REVIEW: 1985: Memory - Ayoub Studios

1985: Memory

Production Company: Ayoub Studios

Director and Producer: Gabriella Ayoub

Writers: Gabriella Ayoub, Kai Boyce, Tyler Mackay, and George Ayoub

Executive Producer: Tyler Mackay

Cinematographer: Kai Boyce

Editors: Gabriella Ayoub, Kai Boyce, and Tyler Mackay

Music Composer: Matt Bryen

Hair and Makeup Head: Lucinda McDonald

Special Effects: Charlotte Westaway

Animatronic Design: Kova Makes

Photography: Nick O'Sullivan

Date Attended: 22 August 2026

"Which is stronger, the feeling or the memory?"

I've attended plenty of exciting opening nights, but the audience at the premiere of 1985: Memory was something else! We were dressed in our finest, with a menacing animatronic posing for pics in the lobby, and an auditorium full of people ready to cheer, scream, and generally go wild. It was an unusually lively night at Five Star Cinemas, and for good reason! Brisbane's own Ayoub Studios had made a horror film, and many of the people responsible were sitting among us.

Directed and produced by Gabby Ayoub, 1985: Memory is the sequel to the studio's 2024 fan film 1985, inspired by the enormously popular Five Nights at Freddy's video game franchise. The original film follows a group of teenagers investigating the mysterious disappearance of their friend Gabriel, whose last known whereabouts lead them to Henry's, a local car workshop connected to the soon-to-open Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. Jeremy (Tyler Mackay) becomes suspicious after learning that Gabriel had a disagreement with an employee named William Afton and convinces his friends to sneak into the workshop after dark. Their investigation quickly turns into a fight for survival. What follows is a gruesome slasher, with the group's disappearance setting up the mystery that continues to unravel in the sequel.

Created by a group of Brisbane teens with no budget, three cameras, and limited equipment, the first film is an ambitious early filmmaking experiment, packed with banter and bloodshed. Two years later, this creative team returns with a more complicated narrative and a noticeably different approach. At 55 minutes compared with the original's 35, Memory is considerably longer, with bigger ideas and a much wider collection of characters to accommodate.

For those unfamiliar with Five Nights at Freddy's, the video games centre on a family entertainment restaurant where animatronic mascots (including Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy) become terrifyingly active after dark. Behind the pizza and children's birthday parties lies a gruesome history. William Afton, one of the restaurant's founders, kills several children whose spirits subsequently inhabit the animatronics. Ayoub Studios has reimagined this backstory, ageing the missing children into teenagers and relocating their murders to Henry's workshop before the restaurant opens. The films draw heavily on the franchise's characters and lore while developing their own version of events.

Set across 1985 and approximately twenty years later, 1985: Memory revisits the murders through Jeremy (Tyler Mackay), one of William's victims. His closest friend, Gabriel (Scott Tamblyn), was the first to disappear, prompting the ill-fated investigation that led to the deaths of their friends. Although Jeremy dies in the original film, here he repeatedly experiences memories of his final days.

Meanwhile, in the later timeline, William's children, Elizabeth (Gabriella Ayoub) and Michael (Aidan Calleja), investigate their father's connection to the missing teenagers and the suspicious activities of Afton Robotics. Their mother, Clara (Chelsea Guard), also confronts William over the damage his obsession has done to their family. William has been experimenting with the relationship between memory, emotional trauma, and consciousness. His research into what he calls scientific resurrection is driven by his desire to bring back his deceased son, Evan. The film gradually connects Jeremy's fragmented experiences with these experiments, although the full explanation remains unfinished... for now!

Where the first film concentrates on the teenagers being pursued by William, the serial killer of 1985, its sequel investigates the circumstances of their deaths and what followed. The bloodshed is dialed back in favor of family secrets, scientific experiments, and traumatic memories. Much of the horror comes from 20 years later discovering what William has done, what his victims have become, and what he intends to do next. The shifting timelines took a moment for me to grasp, particularly with different actors portraying the younger and older William Afton. However, the costumes, music, and visual style effectively help differentiate the decades.

