Horror is a popular genre across all media. People often find the thrill of being scared or having something to fear intriguing. During the 80s, the video game industry took off, and players could play their adventures even if the graphics back then were quite limited. Eventually, a mixture of the horror genre and the video game medium was created.
2014, indie game developer Scott Cawthon created the video game “Five Nights at Freddy’s” as a last-ditch effort at game creation. A game where you play as a night watchman at a pizzeria, from 12-6 you must keep watch of the cameras as the building’s animatronic characters slowly make their way towards you. Your only defense was the two metal doors at either side of your office. The difficult twist is that the building runs on limited power, and every one of your moves will drain said power. You have to make it through all five nights while defending yourself from the mysterious haunted robots aggressively making their way toward you. The game almost immediately took off, not only thanks to the popular YouTubers who played and reviewed it but because the game was genuinely scary. The game taking off made it spawn several sequels, nearly 30 books of expansive universes, and eventually, a movie. On October 27th, 2023, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie, produced by Blumhouse in collaboration with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop came to life. The fans who have been following the series for over 9 years now were quite obviously excited, though, upon watching the results were mixed. While some fans loved the movie, believing it was exactly what they had hoped for, others, as well as the critics, were left utterly disappointed feeling that the plot was extremely weak, and above all else, it wasn’t scary.
To summarize the plot, recently fired Mike Schmidt desperately looks for a job to keep custody of his little sister Abby. Eventually, Mike settles for the night guard position at a run-down pizzeria with a disturbing past. It’s a simple plot for how massive the series is. And I do agree to some extent that it wasn’t what I was expecting, however, I didn’t think it was bad in the slightest. With some corny moments and a lack of genuine scares, I could easily see how the movie did not meet the expectations of the fans as well as the critics who reviewed it quite harshly. It’s easy to see that this movie is made for the fans. An abundance of little easter eggs or even YouTuber cameos lie within this film, from the opening credits to the end credits, everything was meant to cater to long-time fans of the franchise, which explains why critics typically wouldn’t be a fan of the movie.
I believe this movie is worth a watch, whether you’re a fan or not, it will give you a fun time. The movie’s writing can still be found in theaters and on the streaming service Peacock.
