What began as a simple point-and-click horror game has become a mega-franchise of game sequels, spinoffs, and even literature. Now, Five Nights at Freddy’s is coming to the multiplex, where, presumably, the ushers will lock your head forward so you can’t look over your shoulder and see how close all those creepy animatronics are to murdering you and your friends.
Scott Cawthon developed the original game. Set in a family pizzeria after hours, the player assumes the role of a night security guard who must use limited electricity to spy with cameras or close a set of steel doors to avoid murderous animatronic characters — ones who, even covered in blood, somehow seem a bit cleaner than their Chuck E. Cheese forefathers.
Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) stars as the unfortunate security guard, Mike Schmidt. Meanwhile, Matthew Lillard (Scream) appears as the character Steve Raglan, a name familiar to those well-versed in Cawthon’s lore. Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Kat Conner Sterling, and Mary Stuart Masterson also star.
Check out the most recent trailer below:
What is Five Nights at Freddy’s rated?
If you made it to the end of the trailer, you may have noticed that the film doesn’t advertise its rating. That might be because Universal doesn’t want to annoy horror fans anticipating a bloodbath that definitely isn’t coming. That’s right: Five Nights at Freddy’s is rated PG-13 for “strong violent content, bloody images, and language.”
Yes, there will be blood, but Freddy’s fans who crave extended bodily harm are more likely to see a few quick flashes of red hitting the wall and maybe some sideboob. But don’t fret: The whole reason Five Nights at Freddy’s is such a scary game is because of its tension.
Unable to have a consistent 360-degree view of the pizzeria, you’re always frantically searching small frames of security footage for a fuzzy, big-grinned demon moving inexorably toward your security booth. Frankly, gore can take a number behind the “ohmygodohmygod” chills we got playing that game all night. Leaving the hacking of people in half to Art the Clown; what matters at Freddy’s is suspense.
As a gesture of goodwill, let’s mention some previous horror films that are quite effective despite their PG-13 ratings: Poltergeist, the American remake of The Ring, A Quiet Place, Lights Out, Insidious, Drag Me To Hell — even the Large Marge portion of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.
We’ll see if Five Nights at Freddy‘s can provide the necessary anxiety when it hits theaters and Peacock on Oct. 27.
