It took 8 years to do... *this*?!

It goes for scary instead of fun most of the time and that just doesn't work at all. I mean it could have worked if it was actually scary but it's a failed attempt. And really, who could ever be scared of these cute cuddly furry animatronics... it DEMANDS to be fun and campy. *Willy's Wonderland* and *The Banana Splits Movie* both understood that. There are *some* fun moments sprinkled throughout but there wasn't nearly enough of them for the long runtime, it needed way more crazy animatronic moments. It's mostly just a drama.

I was mildly invested in the mystery and characters but the twist is predictable within the first 15 minutes, they make it so damn obvious and there's a very limited number of characters. Story is full of plot holes. Just because your source material is known for having a convoluted story doesn't mean you get a free pass to do a convoluted story, they had 8 years to make it better—it was awful!

Acting ranges from ordinary to good, generic dialogue and the camera cuts away at every kill (PG-13). I'm not a fan of jumpscares in general but this is an occasion where they needed them (the games are huge on them)... hardly any here, sadly.

The biggest praise I could give it is the animatronics look freakin amazing! Great design. Whenever they're on-screen, which is rare, I was fully captivated. The Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria set was kinda perfect. I also liked the brother sister dynamics it was the heart of the movie.

**Disclaimer**: I have never played these games, nor was I familiar with the franchise in any way going into the movie.

That being said - I just really don’t understand the bad rap this movie is getting! I overall enjoyed this movie for what it was: a relatively engaging PG-13 adaptation of a camp horror franchise.

I think we’re all familiar, at least, with the premise: a security officer working at a not-quite-Chucky-Cheese has to deal with the animatronics coming to life and becoming murderous machines. Succinct and self-contained. What I actually think this movie does well is delving into the lore behind WHY this is happening (which a quick search tells me has basis in the third game in the series). I initially thought this movie was taking itself way too seriously in a few moments, but given the background here, the tone is appropriately heavy at times. This stuff gets DARK and involves kidnapped and murdered children.

The family drama plot that this movie grows out of actually worked pretty well for me. I think it dovetails with the existing “dead kids possessing animatronics” story. Sure, it’s not Shakespeare, but it doesn’t need to be. What I take issue with is some of the stuff that isn’t explained or addressed whatsoever. How did Mike end up with sole custody of his sister? What happened to their parents? (SPOILER: Why did the police officer help her father whatsoever?)

A complaint I’ve seen a lot of is about the level of gore, and I gotta say, I actually think it’s appropriate. Not every horror movie needs to be a hack-and-slash phantasmagoria of blood and guts. There’s just enough here to make you uncomfortable while also staying at the “camp” horror level.

In the end, we can say what we want, but this movie was made for a certain demographic that’s going to eat it up: teenagers with nothing better to do this Hallo-weekend that can’t get into rated-R films yet.

(I chose to watch it at home on Peacock for that very reason.)

Didn't Josh Hutcherson used to be famous? Well here he is reduced to the role of the struggling brother of "Abby" (Piper Rubio). Their aunt (Mary Stuart Masterson) is determined that this hapless bag of bones isn't fit to look after the young girl - after he takes out a visiting father in the fountain of a shopping mall and gets fired; so "Mike" has to get another job! Opportunities are thin on the ground, but there is a vacancy doing the security night shift and an old, derelict, pizza parlour. How hard can it be? Well a meeting with the enigmatic police officer "Vanessa" (Elizabeth Lail) should have rung alarm bells, and when he has to take "Abby" there for one overnight shift - well it's soon clear that this place has secrets to keep and that it knows how to manipulate the hopes and fears of "Mike" and his sister. Can they stay sane and focussed long enough to survive this maze of malevolent mechanical bunnies? I'm afraid the presence of Matthew Lillard never helps a film, and here is no different - this is just a rather nonsensical attempt at a spooky mystery that certainly has nothing to make you jump. Rubio is actually quite decent, but there's isn't enough else happening to compensate for the very slow build up, surfeit of dialogue and frankly rather silly underlying premiss. I suppose as Halloween gets bigger and bigger, we are going to get more and more of these mediocre offerings - but despite it's more prominent cast, this just belongs on the Horror channel at 2am.

FNAF was great, Kinda wish it had blood, Every kill was offscreen or really dark and you cant really see the kill.

I don't really get what all the negative reviews are about.
It's not the best movie ever or that I've seen this year, but I still had a good time watching it. The story was interesting, it had some scary parts, some humorous parts, lots of tension, was well-acted, well-shot, and the effects (both practical and CGI) were well-done. Also, the production design and creature design was great.

A movie doesn't have to be restricted to either being "the best" or "horrible." The theater I saw it in was packed, the audience was responsive and seemed to be loving it, and I myself enjoyed it.

I didn't really play the games, but I was definitely engaged in the lore of some of the MatPat Game Theory videos I saw. And I could tell from audience reactions that there were some cool things in the movie if you knew the games. That's not a negative, to be clear. It's always really cool when filmmakers put things in movies that true fans would catch and geek-out about.

As far as being a viewer who didn't really play the games, I enjoyed the movie. And while I think knowing the games/lore would have definitely enhanced my enjoyment and enthusiasm, I wouldn't say it lacks as a movie or that the games are "required viewing" for those who haven't played them. Everything's explained pretty well.

As far as the horror aspect goes, it is PG-13; I saw some reviews complaining about the lack of gore... It's PG-13. C'mon guys.
But, that being said, I thought they still did a good job with the horror elements that were present.

I also really liked the trio of main characters. I thought Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, and Elizabeth Lail all did a good job.
Also, I'm glad Josh Hutcherson is back. I hope he'll continue to be in more movies.