Five Nights At Freddy’s (Night Shift Edition) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Emma Tammi

Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard

Release Date: December 12, 2023

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 6/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

The producers of M3GAN and The Black Phone bring the terrifying horror game phenomenon to life as a blood-chilling film. Recently fired and desperate for work so that he can keep custody of his little sister, Mike agrees to take a position as a night security guard at an abandoned theme restaurant: Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. But Mike soon discovers that nothing at Freddy’s is what it seems. Mike’s nights at Freddy’s will lead him into unexplainable encounters with the supernatural and drag him into the black heart of an unspeakable nightmare.

Please Note: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

THE MOVIE / REVIEW:

Based on the massively popular video game, ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ accompanies Mike who is struggling to maintain a steady job while trying to care for his little sister after tragedy resulted in him taking custody. After being threatened that he could lose custody if things don’t turn around, Mike hesitantly takes an overnight job as a security guard watching over the long-abandoned family theme restaurant Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, figuring that while the hours aren’t ideal, the job requirements shouldn’t be too grueling. As he begins the new job and mysterious things start to happen throughout the deserted restaurant, Mike soon begins to learn about the troubling history of Freddy’s and discovers that the terror and unexplainable occurrences have barely begun.

Directed by Emma Tammi (The Wind, Into The Dark) from a screenplay written by Scott Cawthon (creator/writer of the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ videogame) and Seth Cuddeback (Mateo) & Emma Tammi, from a screen story by Scott Cawthon and Chris Lee Hill & Tyler Macintyre, Based on the Video Game Series “Five Nights At Freddy’s” by Scott Cawthon, Tammi does a nice job at the helm of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ guiding along the anticipated adaptation with an appropriately creepy tone and style. The film’s cast includes Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), Elizabeth Lail (Countdown), Piper Rubio (Holly & Ivy), Mary Stuart Masterson (TV’s Blindspot) and Matthew Lillard (TV’s Good Girls) who each offer largely capable and fitting performances in their respective roles.

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ is a decent, largely enjoyable ride with a fittingly eerie atmosphere for the chaos to play out within, further boosted by some solid animatronics that help keep the viewer intrigued. It will likely be slightly more rewarding to viewers who are familiar with the game it spawns from, although newcomers should still find plenty to keep them engaged just as I did, although at the same time may be disappointed by how cautiously it approaches some elements within such as aiming for the more audience-friendly PG-13 rating which results in most of the deaths either playing out off-screen or via shadow, with little of the more aggressive violence many expect of a tale like this. Fortunately the unlikable side characters getting their due and an at least mildly intriguing backstory revolving around missing children which contributes an unsettling and eerie tone to the background of the whole experience help it substantially.

Even while ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ tends to play it safe and keeps things relatively tame at moments which many genre aficionados might be slightly disappointed by, it delivers enough fun, terror and a few interesting enough characters to help it evolve to a fairly decent horror flick, just never quite managing to excel beyond that or into the realm of greatness. Those who are fond of the property or are simply intrigued by the film itself shouldn’t hesitate to give it a chance though as it ends up being significantly better than many might expect and it certainly doesn’t deliver a dull or uninteresting ride.

OVERALL:

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ should offer fans of the beloved video game plenty to get excited about and even those like me who aren’t overly familiar with the property should have a good bit of fun with the film. It may keep the violence a bit tame and hardcore horror fans will likely be irked by the absence of any memorable or graphic kills, yet will likely be surprised by just how enjoyable the movie still manages to be as a whole. ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ may not be perfect and it likely won’t be in many top horror lists of the year, but it offers a far more interesting and eerie viewing than many might expect and thanks to its suitably gloomy atmosphere and some characters you can at least partially root for, it is recommended for anyone that’s already at all interested in the film to begin with, while diehard fans of the games will almost certainly not want to miss out on this long awaited adaptation.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with HDR-10, presented in its original 2.00:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks quite nice as a whole and offers a clean, sharp and well detailed presentation throughout that never suffers from any unexpected troubles or glitches appearing along the way. It shows great detail and clarity on nearly every element throughout including the animatronic stars of the show, along with human characters and the dark, gloomy surroundings of the restaurant and outdoor sequences, as well as everything else along the way. The HDR-10 addition contributes some sharper, more accurate colors that are noticeable throughout including the specifics of the animatronic characters and plenty more, which is all splendidly complemented by deep, clean black levels that never disappoint. Overall, this is a solid Ultra High Definition video presentation that holds up well from start to finish and shouldn’t elicit any complaints from fans or newcomers.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack delivers wonderfully in its own right and provides a crisp, clean and immersive audio presentation throughout that does a great job of complementing the film’s eerie tone and atmosphere. It repeatedly utilizes all seven available channels in order to send music, along with creepy sounds, animatronic audio effects, plus nature content and plenty more throughout the various speakers, while always making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that may be occurring simultaneously remain sharp, clean and fully audible. Overall, this is a great Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that does its job well every step of the way and should more than satisfy viewers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The ‘Night Shift Edition’ 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ includes a few brief, yet enjoyable extras in the way of Behind the Scenes Featurettes that feature interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s: From Game to Big Screen’ (running approximately 7 minutes in length), ‘Killer Animatronics’ (running approximately 6 minutes) and ‘Five Nights in Three Dimensions’ (approximately 4 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 6/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘Five Nights At Freddy’s: Night Shift Edition’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Blumhouse & Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

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