For the uninitiated, the premise of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is both incredibly simple and extremely bleak. The events of the cursed timeline take place in a pizzeria and entertainment center not unlike a Chuck E. Cheese, complete with anthropomorphic animatronics led by the titular Freddy Fazbear.
Unfortunately, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place has been connected to a series of increasingly disturbing tragedies, which has gutted the pizzeria franchise’s reputation. And for good reasons, as security guards working the overnight shift will tell you, those animatronics are alive and ready to kill any humans they find. Created by Scott Cawthon, the franchise has expanded upon its lore in terrifying, twisted ways, and it seems that Blumhouse has chosen to incorporate the dark origins into this film.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” stars Josh Hutcherson as Mike Schmidt, Matthew Lillard as William Afton, and Elizabeth Lail as Vanessa Monroe. They are joined by Kat Conner Sterling, Christian Stokes, Piper Rubio, and the always-brilliant Mary Stuart Masterson. Considering the “FNAF” fandom skews extremely young for a horror franchise, this release is one of the few instances where a day-and-date release is actually a good thing, and if successful, may help usher in the alleged already planned additional films.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” arrives in theaters and streams on Peacock on October 27, 2023.