In the eyes of kids born around 2000, Blumhouse Productions has created a nostalgic masterpiece — the “Five Night’s at Freddy’s” movie.
American video game designer, Scott Cawthon developed a survival horror game in 2014 called “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” The game went on to see great success with seven games being created thus far. YouTubers at the time posted gameplay videos that were highly popular with younger generations, and this helped video makers obtain popularity along with the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” franchise.
Blumhouse Productions, an American film company best known for its horror movies, created a Five Nights at Freddy’s movie that was released Oct. 27. The film featured actors such as Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard and Elizabeth Lail. Critics have not left the movie with complimentary reviews, but that doesn’t mean Freddy’s movie debut was a flop.
The New York Times, Variety and several news outlets have released articles summarizing the movie’s release day stats. Within four days of its release date, the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie raked in $78 million from ticket sales in North America and $130 million globally, according to an article, published by the New York Times titled, “Film based on Horror-Survival Video Game is Surprise Box Office Hit” on October 29, 2023. Other horror movies, both new and revived, have been released this Halloween season; none have experienced the success that “Five Nights at Freddy’s” has though.
“The Exorcist: Believer” along with “The Nun II,” “M3GAN” and “Scream VI” didn’t come close to collecting the global revenue “Five Nights at Freddy’s” did. Despite its monetary success, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” only received a 38% tomato score.
I think this movie was as successful as it was due to its rating. “Five Nights at Freddy’s” was rated PG-13 which means people under the age of 17 could watch it without parental guidance. This movie is an interest to people who watched YouTubers play the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” games when they were younger, so anyone who doesn’t have that nostalgic connection isn’t going to be drawn to the film.
Allowing those under the age of 17 into theatres opens the movie to kids who watched “Five Nights at Freddy’s” gamers. Those watching the movie have created new jokes and revitalized memes from the era of Five Nights at Freddy’s gaming and some are cosplaying as characters from the game when attending the movie.
Before watching Five Nights at Freddy’s, I asked people who had seen it what they thought. Many said it was a flop, that the nostalgic factor was what gave it any credibility. I didn’t know what to expect since I avoided all trailers and spoilers, and few had positive feedback. I was pleasantly surprised, however, at how much I enjoyed the movie.
I watched YouTubers play “Five Nights at Freddy’s” when I was a kid, but it wasn’t the main content I consumed. Deep knowledge of the game wasn’t necessary to understand the movie though. While I wish the film had been a little scarier, I would rather its success be ensured with a more inclusive rating. The suspenseful scenes built up to mild jump scares I considered underwhelming, but the animatronic recreations and costume design made up for what drama was missing.
There were definitely things I would have changed about the movie; there were questions characters didn’t ask throughout the film in the name of a big end-of-movie reveal, the child actors didn’t seem to get the ‘don’t look directly at the camera’ memo and Elizabeth Lail’s voice sounding exactly like Natalie Portman’s threw me for a loop. All things considered, I’m glad to see cinema created for young people making a comeback.
Overall, I would give “Five Nights at Freddy’s” an 8/10. The actors chosen played their roles well and Josh Hutcherson looked phenomenal as a brunette. I would highly suggest anyone who enjoyed the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” franchise as a child watch this movie, but make sure you look at it through younger you’s eyes. They’re going to be ecstatic.