The Halloween party sequence is among my favourite examples of the film's cinematography. Saturated colours, dramatic lighting, and movement bring energy to the screen, contrasting with Jeremy's growing unease as everyone else enjoys themselves. Cinematographer Kai Boyce also creates some striking nightmare sequences, with blood-red lighting, disturbing apparitions, and flashes of violence that blur the line between memories and premonitions.

Tyler Mackay returns as Jeremy, whose greatest threat this time is psychological. His distress grows as familiar faces, places, and conversations take on sinister significance. Scott Tamblyn brings a boisterous, easygoing quality to Gabriel, with his drunken banter and interactions with Jeremy providing some welcome teenage normality amid the supernatural events.

Reagan Warner, as the older William Afton, stands out significantly. William has evolved from the temperamental young mechanic of the original film to a disturbing scientist consumed by his experiments. Warner delivers his theories on death, emotional trauma, and preserving consciousness with measured speech, subtle nuance, and unsettling composure. The man could make a neuroscience lecture sound like a threat.

This film's investigative direction provides more opportunities to understand the characters and the mythology behind the franchise, although the expanding narrative occasionally becomes crowded. A number of shorter scenes introduce people, circumstances, or plot threads that aren't immediately developed, and I found myself forgetting some of them before their significance became apparent. The frequent changes in time and perspective demand concentration, and even those familiar with Five Nights at Freddy's may find themselves piecing together the chronology during the first watch.

The sequel's technical ambitions have also expanded. The production incorporates more varied locations, elaborate lighting, colour grading, visual effects, and prop design. Sound remains an area with room for refinement. Despite the addition of more professional recording equipment, some dialogue is still difficult to distinguish, particularly when competing with environmental noise or music. I actually revisited the film on YouTube with subtitles afterwards, which helped me catch several details I had missed during the cinema screening.

Of course, we can't discuss Five Nights at Freddy's without addressing the animatronics. Withered Chica, designed by Kova Makes, brings one of the franchise's nightmarish mechanical creatures into the real world. The detailed construction and imposing appearance are impressive achievements for an independent production. Despite Chica's presence in the promotional material, the creature has relatively limited screen time in the finished film, leaving me eager to see more!

Indeed, Memory is very much a middle chapter. The film dedicates much of its duration to revisiting the past and arranging the pieces for events yet to come. The final sequences explicitly hint at a third instalment, 1985: Parts and Services, promising further progression in a story that has grown significantly beyond the original short film's premise.

Aside from the film itself, the premiere served as an entertaining reminder of the tight-knit nature of Brisbane's creative community. Familiar faces from local theatre appeared throughout the cast and crew, drawing enormous cheers from the audience. Much of that excitement was also for a young filmmaker and her collaborators, all volunteers who'd contributed their time and skills to bring this project to life.

It's fascinating to compare the two films and see how the group's ambitions have developed. The original was a compact slasher made with whatever resources its teenage creators could gather, while Memory tackles a more involved story, a larger cast, numerous locations, and more demanding technical work. There's still room for refinement as the filmmakers gain experience, but there's plenty here to encourage them to continue experimenting and developing their craft.

From three cameras and no budget to a sold-out cinema full of screaming supporters, Ayoub Studios has come a long way. This young Brisbane team has carved out its own corner of the Five Nights at Freddy's universe, bringing local performers and filmmakers together through a shared passion for storytelling. For a volunteer-driven production, 1985: Memory is an impressive achievement, and the growth of its creators is exciting to witness.

With 1985: Parts and Services already on the horizon, Ayoub Studios has more horrors planned. In the meantime, I'd suggest avoiding abandoned pizza restaurants and any job advertisements offering overnight security shifts. And if a giant animatronic chicken invites you inside, perhaps politely decline...

Watch 1985: Memory on YouTube