Five Nights at Freddy’s (review)

The First Night

9 long years ago, a man by the name of Scott Cawthon created a small RPG. Late at night, he read through his less than sub-par reviews of his newest indie title, “Chipper & Sons Lumber Co.” While most of the reviews weren’t great to begin with, one review stuck out amongst the rest. That review claimed the animals present within the cartoon game did not look quite right. They looked more like unsettling mascot suits than adorable animal NPCs. This very comment managed to spark 9 consecutive years of dead children. 9 consecutive years of purple people debates. 9 years of jumpscares, whatever Balloon Boy is, and a cult-like fandom for the ages.

8 years ago, the film rights were first secured by Warner Bros Entertainment. This, then dropped in favour of Blumhouse Studios, thanks to Cawthon’s unwillingness to give up the right to produce the script. 8 years later, the big-screen adaptation of Five Nights at Freddy’s has finally released. Going into my opening-night viewing of the film, the reviews were…. Well, like Chipper & Sons, less-than sub-par. As in, 26%, less-than sub-par. But if there’s one thing to take away from both this movie, and this article, is that the professionals aren’t as end-all be-all as one might expect. Oftentimes, they can be downright wrong.

Scott Cawthon wished to write the best possible script for the adaptation of his crowning achievement for the big screen. in a way that included something for every type of fan. But did he achieve this feat? Can Five Nights at Freddy’s adapt to the big screen in a big way? Well, allow me, and its ever increasing 130 MILLION (after only THREE DAYS) at the box office, be the judges of that.

The Second Night

So, let’s start with what I find to be the most interesting piece to look at. Does this film do well translating the source material, being the books, and the games? We don’t often have much to go off of within this franchise, leaving much to the hardcore theorist’s imagination. So for this, I am going to focus on a two very key aspects of translation – character inclusion and scene adaptation.

Beginning with character inclusion, the movie is rather faithful, as far as it could be. The film does still include further characters from more than only the first game. Yet, it lands on every single active character from the original title. The nightwatchman, Mike Schmidt, and the core 5 animatronics, are all present here. A+, Scotty. Following this, we want to look over at scene adaptations. Now, while the games don’t offer up much to adapt for a film such as this, the books actually do. For instance, Mike’s younger brother, kidnapped at a young age, with him hunting for his other half for years. This is akin to Charlie, the novel trilogy’s main protagonist, and her twin brother Samuel. Sam, much like Garrett, at a very young age, taken from his family. Charlie often found herself called to places to try and figure out what had happened to him so very many years ago. Or, my favourite personal favourite example. The long decorated spring-locked scene. Exceeding my personal expectations, this took heavy inspiration from the Novel Trilogy. This, down to the animatronics dragging William Afton’s slow, perishing body into the decaying pizzeria.

Now, as far as these aspects go, I felt as if they were almost perfect. Hell, I would say the most perfect it could have been. Matthew Lillard does a wonderful job portraying the agony William Afton finds himself in as he careens into a monstrous death. Josh Hutcherson does a beautiful job portraying a broken, tired older brother figure. Despite his own issues, he does whatever he must to get by for his little sister. All the animatronics are perfect translations to the big screen. One has to commend Jim Henson on his phenomenal work as always.

The Third Night

Following this, one has to then ask themselves. How is the storyline,, in the end? What stands out? What is good work, what is bad work? Well, as a long-time member of the community (someone, please, save me), I’ll be the judge of that.

The story follows Mike Schmidt, a down on his luck, lower-middle class older brother. Since his parents’ passing, he’s tasked with raising his neuro-divergent sister, Abby. Mike is struggling to hold down a job whatsoever. The memories of his kidnapped little brother continue to get in the way of work. Left with no other options, he makes his way to a career counselor to aid him in this issue. His agent, a snarky older fellow by the name Steve Raglan, offers him a position of security. Mike will need to keep watch over an old, abandoned restaurant from the 80’s. Taking the offer, Mike finds himself closer to finding his brother’s taker than ever. Being forced to bring his sister along for the job, he learns an ever-increasing dark secret. The terrifying animatronics who stalk his office at night, considered by Abby to be friends of hers, want Abby. They wish for her to be as they are. Now, Mike has to protect his sister from the same fate these animatronic souls faced 20 years previous. In the chaos, Mike finds himself face-to-face with the man who took his brother. The man who took his brother… and the man who plans to take his sister, too.

