Five Nights at Freddy’s: Much Ado About Not Much (review)

The big US horror hit of the moment is coming to France. A scenario with absent subscribers, an absence of thrills, a peak of boredom

Initially, a series of video games in mode survival horror. Nine episodes since 2014, four spin-offs, a handful of novels… until Five Nights at Freddy’s is not available as a feature film. A long, very long-term project since it was initiated by Warner in 2015 before Blumhouse took over and which was at one time planned with Chris Colombus (Mom I missed the plane !) to production before the orders were given to Emma Tammi (Cursed Earth). With, as a result, an absolute triumph in theaters in the USA. In two weeks, Five Nights at Freddy’s has already grossed more than $100 million, the biggest hit for a horror film across the Atlantic in all of 2023

Suffice to say that we were impatiently waiting to discover the phenomenon. And, we might as well say it straight away, the disappointment far exceeds the expectation. It all starts with an endless opening to introduce the characters and the situation. Mike (Josh Hutcherson, transparent), haunted by the never-solved disappearance of his little brother, around ten years earlier, who, in order not to lose custody of his 10-year-old sister in his care, accepts a position as night watchman in an abandoned restaurant which had its heyday in the 80s, thanks to its four animatronic mascots which, lo and behold, Mike will see come to life and move around after midnight.

The disturbing vintage atmosphere of the restaurant, faithful to the game’s universe, is undoubtedly the only thing to save from a long road of the cross where everyone seems to have forgotten that an atmosphere is not enough to make a film. And for almost two hours, the game here mainly consists of tracking the missing person from this Five nights at Freddy’s, a sort of untraceable Loch Ness Monster: the scenario. Because once the interminable beginning is over, everything that follows – from the twists and turns that we guess a quarter of an hour in advance (the two-faced character of poor Matthew Lillard, caught up in this mess) to the poorly orchestrated flashbacks until a final straight line which deserves to be included in the pantheon of Malaise TV – comes close to zero points. Never daring to cross the threshold of slightly gory horror for fear of limiting its audience, Five nights at Freddy’s turns out to be abysmally boring. But given the last image and the success in theaters, we shouldn’t stop there. Five nights at Freddy’s should have babies. And this is the most distressing and the most frightening.

By Emma Tammi. With Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail… Duration: 1h50. Released November 8, 2023