I saw Five Nights at Freddy's

I've held but a passing familiarity with the Five Nights at Freddy's video-game franchise, but knew enough to get the pre-gist of Universal/Blumhouse's titular release, directed by Emma Tammi, who cowrote with Seth Cuddback and Scott Cawthorn (the game's co-creator).  

The skillful trio makes certain that this fast-clipped, jump-scare adaptation sways little from its namesake, which is known for placing its avatar lead against mechanical monsters at Freddy Fazabear's Pizzeria. (The fearsome caricatures attack much like the vengeful androids of Westworld 1973).  

As with the video challenge, Josh (The Hunger Games) Hutcherson's edgy and dejected security guard, Mike Schmidt (ah, not the Phillies' former third baseman😒) is hired to patrol a closed, 1980s, novelty eatery from dusk till dawn (five times over) and faces the brunt of the walking/talking animatronic props. They snap to life little by little each night, yearning for murder because, well, they contain the souls of slain children (with one near to Schmidt's guilt-wracked heart), who've festered enough within their anthropomorphic shells to give them warped, symbiotic cravings. (Take my word for it, the creepy cause isn't as important as the eerie effect.)

In addition to Hutcherson's beleaguered Schmidt, there's his intuitive sister, Piper (Unstable) Rubio's Abby; Elizabeth (Once Upon a Time) Lail's Officer Vanessa Monroe, who knows a thing or two about the menacing mechanisms; Michael (Scream/Scooby-Doo) Lillard's Steve Ragland, Schmidt's "brutally honest" career counselor who harbors a consequential secret; Mary Stuart (Benny & Joon) Masterson's spiteful-to-the-custody-core Aunt Jan; and comprising the antagonistic automatons, Kevin Foster's Freddy the Bear/Fazbear; Jay Kinder-Martin's Bonnie the Bunny;  Roger Manning's Foxy the Fox; Jess Weiss' Chica the Chick (with her candle-topped, cupcake mascot), all of whom are fascinating yet nightmarish for their uncanny-valley bestiality. 

Like this year's cutie-pie-gone-wrong fable, M3gan, the debate over A.I.'s usefulness makes Freddy's content relevant, even if what's featured is old-school (and possessed). However, if the truth be known, this cheer-over-sadism idea was implemented in Danishka Esterhazy's 2019's horror retooling of The Banana Splits. Even so, that revamped, Hanna-Barbera premise (much like Rhys Frake Waterfield's Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey) seems to have taken inspiration from the Freddy's game.  

Freddy's isn't, as one can deduce, uncommon in its flipside terror (whether as a game or movie), but then, Tom Holland/Don Mancini's Child's Play wasn't perceived as innovative when released 1988 (an admitted rehash of Richard Matheson's Zuni Doll segment from Trilogy of Terror). Despite this, the Chucky venture received praise for its chilling execution. Freddy's holds the same tried-and-true gleaning, turning cuteness on its head through a successful, slasher succession. 

Freddy's now occupies theaters, but for Peacock subscribers, it's been queued to view. No matter where or how one experiences it, Freddy's is a sufficient, sci-fi/supernatural outing that should give most viewers just the right dose of temporary tingles this Halloween.