Streaming Standard: Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (2025)

 I only know the Games based on YT Videos and reputation.
I wasn't wowed by the first Film.

So how do I feel about the Sequel?

Let's find out...

As a reminder, a bunch of kid ghosts were trapped in animatronics not at all based on Rockafire Explosion.

They turned on their captor- Matthew Lillard- but the events haunted those affected by it.

About 2 years later, the girl at the center of it- Abby- wants to save the spirits in the machines, but her older brother Mike won't do it.

She eventually runs away to the Restaurant (somehow still not demolished) and gets a device to 'talk' to Freddy Fazbear.

A bit later, a bunch of random dead meats go to a SECOND Freddy's location.
Yes, there was another one like 4 miles away the whole time.  Duh.

McKenna Grace runs afoul of an especially dangerous and new animatronic with a backstory laid out in the Cold Open. 

The new one- Marionette- is possessed by the spirit of a DIFFERENT kid spirit (think of it like a Japanese Rage Ghost) and is mad at Emily for the sins of her and her Father.

Speaking of her Dad, Lillard appears in random flashbacks/dreams throughout.

Abby has an ongoing issue with her Teacher- Wayne Knight- and he runs afoul of Toy Chica, the definitely evil version of the animatronic from the other Restaurant.

Can you name a Film in which Wayne survives?  I can't.

The Marionette wants Emily dead.

The Toy Animatronics want everyone dead.

Who will win?
Will this actually do more than just set up a third Film?

To find out, stream it now.

A bigger, bolder...but not better Sequel.

Positives first.
The Animatronics look great, courtesy of the Henson Company.
Really impressive stuff- no question.

There are some good visuals overall here.

That said, the Plot really dives into the convoluted lore of FNAF, thanks to its Creator writing the Script.
We've got two sets of Animatronics, a Marionette, a brand-new villain, a 2nd restaurant that was somehow always there, a Fazz Festival that never pays off and more.

Furthermore, these big, metal robots can shake the floor with each step...or be deathly silent when the Plot demands it (see image below).  Sure!

I watched this only a few days ago and I'm already struggling to remember huge chunks of it.  The Film also features random guests as Voice Actors that you can't even recognize.  Money well spent.

Oh and I didn't even mention the essentially pointless Cameo by Skeet Ulrich, part of two Films that nostalgia baited Scream fans.  The pair are never seen together.

If you're a fan of the Series and lore, you'll be able to ignore the nonsense- you're already all in.
For everyone else, you can watch it if you're really curious.

A Film that spent more money in many good ways.  Too bad they didn't make the Film for everyone and not just hardcore fans/theorists.

Tubi Thursday: ROB1N (2025)

What happens when you rip off a Movie whose Sequel underperformed?

Well, let's hope people still care.

This is...

In a Flashback Scene, a kid kills a bunch of people at his Birthday Party.

See- I was never that bad, Dad!

His name is Robin.

A few Decades later, an old man makes a boy robot.

Why we aren't just making Johnny 5's is anyone's guess.

His name is Rob1n.

A young man with a secret to hide has just gotten engaged.

He tells his new Fiance that he wants to make peace with his long-estranged Uncle.

They go to visit him and stay in his House.

His name is NOT Robin.

Despite clearly not being to actually move on-screen, the titular robot goes around killing people in the House, from the Staff to Cops.

Who will live?
Who will die?

Will this at least be better than a Robert the Doll Film?

To find out, stream it now.

A pretty lackluster ripoff in look and overall execution.

To be 100% fair to this Film, they don't rip off the Plot of MEGAN...much.
They rip off the Plot of different Films and just market it as a rip-off of MEGAN.

Much different!

The Acting and overall presentation of this one isn't bad.  It feels slightly more professional than many of the recent UK Horror Films I've seen.

That said, ROB1N here is a decent, but clearly fragile animatronic.  It never moves while fully shown on screen.  Hell, it never moves while HALFWAY being shown on screen.

When your Killer Doll/Robot can't actually kill, what's the point?

It's alright, but I think my renewed look at The Outer Limits will bring better Boy Robot fare...

A Film with a few interesting Scenes and it's not a total rip-off.  That said, it isn't that interesting either- even as its own thing.

Forgotten TV: 'The Outer Limits' Ends with...a Clip Show?!?

 A Sci-Fi must-see for people who lived in the 1990s, The Outer Limits revival was huge!

It got 7 Seasons.  It was nominated for 49 Awards and won 18, including a Primetime Emmy.

All of that build-up is to then let you down for what would turn out to be the Series Finale.

Season 7 was its last and this Episode was the final one ever...

A man flies his Ship to a Base.

After a whole thing where they pretend to try and steal his ship, they reveal that he is one of 4 Candidates for an important job.

The Trials will take place using a VR device...

These Trials make up about half of the Episode's runtime.

