Does the film Five Nights at Freddy's do the video game justice?

If you're looking for a new horror franchise to get into this Halloween, Commotion's resident horror expert Matt Hart has a recommendation for you.

He joins host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about how the creepy indie video game Five Nights at Freddy's became a massive commercial success, and whether its new, long-awaited feature film adaptation will satisfy the faithful.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

Elamin: Let's talk about the universe. What is the premise of Five Nights at Freddy's?

Matt: Essentially, it revolves around a malicious Chuck E. Cheese restaurant…. It's full of these creepy animatronic robots. It's a pizza parlor for kids with video games and stuff. Now, picture that, every night at midnight, turns evil — and you've got Five Nights at Freddy's. The lore goes really far back. You could dig as much as you want, but it's essentially that two sinister businessmen came to a small town in the U.S., started this Chuck E. Cheese kind of competitor. Things went very poorly, and it is full of all kinds of sinister events and mayhem.

Elamin: Why do you think the video game is so popular?

Matt: There's a few factors here. You've got something that's a little distasteful, is the fact that some people tried to say it was based on an actual shooting in 1983 of a former employee of Chuck E. Cheese. It was not related to this in any way … but [this rumour] is really effective in scaring people and driving people to look into it. So you've got that. And then you've also got the fact that it actually looks aesthetically scary. It is this thing we talked about last time I was on with The Exorcist new release — that we are for some reason hardwired to be upset by the concept of something terrible happening in a really innocent situation.

Elamin: Okay, so we take this indie video game that's created by one guy, Scott Cawthon, on a very low budget. It becomes one of the most popular franchises in the gaming world, right? And then it spawns multiple sequels and spin-off games, and then it becomes this merchandising machine with toys, books, Halloween costumes. Now you get this movie, which has to walk I think the fine line of keeping the hardcore fans happy, because they've followed this journey from game to merchandising to Halloween costumes to books, but also has to bring new people into the universe. How does the film do on that front?

Matt: Well, the lucky thing about this franchise is that it's very deep, so the film can introduce you to it in just a small way, like I feel like they've done with the film, or you could really go down the rabbit hole.

WATCH | Official trailer for Five Nights at Freddy's:

Elamin: Emma Tammi directed this movie. She was determined to get a PG-13 rating in the U.S. so they could appeal to younger audiences. You're showing up. You're excited about the lore that is established for this particular franchise, and now it's finally been translated into film. Did that PG-13 rating take away from the overall experience for you?

Matt: It always does for me. FNAF isn't actually very gory when you play, so it doesn't really need a lot of blood and guts. But some of the storylines are very dark and deep; the actual subject matter is what's scary. Gore is not as scary as your imagination ever will be. What goes on in your head is the scariest place…. But having said that, they should be able to talk about these theories and these deeper, darker concepts, which they avoid a little bit in the film.

Elamin: Did the movie work for you?

Matt: Short answer: No, only because it's standing on the shoulders of giants. It was such an easy slam dunk for them. It's wildly popular already. It looks great. You just have to not mess it up. I don't feel like they took a big enough swing, or tried to do something different enough. They played it a little safe. Having said that, if you're a 13 year old boy, it probably will be your jam. It also plays an important role in introducing kids like that into the horror genre so they can dip a toe in the water a bit before jumping into extreme movies.

Elamin: Oh, and they will no doubt get there. Listen, you're not alone on this; your opinion is shared by a lot of film critics. The movie has 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has an audience score of 88%. I love when that happens, when the critics are like, "This is not good," and then audiences are like, "No, no, no, we love it." But the film also ended up making $80 million in its opening weekend at the box office. What do you think it is about this movie that audiences are responding to?

Matt: I do think it's a lot of fun to not know if something's real, like this, where you can explore a bit and it's up to you to see how deep you want to go with this lore. That's appealing to a lot of people. And it's a great concept. I mean, who doesn't go into Chuck E. Cheese for the first time and think something's off? You know, why is a rat serving me its favorite food? What's going on? It's just odd.

Elamin: Matt, thank you for externalizing a thought that has occurred to so many of us.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Matt Hart produced by Stuart Berman.