Joshua Stokes

Five Nights at Freddy’s grossed $78 million domestically, which makes it the biggest opening weekend this year for a horror film.

SPOILERS AHEAD! BE AWARE!

The Five Nights at Freddy’s Movie has finally been released nine years after the first game came out.

The constant tension throughout every night and the impossible nature of the dreaded “Night 7” aka “20, 20, 20, 20 mode” kept the game interesting even though it’s the same basic gameplay. I was also an avid enjoyer of the Game Theory videos at the time which explored the hidden lore behind the games. Connecting dots I didn’t think to notice and points of interest that threw this idea of it being just a silly kids game out the window. The lore kept me invested and I was so glad when the movie came out that much of the lore was included in new and interesting ways. Seeing returning characters come back and certain aspects of the games brought into the movie world was a great thing to see. Mat Pat and Markiplier made the FNAF games as popular as they are today. Mat Pat’s small cameo was a real treat however, the real shame comes from Mark not being included. I’m sure there’s room for him in a sequel.

As for the movie itself, the pacing was done perfectly, it never felt like the story dragged at any point. The actors took on their roles very well and it was nice to see Josh Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard back on the big screen. Josh plays Mike, a worried brother fighting for his sister’s custody who takes on the job of a security guard at the now closed Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. It is here that he meets Vanessa, played by Elizabeth Lail, a police officer who does her rounds at the pizzeria and knows the place a little too well. The more she shows Mike the inner workings of the pizzeria, the weirder the situation gets.

One thing I really appreciated about the film was its use of foreshadowing. There are many moments hidden throughout the film that give off weird vibes, that only make complete sense upon a second viewing of the film. That’s not to say you have to watch it twice but it gives people viewing it a second time almost a completely new movie, with new levels of tension not before understood. Some examples are, when Steve reads Mike’s name on his application and realizes how he’s connected to one of the missing children and when Vanessa the cop says “if you ever bring Abby back here I’ll shoot you”. When you watch these moments back after watching the film in full, you understand the instances where the filmmaker was telling us all along who these people were.

And finally the moment I have been waiting for, ever since we saw the pixelated version back in the FNAF 3 mini game, Michael Afton’s springlock failure scene is shown in glorious gruesome detail. Throughout the scene all I was hearing in my head was Carmen Suite No. 1 : Toreador March, finally the children got the on-screen justice they oh so deserved. The scene almost reminded me of a toned down Saw movie scene, of course with much less blood being a PG-13 film. The cherry on top was Michael’s final line of “I always come back”. My inner child came out and all the lore videos, playthroughs, books etc. finally got the justice they deserve on the big screen.

I am glad they made the final decision to go with Blumhouse Productions for this movie. The indie style with a higher budget really lends itself to the idea of what the original games meant to us. The twists and turns the movie takes makes for a very enjoyable experience, even if you haven’t played the games before. It definitely has plenty of gore to keep us adults happy while not showing so much that you couldn’t take the kids to watch it still. An easy 9/10 would watch again.