Family entertainment restaurants from the ‘80s and ‘90s were popular destinations for a birthday or to share a pie with the family and play some games. The pizza was subpar, but the real draw was the arcade, the oversized play place and sometimes an animatronic band featuring nightmarish anthropomorphic animals.
This serves as the setting for both the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game and the new film adaptation, although the business of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza has been closed for years. Chuck E. Cheese, Peter Piper Pizza and Jungle Jim’s are real life examples of a Freddy’s restaurant.
Mike (Josh Hutcherson) has sole custody of his sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), after their parents’ demise, their callous Aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson) has litigiously lobbied for custody of her niece, with money as her only motivation. After some hesitation, Mike takes a job as a night security guard at Freddy’s to better provide for his sister.
Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) is a local police officer who frequented Freddy’s as a kid. She befriends Mike and gives him a tour of the defunct eatery. Mike is haunted by a traumatic event from his past, which he regularly revisits in the form of debilitating nightmares that he attempts to suppress with sleeping pills.
Freddy the bear and his band remain behind a thick curtain on a stage in the dining room, alongside Foxy the red fox, Bonnie the baby-blue bunny, Chica the yellow chicken and the abomination Mr. Cupcake, who is half-person, half-candle festooned cupcake. When Abby’s babysitter disappears, Mike is forced to take his sister to Freddy’s. A development that creates real problems for the protagonist.
Even before Mike’s first shift, it becomes apparent not all is well within Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Starting with the eerie employee training video, static lines dance across the screen, typical of a cassette that has seen heavy use. Some training segments are either lost in the film ether or intentionally cut from the instructional tape.
Based on a video game, the film adaptation is enjoyable and creepy. The best part about “Five Nights” is the wacky plot. So many slasher or demonic possession films get pushed into production, that horror films can become tedious to watch.
“Five Nights” is the opposite. With no knowledge of the game story, the film’s plot is unexpected and macabre. The film also deals with the topic of trauma and how it can affect the victim long after any traumatic experiences.
With such horrific subject matter, it comes as a surprise this was material developed for children. Although the game and film are rated for teens, T and PG-13 respectively, no terror is lost with the more inclusive rating.
Fearing that “Five Nights” was to be another watered-down lackluster PG-13 horror film, the audience is left pleasantly surprised to discover a much darker film. “Five Nights” is a dark film, thematically and physically. A palette of darkness allows the colors of the restaurant and the creatures to stand out, as well as the robot eyes which emit an ominous colorful glow.
After getting negative feedback for the accidentally horrific juvenile beaver character of his previous title (Chipper and Sons Lumber Co.), Houston native video game creator Scott Cawthon instead decided to lean into the terror. His next game Five Nights at Freddy’s focused on making the characters as creepy as possible.
The Five Nights at Freddy’s games have been adapted to fit every device from a smart phone to a gaming system. There have been 10 main games and five spinoffs, with the most recent main adaptation slated for this December.
Analog Horror has recently built-up steam as a definitive genre niche. The grainy VHS training tape, ‘80s tech and the threatening robotic animals all fall into the analog horror category.
Old technology can be scary, especially if it has a threatening physical presence. Throw in a creepy animal facade and terminator-level strength, and the five animal characters exemplify capable horror film antagonists.
