By Jeremy Binning
Halloween passed a few weeks ago, but is there ever really not a good time to watch a ditzy horror film? “Five Nights at Freddy’s” checks off just about every box on the checklist when it comes to a cheesy horror film.
The movie starts following the struggling life of the main character Mike, who is a security guard who can’t keep a job. In the midst of learning about him, it’s obvious that he has trauma that is still affecting him to this day. The first instance is when he runs down on a father who is aggressively dragging his child and beats him after mistaking it for a kidnapping.
He seeks help from a hiring agency and due to his struggles of holding a job amid his violent outbreaks, is offered a night security job that no one wants. At first, he declines. But as time goes on and the constant custody battle he is going through with his scheming aunt Jane over his younger sister rages on, he accepts the job to show the court he has employment and is fit to watch his sister.
The security job is an abandoned pizzeria and arcade that shut down in the late ’80s after children had gone missing from the place. As he works, he befriends a police officer who is familiar with the place and also takes a liking to him. She seems to know more about the place and constantly gives warnings to Mike, but he still doesn’t understand.
The story progresses and it is revealed that Mike saw his younger brother be abducted when they were kids and he blames himself to this day. He constantly relives it in his dreams with the help of pills so he can figure out who it was that took his brother.
The psychological aspect of the film takes its time to develop, but by the end, the pieces click together. The idea that mechanical teddy bears are possessed by missing children and kill people is as corny as it comes, but nonetheless is a film worth watching with friends if you need a laugh with mild gore.
Joshua Carter, a junior majoring in psychology, recently watched the movie with friends and thought the movie was exactly like he expected.
“Anyone who went into seeing this movie with a serious mindset shouldn’t have wasted their time,” Carter laughed. “It was better than I expected, honestly. I knew it was a cheesy movie but the story actually tied into what was going on and it kept me wanting to watch to the end to see how it finishes.
Jacalyn Samuelson, a senior majoring in criminal justice, also thought similar had similar thoughts.
“I feel like it was good for what it was: a cheesy horror movie,” Samuelson said. “It took some time but the plot began to make sense and it was honestly funny the way it played out. The killer mechanical bears were my favorite part. I just thought it was a new way to have a villain in a horror movie and I would have never thought of that.”
The movie is worth the laugh and is worth the watch with a group of friends, or if you are bored and have nothing better to do.
