster movie, Freddy’s Fridays, is also being released to cash in on the publicity surrounding the Hollywood endeavour.
Directed by Emma Tammi from a screenplay co-written with Scott Cawthon and Seth Cuddeback based on the video game series. Produced by Jason Blum and Scott Cawthon. Executive produced by Russell Binder, Beatriz Sequeira and Christopher H. Warner.
The Blumhouse Productions-Striker Entertainment co-production stars Josh Hutcherson (Ultraman, The Hunger Games franchise), Matthew Lillard (Good Girls, Scream), Elizabeth Lail (You, Mack & Rita), Kat Conner Sterling (We Have A Ghost, 9-1-1), Piper Rubio (Holly & Ivy, Unstable), Mary Stuart Masterson (Blindspot, Fried Green Tomatoes), Jess Weiss, Kevin Foster, Bailey Winston, Jade Kindar-Martin, Grant Feely, Christian Stokes, Theodus Crane, Joseph Poliquin, Jessica Blackmore, Wyatt Parker, Lucas Grant and Ethan Jamieson.
Plot:
Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), a troubled security guard, starts a night-time job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a family entertainment centre, where he discovers its four animatronic mascots move and kill anyone that is still there after midnight…
Reviews:
“Nightmare sequences prove to be far creepier as the mystery surrounding Mike’s upbringing bleeds into the larger plot of lost children and memories manipulated by a preternatural realm. Yet as with Silent Hill, ample faithfulness to the source material alone doesn’t help the property to stand on its own, or to make sense; jump scares and minimally creepy notions (it’s only PG-13, after all) abound, but they can’t singlehandedly compose a movie.” 5 out of 10, Gone with the Twins
“Despite all the mayhem, which pushes the limits of PG-13, somehow Five Nights will make the arcade game generation nostalgic to revisit a Chuck E. Cheese (apparently, they still have a few in the outer boroughs). It surpasses Willy’s Wonderland, if that means anything to you. Arguably, it is probably the best live-action film adapted from a video game since Werewolf Within (which was the best since Detention, from the great nation of Taiwan).” J.B. Spins
“At an unnecessarily epic 1 hour and 49 minutes, the thrill-neutral Five Nights at Freddy’s makes Marty’s laconic opus feel like a Daffy Duck cartoon by comparison. With very few scares, no finesse, a dull setting, delusions of child psychology grandeur, endless poe-faced expositional back-and-forths, and all the narrative sophistication of a particularly bad episode of Scooby-Doo, this one is a big, dumb, cynical miss.” Little White Lies
“t drowns in the mire of uninspired scares, a baffling narrative, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the game’s essence. The promise of a dark and twisted treat is dashed, leaving fans and potential converts longing for the original game’s genuine thrills […] the commercial appeal of this title is clear, the audience is yearning and the marketing is impressive. But at the heart of it, this is a film that doesn’t quite satisfy any one group and is more likely to frustrate than excite its audiences.” ★★½ Love Film
” …a fun little horror film, leaning more towards a younger audience with its PG-13 rating allowing it to be suitable for younger fans of the fandom. For those concerned about understanding the film without knowledge of the game, you won’t have to worry as the film is accessible to newcomers. Overall, fans will delight in watching Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy cause chaos and mayhem even if the film could have benefitted from more thrilling moments to help heighten the stakes.” Nightmarish Conjurings
“Because this is a film and not a video game, you need there to be a narrative to stitch together the many “don’t get killed by the monsters” scenes together. As this is probably the most significant departure from the original game, it is also the part of the film that you may not connect with […] Look, it is not a revolutionary film by any stretch of the imagination, but it understands the game, and what made it work, and better still, it made me jump on many occasions.” ★★★½ TL/DR Movie Reviews and Analysis
Release:
In the US, Five Nights at Freddy’s will be released by Universal Pictures and Peacock on October 27, 2023.
Mockbuster:
On August 29, 2023, a trailer for Freddy’s Fridays, a low-budget British mockbuster intended to exploit the publicity for Five Nights at Freddy’s, appeared on YouTube.
Teaser:
Trailer 1:
Trailer 2:
Related:
FREDDY’S FRIDAYS (2023) British Five Nights at Freddy’s mockbuster – trailer and now with artwork
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