Five Nights at Freddy’s is the cultural equivalent of an underground cave system – if it isn’t your stomping ground, you have no clue how deep it really goes. And you’d be a fool to try and find out. An indie horror game single-handedly developed by designer Scott Cawthon in 2014, Five Nights first clawed its way into the public consciousness thanks to the several hundred hours of game footage uploaded to the internet by streamers screeching at its neat and nasty jump scares. The franchise stands now at nine core games, plus a flurry of spin-offs, novels, and comics – not to mention the vast network of fan-created art, cosplay, and music.
You can’t exactly blame a production company like Blumhouse (also behind M3gan and the recent Halloween trilogy) for wanting a piece of the feverishly viral, wildly profitable pie. Yet, instead of catering to the in-built audience ready and waiting, Five Nights wastes time trying to win over people who couldn’t care less. As a result, what should’ve been an intricate, twisted, and absurd treat is demoted to generic horror movie sludge, in no way discernible from any of the other spooky titles lining the October release schedule.
