Back in 2014, a new videogame called Five Nights at Freddy’s debuted and became a big enough success to inspire a number of sequels over the subsequent decade. 2023 also brought the franchise to the movie screens via the identically titled Five Nights at Freddy’s.

Due to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) related to a childhood tragedy, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) struggles to keep jobs. Because their parents died, he acts as sole caretaker for seven-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio), a situation threatened by his inability to maintain gainful employment.

As a last ditch, Mike takes an overnight security guard job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a restaurant that got shut down years earlier. This seems like an easy gig but a variety of challenges threaten Mike’s security – and his life.

For years, I commented on the fact that flicks based on videogames tended to underperform at the box office. 2023 obliterated that notion, as The Super Mario Bros. Movie became a massive box office smash.

With a worldwide gross of $289 million, Nights made nearly $1.1 billion less than Mario. Nonetheless, via a budget of only $20 million, it turned a tidy profit and became a hit in its own right.

Before this movie arrived, I’d never heard about the videogames. Based on promotional materials, I expected essentially “Die Hard At Chuck E. Cheese’s”.

Instead, Nights offers something fairly different. Instead of the fight flick I anticipated, we get more of a drama with supernatural horror overtones.

I won’t fault Nights for the fact the end product didn’t provide what I expected. I will fault the film for its lack of coherence and impact, however.

A lot of that stems from the many plot contrivances, with a particular emphasis on the childhood event that haunts Mike. We see that a stranger abducted his brother Garrett (Lucas Grant) years earlier, and because his parents (Garret Hines and Jessica Blackmore) trusted Mike to watch his sibling, he continues to blame himself.

Does the movie need this backdrop? No – not in the least, as instead, Mike’s backstory just feels like unnecessary filler.

This goes for a whole lot of Nights. On one hand, I feel like I should appreciate that the film aspires to some story depth.

On the other hand, Nights pulls off these elements in such a clumsy, disjointed way that they flop. It doesn’t help that the film pours on other contrivances that become more and more far-fetched.

One of the movie’s weirdest choices comes from the decision to make Mike and Abby siblings. 23 years separates the ages of Hutcherson and Rubio, so even if we accept the possibility that Hutcherson intends to play a few years younger, he still seems far too old to portray Rubio’s brother.

Why not just make Mike her dad? Honestly, it took a chunk of the movie for me to figure out Mike wasn’t Abby’s father, as the film doesn’t delineate this well, and it feels so weird that viewers naturally will assume a father/daughter relationship.

Okay, I suppose the film posits Mike as Abby’s brother to connect to the guilt he feels over his brother’s disappearance. However, this theme never plays out in clear manner, and the age difference just remains odd and off-putting.

Perhaps if the movie’s drama and action better involved me, I wouldn’t think so much about this strange plot choice and many others. Suffice it to say that Nights comes with a slew of head-scratching choices, all of which I could forgive if the tale engaged me.

Instead, it just drags. The fights feel tepid and the horror lacks punch or real engagement.

Which makes me wonder why the filmmakers didn’t just make a more literal adaptation of the videogame and deliver something closer to the Die Hard vein I mentioned. I think a more action-oriented film could entertain.

Instead, Nights comes with delusions of cinematic grandeur too high for it to embrace the franchise’s basic appeal. This leads to a slow, scattered and ineffective film.

Footnote: a tag scene appears about a minute into the end credits.

Five Nights at Freddy’s appears in an aspect ratio of 2.00:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with a positive presentation.

Overall sharpness appeared strong. Only a smidgen of softness materialized during a few dark interiors, so the flick seemed accurate and precise the majority of the time.

I noticed no shimmering or jagged edges. Edge haloes and print flaws remained absent.

Unsurprisingly, the film opted for an orange and teal orientation that felt typical for modern movies. These never overwhelmed, however, and the disc reproduced them as intended.

Blacks appeared dark and deep, and shadows showed reasonable delineation. Low-light shots offered nice clarity for the most part, though a few slightly murky elements appeared. In the end, I felt pleased with this appealing presentation.

As for the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack, it added a bit of zip to the proceedings. A fairly atmospheric affair, the mix lacked a ton of zing, but it blasted music from all the channels and let the effects fill the spectrum.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, some violent scenes used the soundscape to the most impactful degree. These moments created a satisfying sense of place and setting.

Audio quality worked well. Speech was concise and natural, while music boasted fine range and vivacity.

Effects gave us accurate, dynamic elements without distortion. Though not a tremendously ambitious track, the movie’s mix seemed pretty solid.

A few featurettes appear, and From Game to Big Screen goes for seven minutes, 20 seconds. It offers notes from co-writer/director Emma Tammi, producer Jason Blum, department head makeup Ashley Levy, director of photography Lyn Moncrief, co-writer Seth Cuddeback, executive producer Beatriz Sequeira, Youtubers “Ryan”, Rhys Williams, Lewis Dawkins and Ryan Bushell, and actors Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Piper Rubio, and Elizabeth Lail.

As expected, this program looks at the property’s adaptation into a movie as well as cast/performances and a few production topics. While we get a few decent notes, a lot of “Game” leans toward fluff.

Killer Animatronics spans five minutes, 51 seconds. Here we find comments from Hutcherson, Tammi, Lillard, puppeteer Amanda Maddock, puppet build supervisor Robert Bennett, lead animatronics wrangler Wolfgang Criswell, puppeteer captain Artie Esposito, and stunt performers Kevin Foster, Jess Weiss and Jade Kindar-Martin.

Like the title implies, this featurette covers the creation of the movie’s non-human characters. As with “Game”, “Killer” feels less than substantial, but we get a decent summary.

Finally, Five Nights in Three Dimensions runs four minutes, 23 seconds. We find info from Tammi, Lail, Lillard, Moncrief, Hutcherson, Rubio, and production designer Marc Fisichella.

This one discusses the sets, photography and Easter eggs. We get another mix of facts and promo talk.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Nights. It offers the same extras as the Blu-ray.

A hit adaptation of a popular videogame series, Five Nights at Freddy’s comes with potential as a mix of horror and action. Unfortunately, the end product suffers from major plot flaws as well as a general lack of either scares or thrills. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture and audio but it lacks substantial bonus materials. Perhaps the inevitable sequel will work better than this sluggish and dull effort.