Young Reporters/Five Nights at Freddy's Review/Elizabeth Ford/NWHS

In 2014 the first “Five Nights at Freddy’s game was released, 8 years later it has come to the big screen. The movie has been a worldwide success, making just over £5 million on the opening weekend in the UK (according to the Film Distributors Association) and $113.6 million in the USA just on the opening week. The film is so successful due to the huge fan group which has been built throughout the years. Fans of the original games have been waiting for this film forever, so Blumhouse Productions had a lot of pressure on them. The movie follows a nightguard, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), who works in the abandoned Pizza restaurant, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, an old restaurant which had animatronics as entertainment.

There have been mixed reviews on the film, some people saying that it wasn’t scary enough, some were annoyed that it didn’t follow the same storyline as the games, but others were happy with the movie and thought it was a great adaptation. Compared to the games, the film is nowhere near as frightening, but the movie went into depth with the story, and this is only the first movie so it is just introducing the plot and it is setting up the next films, and many people think that two more films will be released, so there will be many more opportunities for horror.

The opening scene of the movie was perfect as it sets the tone for the rest of the movie, that tone being disturbing, shocking but also thrilling, especially for those who are fans of the survival horror games. The opening credits of the film were incredible, in the background you could hear an ominous theme tune which paired perfectly with the video playing. The credits showcase the main location of the movie, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Restaurant, it gives the audience the first proper look into the abandoned building, which many viewers grew up playing in. Another part of the credits I liked was how the rest of them was in the form of an old video game, which many fans will know is a reference to the mini- games players can play in the actual game.

Throughout the rest of the movie, it keeps the same tone of eeriness and uncertainty. This can be seen in various scenes but especially when the audience got to see the animatronics for their true and violent selves. Personally, I wish we saw more of the animatronics acting like this, especially since they were the characters which added the horror aspect. Although I am not the biggest fan of jump scares, I do think that the movie should’ve included a few more since it is such a big part of the original games, and it would’ve made the film much more tense. As the movie continues, we find out more shocking facts about the main characters (Mike, Abby, and Vanessa), the movie did have a few unexpected plot twists and the revealing of some of these were incredible. They added depth to the storyline, which almost made up for the lack of horror.

Josh Hutcherson perfectly conveys the fear and tension of being trapped in the Pizzeria with deadly animatronics. He flawlessly captured the panic that players feel whilst playing the original games. The supporting cast, including Elizabeth Lial (Vanessa Monroe) and Piper Rubio (Abby Schmidt) added depth to the story and kept you emotionally invested in their survival.

Matthew Lillard once again flawlessly played a villainous role. His entrance as “Springlock” was incredible, it was so nightmarish the way he came out of the dark in his beat-up suit, towards Mike. His delivery of William Afton’s infamous line “I always come back” got some complaints, many people disliked how quickly he said it. Personally, his delivery of the line was realistic for what was happening in the scene, and it just made it more disturbing and thrilling.

  After watching the movie, I learnt that all of the animatronics apart from one (Foxy) were played by real people. The way the actors perfectly embodied the animatronics was so convincing that I actually thought they were real machines. The suits made by the costume designers were surreal, they are almost picture perfect to the game designs which is incredible. Another amazing aspect of this movie was the sounds. The noises that the animatronics made whilst walking and the occasional ominous sounds in the background of tense scenes made them so much better as you weren’t sure what had made the noise, you were afraid for the characters. In my opinion the music’s used in the movie enhanced the creepy atmosphere.

Overall, I really liked the movie, the story was well thought out and even though it wasn’t scary, the plot and characters made up for it. I just wish that we got to see more of the character, William Afton (Matthew Lillard) because I feel like they didn’t go into much depth with his character, and it would have been interesting to learn more about him. But apart from that I don’t have any major criticisms, whilst watching the movie there wasn’t any point where I found myself to be bored, even after the film I was talking about it and searching up all of the easter eggs that I missed. Emma Tammi (director) and Blumhouse Productions did a great job with this adaptation, and I am excited for the release of the next film (if there is one)!