THE GOOD
Hutcherson – Strange as it may sound, THE HUNGER GAMES was such a long time ago, and both Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth have done so many things since then that it seems that Josh Hutcherson was forgotten about. He was an obvious highlight of THE HUNGER GAMES series, and it feels like it’s been forever since he was at the front of a major motion picture.
The reason why he was a highlight of THE HUNGER GAME series is because of the kind of things he does in this film. He brings a lot of heart to what may otherwise be an unsympathetic character in a warped film such as this one. There’s such a vulnerability to this character that you genuinely care about this character’s survival amidst all the chaos. Hutchinson plays the Everyman to a tee, and horror films need more actors who give this kind of effort even if the material is ridiculous.
The Animatronics – The animatronic mascots that are the film’s antagonists are, in fact, jigsaw puppet-level creepy-looking. Even if this movie took place in broad daylight, the idea of these things having any kind of independent movement would be creepy as hell.
The “Why” – Some horror films are rooted in such situational ridiculousness that there does need to be a good reason as to why the characters have found themselves in the situation that they are in so that it doesn’t seem like lazy storytelling. This is one of the very few movies that thoroughly cover this. Every decision, every character motivation, everything up until the final frame of the movie has a reason for happening, and given how many lazy jumpscare fests without sensible storytelling there are when it comes to this genre, this is so much more impressive than I can explain.
THE BAD
The “How” – Horror films like this tend to provide a “set of rules” that can explain the circumstances that would make a protagonist or antagonist stronger or weaker. As time has proven, this is not necessary to have a fun and entertaining horror film. However, this is absolutely mandatory when it comes to being a truly great horror film, and unfortunately, this film falls short. It tries, don’t get me wrong. But ultimately, the explanation as to how the fun house works, or other vital plot elements to this story involving things like communications through dreams and (believe it or not) the process of behavioral transference… It would take entirely too long to show and explain. They just kind of let it sit there hanging over the film from the beginning of the second act onward, and the third act indefinitely suffers for it in a significant way.
THE UGLY
Vanessa – There is one character whose motivations become inexplicable just so that the third act can be pulled off in the way it is. A major character who makes a whole lot of sense in the beginning. A character that is the victim of the film’s writers getting a little bit too cute in the twists and turns they’re trying to present just to turn the story on his head.
It is a testament to how enjoyable this film is that the inexplicable motives of this character at the end of this film didn’t turn me off from the film entirely. Elizabeth Lail is pretty good in the role, though.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S is a film that will surprise you in many ways. I won’t go as far as to say that it’s falsely advertised, but it’s only advertising one angle of what it has to present. Believe it or not, there are no less than nine different video games, a novel trilogy, and comics that this film is based on.
Even still, there are elements to this film that I would be shocked to hear that any of those other forms of media cover in detail. If you are like me and did not know that there was so much media based on this brand, I think you’ll have the most fun watching this film breakdown in the way it does.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S is now available to stream on Peacock and in theaters.