It’s a basic but very interesting plot. Each night throws a curveball at you that you wouldn’t expect. Each night gets progressive in difficulty and intrigue as the story goes on. This, all the way to the climactic 5th night confrontation with Spring Bonnie. For FNAF fans, it’s a fascinating and nostalgic watch. For newcomers, a great way to ease yourself into the complex lore of the series.

The Fourth Night

The biggest, most present theme of this film is this. No matter what you had in the past, allow yourself to live in the present to find peace. The entire film, Mike is on the search for his younger brother, Garrett, and his killer. He sees the same incident in every dream, and he is desperate to know what happened. He is desperate to somehow rewrite the past. The problem being, well, that is impossible. When confronted with the ‘opportunity’ to get back what he so wanted, he almost agrees. That is, before realizing what it meant he’d be losing. He harboured far too much longing for the past, and realized, in that moment, that he had all the family he needed. All he’s had, living out memories with.

The Fifth Night

Now as we wind down, I’ll ask what’s generally the most basic question. Was the film itself any good? Rotten Tomatoes rates this film around the 30% mark, but what does this movie deserve on the rating scale?

Well, I’ll be honest when I say, as a longtime fan of the series, this film did not disappoint. Uncharacterized (as far as the games go) characters means it’s not left us much for the comparison category. Yet, the character acting is some phenomenal stuff. Josh Hutcherson plays the role of the traumatized older sibling in very convincing fashion. And this, coming from a guy who himself fills that role. Piper Rubio was the perfect casting as a neurodivergent coded young sister Abby. The sibling chemistry these two share is top tier. Each interaction is very much like one of my own with my own siblings. Top tier, too, is Mike’s realization of what he has in his life later in the film. Siblings have their ups and downs, but they always hold that special love for each other, as these two do here. Elizabeth Lail portrays dodgy police officer Vanessa with the utmost attention to detail. She’s a caring person, but is hiding a dark secret from Mike from the very beginning. Her way of avoiding questions is with expertise. So, too, is her generally very tense demeanor when left alone within Freddy’s. Speaking of dark secrets, Matthew Lillard’s Steve Raglan is definitely the worst kept secret of the film. But is that so bad? Revealed to be the ‘man behind the slaughter,’ William Afton, Raglan assigns Mike his security gig with his identity, one of great significance to Afton, in mind. Knowing that this is the man we were all waiting to see only garnered further excitement for his inevitable on-screen reveal. And, to be frank, I’ve never seen Matthew Lillard more excitable about a role in my life. Lillard takes every opportunity he can to get excited about the character. Unfortunately, he cannot talk about it much with the SAG-AFTRA strikes going on. He posted a video doing LAPS of excitement a few days ago, as of writing this piece. You see Lillard in his element here, free to add his personal touch to the character everyone was so ready for. I only wish we were able to see more from his Afton throughout the film! His physical acting during the final act is definitely some of the best stuff this movie produces. Speaking of production, they opt to use as little CGI as possible, hiring JIM HENSON to craft the animatronics. They wanted to be as practical as possible with the film. Lillard himself even half-joked he was willing to take a genuine springlock failure for the film. You’ve gotta admire his dedication to his roles.

In the end, this film is some of the best work I’ve seen in some time. You can see every aspect crafted in perfect detail, from the script itself, to the set, to the castings. Scott knew what he was setting out to do, and by god, he very well did it. My only gripe to find is that the final act feels rather short, compared to the others. I can overlook it to an extent, though, I do wish we received more time with Lillard’s Afton. I’m very impressed by what we received, and while it’s not without its flaws, I find them to be far easier to accept than some others. Not everything has to have an R-Rating, pal!