LOS ALAMITOS, CA — If there is one movie that horror game lovers have been waiting for, it would be the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie (“FNAF”). The “FNAF” movie was first announced in April 2015. However, many complications during the production of the movie such as various delays caused its very conception to come into question. That said, over eight years later, the movie was finally released on the streaming platform Peacock and shown in theaters on Oct. 27, 2023.
The movie has garnered a multitude of both positive and negative reviews since its release. Either way, attention is attention, and the “FNAF” movie got a lot of it. As a fan of game series, after watching the movie, I definitely have some thoughts about it.
The movie is criticized heavily due to a lack of scary moments and a story that is inaccurate to the lore of the games. Additionally, many FNAF fans who have watched the movie felt that it did not stay true to the game it was based on. Personally, I agree with those sentiments. I thought the movie was an interesting take on the story of FNAF, having old and new twists in this film adaptation.
However, there were numerous differences between the movie’s story and the game’s story. The biggest example of this was the character Josh Hutcherson played, the main character of the other FNAF movie “Michael Schmidt.” His character is completely different in the games. It is only natural for fans who know the lore of the games to be upset when the movie they’ve been waiting for doesn’t properly integrate the original story into the movie.
“I didn’t like the inaccuracy to the lore. I think they could’ve done a lot more,” said Kennedy Ase, a senior at Los Alamitos High School who saw the movie. Kennedy also said, however, that despite the inaccurate story, she genuinely thought the movie was enjoyable.
The movie was a good watch, but it didn’t really do well as a horror film. Many people, myself included, thought the movie wasn’t really that scary, which isn’t great for a horror movie. A big part of FNAF’s fame is the jump scares, and there weren’t a lot of jump scares in the movie. It was a little disappointing, since it didn’t feel like a horror movie that properly captured the essence of FNAF horror.
There was a lot of potential for it to be a genuinely scary movie. It had all that it needed to do well as a horror movie, but it fell short of standard expectations. A big part of it is probably due to the PG-13 rating it was given. Many fans wished for the movie to be rated R and were disappointed when it was announced as PG-13 because they felt that the movie was held back by its rating. Honestly, I’d be inclined to agree with those critics. Fans of FNAF have waited eight years for this movie to be released, so the least they could do was make the movie a little more gory.
However, despite the critics chastising the movie for not being more violent or gory, it does make sense. The FNAF games don’t really have any of the gruesome blood-gushing moments or gory limb-ripping scenes that most horror media tends to have. This lack of gore in the movie makes sense, as most of the people who enjoy FNAF media are kids and teenagers, so an R-rated “FNAF” film seems like a little much. Maybe if there are future films, there could be the possibility of bolder and bloodier “FNAF” movies.
Despite the lack of horror, the animatronic designs did not disappoint. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop did a superb job in bringing the animatronics to life. The designs for the animatronics stayed very true to their designs in the game. Additionally, the movie featured many Easter eggs that all FNAF fans would enjoy. For fans of FNAF, these Easter eggs could range from minor details, like the name Fritz on the training tape, to major ones, such as legendary quotes from the games.
In conclusion, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is, at least in my opinion, a good movie to watch. Even if some viewers are not FNAF fans, it is a fun movie for anyone. Although the story differs from the source material and that, overall, it is an utterly disappointing horror movie, the animatronic designs, soundtrack and score, and unique approach to the story of “FNAF” make it a worthwhile movie to watch.