It wouldn't be so bad, but they are all Clips from previous Episodes, like Season 4, Episode 20 (aka Nightmare)...

Or this 'Trial' which is just Season 4, Episode 3 (Hearts and Minds).

This one is actually mined for clips later, so more filler.

...or this Trial, which is just the climax of Season 5, Episode 7 (The Human Operators).

...or, lastly, the extended finale of Season 1, Episode 15 (The Voyage Home).

There is at least a vague throughline here, but still.

Our Hero is told to watch the last applicant (repeat offender here Lochlyn Munro) and shoots him.

He wakes up and learns that EVERYTHING after he sat down in the VR Helmet the first time was a simulation!

Everyone was real and was tested, but only he passed.

The twist- he's so loyal to commands that he's now going to be turned into an AI Program!

We see a quick shot or two of him being tortured virtually ('Monster', 'In the Blood' and 'Worlds Within') and he's even Eric McCormack being attacked by a space bug (Season 3, Episode 9's 'Tempest') as we fade to black.

The End.

To be fair, I have seen worse Clip Shows.  This one at least isn't just people teeing up 'memories' in silly ways.

They did build a Plot here.  The idea was sound.
You knew things would turn out bad, since the Good to Bad Endings Ratio on this Show leans towards the latter.

That said, once you realized that they were just teeing up Clips in THIS way, it was a little disappointing.

They did credit the Actors (as SAG I'm sure mandated), but were they paid again?  Did this Episode count towards their residuals?

For a Show like this to do a Clip Show isn't great.
For a Show like this to have their Finale (planned as such or otherwise) be one is just sad.

Take us away, 90s Morph Effects...

On the plus side, I've got 5 other Episodes in the 'Death and Beyond' DVD and one was already better.

Even so, what a wet fart of a finale.

2025 Catch-Up: The Electric State (2025)

 As the Year approaches its end, I need to catch up on some of the Movies that I've missed for various reasons.

Let's start with the latest from the Russo Brothers and a Film that cost over $300 million!

It is...

Here comes the Exposition Dump.  Are you ready?

In this alternate version of the 1990s, we had robots.  This didn't go as well as the '80s made it seem like it would be though.

They revolted and a Jeff Bezos-wannabe ended it with new technology.

Now it is 1994 and Millie here is reunited with her dead brother in the form of a robot.

I didn't even mention the deep fake Bill Clinton.

She leaves her home with it/him and runs across Chris Pratt as...well, Chris Pratt.

Well, he's a mix of himself and Han Solo.

They have to go into the Wasteland where the robots were exiled into after the War.

The villain- Stanley Tucci- sends The Marshall- Giancarlo Esposito- to get them back, since the kid's brain apparently powers his network.

In a fantasy World, this is a Screen Cap from an X-Men Film.

One of the few times you see the real Giancarlo.

The Wasteland is full of half-broken and crazy robots.

There are some good ones too, but do they good ones outweigh the crazy ones?

In a sentence I never expected to write, Robot Mr. Peanut helps lead the revolt against the corrupt CEO.

There's also Brian Cox as a Baseball Robot and more.

This is not Satire.

To see how it plays out, stream it now.

A Film that looks gorgeous, but is there anything underneath the surface?

The Film is what I like to call Cinematic Gumbo.
It is a mix of ideas, concepts and straight-up visuals from various Films, Shows and Games.

You get Robots out of the Fallout Series.  You get the entire Plot of Surrogates is stuck into here.  You get the nostalgia mining from Ready Player One.  Alan Silvestri tosses in a few parts into the Score that is right out of the Avengers Films.

Hell, Stanley Tucci is literally just his Character from Transformers: Age of Extinction!

This one is alright.  I just wish that its satirical elements were treated as such.

Instead, we get everything playing straight and it just feels so soulless.

Why did you do this one so dirty?

An AI image for this one is fitting.

A Film that looks really, really good.  Maybe put that much love and affection into the Writing next time.

Streaming Standard: M3GAN (2022)

 Yes, I was the one Online Film Critic who never saw M3GAN.

Well, that is in the past now...

A young girl tragically loses her Parents in a car accident.

She ends up with her Aunt, who is a Scientist who makes robotics.

When they fail to bond, she is inspired to finish creating Megan.

The highly advanced robot becomes the girl's companion.

They share stories, secrets and everything is looking up!

Of course, this is a Horror Film and this is a possibly-evil Doll.

Things take a turn when the Neighbor's Dog attacks Megan and the girl.

Revenge is nigh!

Megan was also made with no digital barriers for how she would learn and how she could act on them.

Will she get too powerful...and smart?

It's certainly not a SPOILER to say that Megan kills some people.

The question is who she kills.

And yes, there is 'That Dance.'

It is funny to finally see that bit in context.

To find out how exactly you solve a problem like a Megan, stream it now (on Peacock at time of writing).

