The horror film “Five Nights At Freddy’s” is currently in theaters. Prohibited for children under 12, does the film inspired by successful video games live up to players’ expectations?
Video game adaptations for cinema are definitely on the rise this year! After the success of The Last of Us series and the animated film Super Mario Bros, here is Five Nights At Freddy’s which is inspired by the video game franchise created in 2014 and which currently consists of 9 games.
Released in the United States simultaneously in theaters and on the Peacock streaming platform on October 27, Emma Tammi’s feature film recorded $78 million in revenue during its first weekend in theaters.
This is the best start for a horror film in 2023 and the second best start ever for a video game adaptation, behind Super Mario Bros and its $146.3 million.
Led by Josh Hutcherson (Peeta in the Hunger Games saga), Elizabeth Lail (seen in the first season of You) and Matthew Lillard (Scream), the film is produced by ason Blum via his studio specializing in horror Blumhouse (Get Out ).
Mike takes care of his 10-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio). He is still haunted by the disappearance, never clarified, of his little brother, which occurred around ten years ago. Recently fired, he absolutely needs to find a job so as not to lose custody of Abby.
He therefore accepts a position as night watchman in an abandoned restaurant: Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. But it doesn’t take long for Mike to understand that appearances are terribly deceptive…
Universal pictures Josh Hutcherson
In our cinemas since Wednesday, November 8, the feature film is prohibited in theaters for children under 12 (and PG 13 in the United States). A ban which surprised fans of video games, who were expecting a violent film.
A horror film aimed at young people
The producer Jason Blum justifies his decision to our microphone: “I wanted the movie to be rated PG-13 because the game has a lot of younger fans and I wanted them to be able to see the movie.”
Director Emma Tammi adds in the columns of the site GamesRadar : “We knew from the start that we really wanted to stick to a PG 13 rating for this film. We felt like it was important to allow a younger audience to come see it.
So we tried to push the horror as far as possible while still maintaining the PG-13 rating. This meant that the murders had to be carried out in a certain way.
And while it’s a lot of fun in a lot of horror films to see the guts, it’s also really interesting to find creative ways to show those moments without giving away all the details.”
Universal Pictures
FNaF
What do the spectators think?
Fans of the games, for their part, seem divided. Some, like Zaldi, regret that the film is not as violent as the games.
“Quite bothered by this film…on the one hand having played the games, I must admit that seeing this universe adapted in live action is a pleasure and I had quite a few expectations as the potential of this license is great .
The whole thing remains relatively entertaining but unfortunately there are many flaws (…). One of the major problems of this film is that it is not scary and that there are no real moments of anxiety, gore…
Everything is quite predictable and one of my biggest disappointments is that the main horror lever of the video game is not exploited! (…) In my opinion, we lose the oppressive aspect specific to the game.”
For others, like member Oggy Kleinte, on the other hand, the ban on children under 12 does not pose a problem because the atmosphere remains quite unhealthy and therefore faithful to the games.
“We finally have our Five Nights at Freddy’s movie and it’s incredible. I’m a huge fan of the universe. I played the first game released in 2014. I collect the figurines, posters and plush toys.
I’ve never seen a film that disturbed me as much as this one about child abduction. This is a sensitive subject for many people. The way this topic is told is well presented.
It’s terrifying, scary, stressful and disturbing. The film itself doesn’t have a lot of blood but given the scenario that’s normal. A serious, gripping, bad-ass, and terribly effective film.”
Five Nights at Freddy’s can be discovered in your dark rooms.