Based on the recent video game series, this horror film (in theory, anyway) is designed to bring all our deep-seated childhood fears of animatronic animals to life. What we end up getting, though, is a beyond-sluggish snoozer that meanders all over the place before fizzling out with a whimper. Josh Hutcherson stars as the security guard assigned to keep an eye on the shuttered Chuck E. Cheese-esque joint populated by monstrous robotic animals, but the PG-13 rating and way-too-timid script cut this thing off at the knees before it even gets going.

1/5 stars