Clara Kessinger

I would like to say that this movie is exactly perfect for their target audience; however, the fact that there are many well seasoned critics that have not been immersed in the base and starting story line of the games and books that are reviewing the Five Nights at Freddy's movie feels quite convoluted. I understand that they have a base line standard that they rate and critique movies, but that works very much against the movie as it is very different to the standard horror story/movie. In fact I believe it is quite game changing for the industry given that we do have to consider that the target audience is 13 plus. There are quite a few things that likely did have to be reconsidered given the initial storyline and gory history that was put together by Scott Cawthon. Despite all of the red tape that they likely had to avoid or jump through I would say that as a long time fan of the Five Nights at Freddy's Franchise, Blum House and Scott Cawthon did a wonderful job at emulating the suspense and delayed horror of the games. The lore and story were a little rocky but if you are someone who played the games and broke down the lore it is easier to understand that this will not just be one movie. Scott Cawthon as the story writer of the games, books and now the movie had a fantastic partnership with Blum House who brought this story to life. They together not only incorporated the original base story and history, but Blum House also did a wonderful job at emulating the "standing on the edge of a cliff" story writing that Scott has used continuously in his games and books. They kept me questioning what was to come next and left me in awe at the openness that was left at the end of the movie. Blum House already has a three movie contract for FNAF. However, if you haven't read into the lore or played the game very religiously you may have missed that there are also books built around the games and the history and story that is and continues to be built. The Five Nights at Freddy's movie was not only cast phenomenally with Josh Hutcherson as the night guard but many of the other adult and child actors. They captured the environment, the suspense, and the terror of the story that Scott has laid forth in the previous games and stories AND captured some very real scares and issues that some people are facing and may be facing in real life with their families or children. I believe that as a movie on its own it was very well put together and set up the hope and idea of later movies in order to complete the story. If you are to exclude the base story of the games and books in the FNAF history it is still a wonderful stand alone story that is open to future connections and possibilities; however, my only qualm with the movie is that it is classified as horror but was presented more as suspenseful and thriller. If you have not yet watched the movie and are not one that generally enjoys horror, the movie would have benefited much more if it had been classified as a thriller or suspense so as to not have set up an expectation that it would be like any other horror film with many jump scares, blood, gore, or even graphic killings and traps. Overall it was a fantastic movie and I do certainly plan on watching it again.