{"id":32155,"date":"2023-10-27T11:09:52","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T11:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shows4.com\/?p=32155"},"modified":"2023-10-27T11:09:52","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T11:09:52","slug":"five-nights-at-freddys-review-a-bloodless-generic-take-on-a-horror-video-game-sensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shows4.com\/?p=32155","title":{"rendered":"Five Nights at Freddy\u2019s review: A bloodless, generic take on a horror video game sensation"},"content":{"rendered":"
ive Nights at Freddy\u2019s is the cultural equivalent of an underground cave system \u2013 if it isn\u2019t your stomping ground, you have no clue how deep it really goes. And you\u2019d be a fool to try and find out. An indie horror game single-handedly developed by designer Scott Cawthon in 2014, Five Nights first clawed its way into the public consciousness thanks to the several hundred hours of game footage uploaded to the internet by streamers screeching at its neat and nasty jump scares. The franchise stands now at nine core games, plus a flurry of spin-offs, novels, and comics \u2013 not to mention the vast network of fan-created art, cosplay, and music.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t exactly blame a production company like Blumhouse (also behind M3gan and the recent Halloween trilogy) for wanting a piece of the feverishly viral, wildly profitable pie. Yet, instead of catering to the in-built audience ready and waiting, Five Nights wastes time trying to win over people who couldn\u2019t care less. As a result, what should\u2019ve been an intricate, twisted, and absurd treat is demoted to generic horror movie sludge, in no way discernible from any of the other spooky titles lining the October release schedule.<\/p>\n

In Cawthon\u2019s game, you play as a night security officer, Mike Schmidt, hired to look after a decrepit branch of the family-friendly Freddy Fazbear\u2019s Pizza chain. Americans familiar with institutions like Chuck E Cheese and Showbiz Pizza Place know the deal: plastic cheese, unsanitary ball pits, and a musical band made up of uncanny, animatronic creatures. Throw a little murderous intent into the mix and you\u2019ve got Five Nights at Freddy\u2019s. As Mike, it is your job to keep your eyes glued to the security camera footage to ensure that once these creepy robots come to life \u2013 as they inevitably do \u2013 they don\u2019t kill you.<\/p>\n

The film, directed by Emma Tammi, casts The Hunger Games\u2019s Josh Hutcherson as Mike. Here, his new job is part of a last-ditch effort to keep from losing custody of his younger sister Abby (Piper Rubio) to his cartoonishly self-serving aunt (Mary Stuart Masterson). Tammi does, on occasion, tap into the game\u2019s distinctive malevolent absurdity. Freddy and his animatronic crew (a guitar-strumming rabbit; a fox with a hook hand; a baby chick in a bib) have been faithfully rendered by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. There\u2019s an eerie disjointedness, too, to the film\u2019s mix of decayed malls, scratchy VHS tapes, and service workers with mechanical grins. Masterson, an undervalued actor, carves pantomime glee out of her two-dimensional role \u2013 as does Matthew Lillard, in what essentially constitutes an extended cameo.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s missing, however, is the real key to the Five Nights phenomenon: Cawthon\u2019s breadcrumb trail of lore. Spread out across the franchise, it\u2019s this that successfully turned a relatively simple game into a modern brand of urban legend. Hints at a morbid, disturbing backstory for Freddy and co were tucked inside pixelated mini-games and boosted by a vast web of online fan theories.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Related Videos<\/strong><\/div>\n