Five Nights At Freddy’s (2023) review: Longtime coming video game is a hit

As the age of the superhero film seems to be stepping back into a supporting role, rather than being the lead of the industry, we are once again reaching a point where the next big cinema trend is being waited for. There are a few contenders but it would seem that the next breakout just might be the era of video game inspired film and TV…Done properly.

After the domination of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Last Of Us this year, and with huge video game properties being announced seemingly daily for upcoming big and small screen adaptations, it would suggest that joysticks are going to be replaced for cinema seats in the upcoming years, as the video game film has finally hit a groove. 

However, in all of cinema history, there are two constants that we can never deny the power of. Monsters, and Horror. And Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s kind of taps into both, as it brings to the screen, the long-awaited film outing for the world created by Scott Cawthon. Five Nights at Freddy’s is the survival games series sensation that has inspired a very passionate fanbase, and now it is officially a hit in the cinematorium as well as your living room.

The story sees Mike (Josh Hutcherson) struggling to hold down a job, as he tries to take care of his young sister Abby (Piper Rubio), before he lands a security night job at the once thriving (now shutdown) Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza family entertainment restaurant. However, this new job only starts to intensify Mike’s problems, as an event from his past seemingly becomes even more vivid, and worse still, the animatronic mascots of this place seem to have a life of their own!

As someone who knows of but has never played the games, I really enjoyed Five Nights at Freddy’s, which was a film clearly crafted – and I do mean crafted – for the fans by director Emma Tammi (who co-wrote with Cawthon and Seth Cuddeback). Admittedly, the twist was so logically inevitable that it was not such of a shock but I applauded the amount of lore and story poured into this deadly animatronics horror (a very exclusive sub-genre of horror currently occupied by The Banana Splits Movie and Willy’s Wonderland). 

There was a lot of story here to bite into, with a tale of trauma and the devastating impact of keeping hold of it proving central. This film attempts to tell more than a simple survival tale, and tells one of monsters manmade and hand-crafted alike, but also one of the power of truth and moving forward through horrifying pasts to ensure a future. It works quite well, in spite of a very full third act, which may lose some less clued up audiences, but it is hard not to appreciate the clear effort poured into bringing it all to life.

The setting of the pizza entertainment bar is superbly realised, reeking of ‘80s callbacks and that otherworldly vibe that allows this world and its dark and deranged turns to feel organic rather than too much. The plot, even in some wilder tangents, is always interesting and Jim Henson‘s workshop absolutely steals the show with their incredible practical realisations of Freddy and co. 

In fact, the animatronics, puppets and costumes are so impressive, you are often as in awe of their life, as the characters themselves. Meanwhile, the human cast give it their best, with great performances from Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Lail especially. 

Full of the game’s mythology, as fans were joyously unpicking it on their way out of my screening, as well as other TV and film references (it had a very nice little nod to Scream), Five Nights at Freddy’s is a fun movie, and probably this generation’s definitive gateway horror. I can see a great many people in the future, citing this as the film that got them into scary movies, which can only be a good thing!