Zanobard Reviews

The Newton Brothers’ score for the Five Nights At Freddy’s movie pretty much perfectly captures the chillingly playful tone of the animatronic franchise in it’s use of 80s synth notes and creepy vocals throughout its frankly excellent main theme, it’s just a bit of a shame that style and theme don’t recur as often as you’d like across the rest of the album.

The main theme for Five Nights At Freddy’s is the absolute highlight of this score. It’s quite a throwback in terms of style, being rather 80s-esque and synth-based with a frenetic electronic beat in tow for the track’s opening minute which helps to establish this dark, moody undertone overall. After this opening minute the music then turns things up a notch with a very eerie children’s choir harmonising the notes of the actual theme for the film, making it pretty much immediately memorable as a result. It’s quite like Bear McCreary’s Child’s Play score in this regard, as both scores utilise these kind of vocals to allude to how children form part of the film’s story that in turn gives the respective main themes a really unsettling and creepy vibe (which of course fits Five Nights Of Freddy’s extremely well in tone). And playing at various intervals across the Newton Brother’s Freddy’s theme as well here are some very videogame-esque electronics which help to tie it in with the overarching game franchise, so together with the 80s musical style and darkly ominous undertones of the vocals, the composers have pretty much nailed a main theme for the terrifying animatronic franchise here.

With the main theme established, the short “Delinquent Notice” then switches up the musical style quite dramatically in introducing a gentle orchestra. Light, almost mournful strings take prominence through much of this track, with melancholic piano notes then closing it out. “Mike’s Dream Sequence I” then reprises the eerily electronic side of the main theme but in a much slower and more menacing manner, with high-pitched and very horror-like synth notes crescendoing it out and “Mike’s Dream Sequence II” then picking up where it leaves off with continually sinister electronics and the addition of very jumpscare-esque strings. Ethereal yet ominous synth notes are centre stage in the forty-second “Aunt Jane”, with “Vanessa” then echoing a very cold and moody tone with creepy fading electronics throughout its similarly short runtime. Things then get very high-pitched and terrifying in “Chica’s Mischief”, with those ominous modernised ‘braaam‘ sounds starting to creep into the fray as presumably scary things happen in the film. Starting to lose the ’80s magic a bit now I must say, teetering on the edge of generic just a tad.

“Foxy Fatality” however then pulls things back off this edge, reprising those 80s-style electronics in a much faster and more frenetic manner with worrisome strings in tow. The gentle orchestra from earlier then reprises in “Family History”, echoing the same quietly serene tone for much its its three minute length with the melancholic piano notes also making a return. The main theme is hinted toward on coldly ominous electronics in the sub-minute “Clean Up”, before a loud burst of brass and high-pitched strings then jumpscares you into oblivion at the start of “Fuzzy Friends” with the music descending into moody ambience for the rest of its runtime with music box-esque electronics. Moody synth undertones then set a particularly chilling mood in “Follow The Yellow Rabbit”, with some particularly eerie children’s voices echoing terrifyingly through just before the track ends. “Mike’s Dream Sequence III” then picks up where part “II” from earlier left off, continuing the same eerie progression as moody electronics and sinister strings sound through, carrying a now hair-raisingly malevolent tone through much of the track’s surprisingly lengthy six minute runtime until loudly thunderous brass then ominously closes out it out.

The creepy children’s choir from the main theme reprises in the back half of “Vanessa’s Past” alongside moodily low-pitched synth notes, with the subsequent and short “Gear Up!” then continuing in a similarly eerie vein with the same vocals playing quietly and ominously. A trio of horror-esque action cues then begins with “Abby’s In Danger”, with the children’s choir becoming much louder and more threatening alongside tense electronics and even the occasional terrifying note from a music box (because of course). Second track of this trinity “The Yellow Rabbit” then delves deep into ‘braaam’ jumpscare territory to start with chilling string plucks, imposing brass and loud vocal bursts then taking centre stage for much of the rest of the track. Frantically high-pitched strings then join the eerie vocals and brass in action finale “Now I Kill You”, with the main theme also briefly reprising before the track closes on an almost hopeful finish. “Doing Well” then reprises the 80s-esque synth on a much gentler note, with “The Rabbit Lives” giving the main theme one last go on slow, creepy electronics, vocals and music box notes. Final track “My Grandfather’s Clock” then brings the music box right to the forefront alongside the child-like vocals, ending the score in about as creepily a manner as possible really – so one very fitting indeed for this particular franchise. It ain’t over yet.

Overall, the Newton Brother’s score for the Five Nights At Freddy’s movie has a lot of good music ideas, and while it doesn’t perhaps utilise them in the fullest and most interesting way that you’d hope for all across the album, that doesn’t stop it from being damned entertaining when it does. Chief among the score’s list of intrigue is of course that main theme – showcased in all its glory in the score’s opening track – and what a theme it is; it’s catchy, very 80s in its use of synth and videogame-y electronics, and the way it mixes that with a particularly eerie-sounding children’s choir pretty much expertly captures the chillingly playful tone of Five Nights At Freddy’s, so serious props to the composers there. While the rest of the score does then somewhat pale in comparison to its main theme – which is sadly underutilised after its debut track – as the horror music errs on the side of generic at times, it makes up for this somewhat in its excellent use of coldly terrifying ambience, with the reprisals of the choir, eerie synth and of course the ominous addition of music box notes really selling the spine-chilling creepiness of those iconic animatronics. All-in, is this a perfect horror score? No. But an entertaining one? Absolutely.

Score: 6.5/10

Standout Cue: 1. Five Nights At Freddy’s

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