‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ is low-key horror starring Josh Hutcherson.
By Bob Tremblay/Boston Movie News
These days, you’re more likely to see Bigfoot at your local podiatrist than a movie based on an original screenplay.
In addition to novels and biopics, we now have movies based on comic books, television shows, theme park rides, and video games. Then there are all the sequels, prequels, and remakes. I’m waiting for a movie based on a Betty Crocker recipe. “Revenge of the Killer Tarts.” Sure to be a hit with foodies.
But there’s money to be made in these cinematic Xeroxes as they have a built-in audience and thus are far less risky and potentially far more profitable than films that dare to be different.
Up this week is a film based on a video game series: “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” Billed as a supernatural horror film, it’s about as scary as a box of Count Chocula. And if you’re looking for gore, you won’t find it here as the film is rated PG-13, a move obviously designed to increase its audience. A score of youngsters were at the screening I attended. That said, the film does push the boundaries of its rating with decapitation and a few bloody images. Also, bad things happen to children. I wonder if the parents of the kids at the screening had second thoughts. They were likely fans of the series, so they probably knew what to expect.
The film opens with a security guard meeting an unpleasant demise at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place as its animatronic mascots display a real nasty streak. Segue to our hero, Mike (Josh Hutcherson of “Hunger Games” fame), whom we see working as a mall security guard. Unfortunately, he loses his job when he sees a man dragging away a young child and proceeds to beat the man to a pulp, unaware that the man is the child’s father.
Mike has a good reason to be a tad high-strung, as he witnessed the abduction of his brother when he was younger. This experience haunts his dreams—or should we say nightmares?—that only become more vivid when he takes a job as a security guard at… take a guess… Freddy’s Fazbear’s Pizza Place. He’s told by a career counselor (Matthew Lillard, a veteran of the “Scream” films) that the venue closed years ago, but the owner couldn’t bring himself to tear down the family entertainment center. He tells Mike his only job is to keep people out of the place. Mike needs the job so he won’t lose custody of his 10-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio) to his evil Aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson of “Benny and Joon” fame), who only wants the child for financial reasons.
Before you can scream “Boo,” the mascots start misbehaving again, with three intruders getting greeted rather rudely. But wait, they show their friendly side when Abby meets them. They even build a fort with her, with Mike and police officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) helping out. Whoa, there’s a shift in tone. It’s clear that Vanessa knows more about the place than she’s telling Mike, who eventually discovers a connection with the mascots and his brother’s disappearance. Now, there’s a convenient coincidence.
OK, this film, directed with a pedestrian touch by Emma Tammi, is best appreciated by fans of the video game series. They applauded at the end of the aforementioned screening. They also oohed and aahed when two YouTubers made cameos. Keeping this movie from the dung heap is the acting, especially by Rubio, who stole this malevolent robot show in her feature-length movie debut. Hutcherson and Lail do their best with dialogue that avoids being too cheesy. Tammi wrote the script with Seth Cuddeback and Scott Cawthon, the series’ creator and the film’s co-producer.
As I watched “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” I kept hoping for a cameo from Freddy Krueger, the fingernail-challenged villain of “The Nightmare on Elm Street” films. Alas, no such luck as this film, as the newest entry to the horror genre, only scratched the surface.
‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’
Screened Oct. 25 at AMC Boston Common.
Rating: PG-13 for strong violent content and bloody images
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Mary Stuart Masterson and Matthew Lillard
Director: Emma Tammi
Writers: Emma Tammi, Seth Cubbeback, and Scott Cawthon
Running time: 109 minutes
Where to watch: In theaters Friday and streaming on Peacock.
Grade: C
Bob Tremblay is the former film critic for the MetroWest Daily News and a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics.
Boston Movie News 