Why Five Nights At Freddy's Is Scary, But Not Too Scary [Exclusive]

"Five Nights at Freddy's" feels like an anomaly. On paper, it seems like all of the cards are stacked against it, but just as the original video game became a global phenomenon, the film looks to be defying the odds. The film adaptation from Blumhouse and Universal Pictures is set to go day-and-date, meaning the film will arrive in theaters on the same day that it becomes available to stream on Peacock. For most films, this would be a death knell, but for "FNaF," it weirdly makes sense. Similarly, the film has been given a PG-13 rating, typically seen as a sign the film "won't be good" by some horror fans (they're wrong, for the record), but the absolute perfect rating for something like "Five Nights at Freddy's." After seeing the film, I was fortunate enough to talk to director Emma Tammi about finding the balance of the film — where scary, spooky, creepy, and fun elements all combine to create an enjoyable film that won't run the risk of scarring any kids for life.

"Oh gosh. Well, I hope we didn't scar anyone for life, so I'm glad to hear you say that," Tammi tells me. "We really wanted this to be inclusive to a younger audience and there are so many younger fans with this franchise, but also certainly hope to have nailed some of the jump scares like playing the game." While "Five Nights at Freddy's" has been around since 2014 and has plenty of adult fans (this writer included), it would be ahistorical not to champion the very young audiences who have become enraptured with all things "FNaF," and are some of the most dedicated champions of the series. This is a film that can be enjoyed by all ages, without ever having to sacrifice the creepy atmosphere of Scott Cawthon's source material.

The film isn't locked to any specific game lore but borrows heavily from the first "Five Nights at Freddy's" game, in which security guard Mike Schmidt is tasked with surveilling and surviving a dilapidated pizza place and entertainment center where animatronics come to life. It's a creepy, unsettling environment, as it's a twisted take on a place typically associated with childhood joy. "The atmosphere and the creepiness that you're talking about was one of the things that sat in my bones the most," Tammi adds. "Of course, there are the jump scares, iconic jump scares, and those are incredibly scary, but most of the time, you're feeling the creepy atmosphere." Sometimes "jump scare" is used as a pejorative in horror, but with "Five Nights at Freddy's," it's the lifeblood. But these scares aren't meant to traumatize, they're meant to be a fun adrenaline rush.

Tammi referred to it as "creepy fun," a combination of something being fun and terrifying all at once. And part of that fun is remembering how cool pizza places like Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria were for children. "That also felt really fitting, I think, for a PG-13 rating where we were able to include some of the childhood wonderment elements and also the fears that are the flip side of that," Tammi tells me. Glowing lights on pinball machines, the rainbow shine of a ball pit, larger-than-life stuffed animal prizes that parents will dread carrying home, animatronics playing music we can dance to, and of course, hot pizza. As adults, we are able to see the cracks in these locations — the games you'll never beat, the cheapness of the prizes, the uncanny clunkiness of animatronics, and the pizza that tastes like cardboard — but it's a utopia for a child. Seeing it twisted into something sinister only adds to the terror.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" arrives in theaters and on Peacock on October 27, 2023.