While horror movie watching is a year-round event, this is that time of year when all of us can flourish, embracing the weird.
So, come one, come all, beasties unite! It’s Haunt-Tober time!
The new horror release, a much awaited film for me, Five Nights at Freddy’s, unfortunately suffers from a lack of cohesion and clarity. It doesn’t capitalize on the opportunity for some animatronic fun, but instead lingers too much on the story it is trying to tell but can’t quite say.
Mike (Josh Hutcherson), dealing with his own struggles and potential custody of his sister, begins work as a security guard Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.
While there he notices strange occurrences, that matched with his own nightmares from a past trauma, and a new acquaintance Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) that seems to be keeping secrets, he begins to realize that something is off.
The film unrolls its premise in strangely portioned parts. It doesn’t quite rise to the heights I feel that it could have.
The acting truly isn’t the problem. I don’t mind the casting and I feel like everyone is trying. For me, it was the script, (written by Scott Cawthon, Emma Tammi, and Seth Cuddeback) that felt disjointed. The role of Vanessa (how she’s introduced and her story unveiled) is also a big head-scratcher and the pace is glacially done.
I so wanted to love this film, but it just wasn’t as fun as I had hoped. This adaptation wasn’t as creative or clever as one would want, and feels more like a drama than a horror. That latter aspect isn’t entirely a negative as this is an emotional genre, but it doesn’t know which lane to choose.
As an opening tester for horror interested kids I can see this film working, but I fear they’ll be uncertain of the more heady elements it’s attempting to go with.
Fight Nights at Freddy’s is just not effective enough as a horror and has a slowly plodding pace that can’t be saved by its talent.
Today’s winner:
Wonderfully Weird & Horrifying 