A Film that is honestly better- and quite different- than promised.

Killer Dolls and their ilk have been a thing for many, many Decades.  You can track evil Dolls back to the 1940s!

Hell, we got a girl Chucky as the 1990s began.

What this Film does well is honestly work as a Drama if you just cut out all of the murder.  Like The Bababook, it is a Film known for Horror, but it does so much more.

The little girl is far more tolerable than the kid in the other Film though.

You really feel for the people involved, save for the obvious 'Dead Meat' Characters.  Every Horror Film has them, after all.

Did this one live up to the hype?  Yes.

As a total package, the Film doesn't break new ground per se, but makes the most of its premise all the same.

Leave it to Japan to tweak the Poster ever so slightly...

It's probably not their change, but just go with it.

A killer Doll/Robot Film that is actually more than what was promised.  Maybe I'll have to check out the Sequel sooner rather than later.

Fiction vs. Fiction: Deadly Friend (1986)

 While we're on the subject of Robots/Androids, why not bring this Series back?

As luck would have it, I found the Book called 'Friend' in a Tampa Thrift Store and then realized that it was turned into Wes Craven's 1986 Thriller.

That one was famously reshot and tweaked via Studio mandate, so let's see how close it ended up to the Book...

***VS***

What's the Same?

The basic Plot and premise is not changed.  We still get the sad tale of a kid who loses his robot and his would-be-girlfriend in short succession.

Desperate, he puts the robot's 'brain' (chip) into the girl and strange things happen!

After that, well, many things change!

What's Different?

For starters, everyone is somewhat aged up.  They feel like barely teenagers in the Book but are obviously older here (The lead guy is 20, while Kristy Swanson was actually 16).

Our Lead- Paul- is nicknamed 'Pig' and usually referred to as such in the Book.  His buddy is nicknamed 'Slime' and called that.

As you can see, our Lead (standing up) is not fat and his buddy is quite normal.

The mean neighbor (Elvira) shoots and 'kills' BB the Robot in the Film.
Later, the abusive boyfriend of his girl friend Sam kills her via stair shove.

In The Book, Elvira's gun is not loaded (the Sheriff took her ammo), but the Dad beats BB 'to death' with it.  He still kills his Daughter in the same way.

In the Film, Sam is just brain dead, so Paul puts the chip in her.
In the Book, she's fully dead.

The Film also sets up that Paul has done brain experiments (at the College).  Foreshadowing.

In the Film, his buddy Not Slime's Dad has the keys to the University, which happens to store Sam's body later.
In the Book, his House is also the Funeral Home and they take the body from there!

In the Film, he can use BB's remote to turn her on and off (when the Plot demands it).
No remote in the Book.

Sam also emotes way more in the Film AND her transformation is less graphic.
In the Book, you see, he has wires running to the chip AND her toes were eaten by rats while kept in the shed.  Gross.

In both versions, Sam/BB kills the Dad and Elvira.  She obviously has less motivation in the Book for the latter.

However, Book Sam/BB drowns Elvira in the tub.
Film Sam/BB famously splats her head with a basketball (thanks to reshoots).

The Film also added some random Biker Bullies to get beat up by BB in the beginning and then be antagonists in the Finale.

In the Book, Sam/BB also kills a Deputy by shoving him down some stairs.  Irony?

Throughout the Book, Paul is haunted by a past mistake.  A lab experiment accidentally led to the death of a kid named Bertram and he keeps seeing him.
Thanks to reshoots, Paul is haunted a single time by the vision of the dead/burned up Dad.  Close enough?

The Finale is WAY different between the two versions.  Again- reshoots likely played a part.
We still haven't seen the original cut, but people keep asking for it.

In the Book, Paul's buddy is killed by Sam/BB.
The Dad comes home later, finds the body and then Sam/BB attacks him, as well as the Mom when comes in.

In the Film, Sam/BB dives through the window (think Bron Breakker's famous spear) to attack Not Slime.  The Mom shows up and she's briefly attacked too.

In the Book, Sam/BB flees down the road.  Paul follows her and she is tossed into the River.  He then realizes that she was trying to take him with her, so he dives into the water and disappears!

In the Film, the Cops show up and shoot Sam/BB, who finally talks in her own voice.  The twist Ending has Paul go back to get her back...again.  

She revives and apparently is now fully BB somehow...because reasons!  She kills Paul.

Final Thoughts

The Film is a more visceral and dramatic version of the Story.  That said, it changes SO MANY THINGS.

Are they bad changes?
Changing Paul from a tortured stereotypical nerd to a sad genius is better.
Splitting up the people behind the deaths was also good.

That said, the changes can also be REALLY silly.  So, unless we ever get to see a drastically different Cut one day, it is a soft recommendation in favor of...

The Book.

Sorry, Film BB.