With summer in the rear-view mirror, it's time to anticipate seasonal changes in the movie-going calendar. We're now looking ahead to the glut of horror movies incoming this Halloween, one of which is the jumpy onslaught known as Five Nights at Freddy's.
It's adapted from the point-and-click video game phenomenon of the same name, which is designed to test a player's resilience ahead of an ear-splitting shock moment. The premise is simple: your character, a security guard, cycles through a series of CCTV cameras while on the night shift at the reputedly haunted Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. And that's when the evil animalistic animatronics, led by the eponymous Freddy, come to life to torment you.
The broad premise of the game has been retained for the movie, which comes from the Blumhouse stable (Halloween; M3GAN). Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) plays the unsuspecting security guy whose day shift at the derelict Freddy Fazbear's soon turns to horror.
Game creator Scott Cawthon has contributed to the script, which presumably ensures some level of consistency in terms of the iconography, atmosphere and plot details. And there's a supporting performance from Scream horror veteran Matthew Lillard, which is bound to get genre fans smiling.
It's the debut feature from director Emma Tammi and arrives on October 25th. Check out the new trailer for Five Nights at Freddy's – if you dare.