Photo courtesy of Boligonautas, DeviantArt

By Emanuel Nader

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” (FNAF) is an indie game series developed by Scott Cawthon in 2014. Ever since I was eight years old, I have been an active fan of the series; watching game theories, playing the games, and listening to music parodies. As a young kid, I wished for a movie about FNAF. Now that I’m 17, that wish finally came true. 

Blumhouse, a movie studio that’s known for producing “Black Phone,” “Sinister,” and “Insidious”, released the FNAF movie on October 27. However, as a long-time fan, I had mixed feelings. Although the film had some remarkable qualities, it fell short of capturing the essence of the games that I love.

Personally, I enjoyed the movie’s visuals as it made me feel as if the game I had grown up with finally came to life, and I could see what it meant to be a person in “Freddy’s Pizzeria.” Not only was the set of the iconic Freddy’s Pizzeria detailed but the animatronics themselves, such as Chica, Freddy, Foxy, and Bonnie also were amazing and accurate, leaving me very satisfied., all looked so amazing and accurate, it made me very satisfied.

 Not only were the visuals a feast for the eyes, but Blumhouse really brought the original horrors of the games to the big screen, with their nightmarish atmosphere. Whether it was the animatronics, such as Foxy with his iconic “dum dum” humming and his sprint, or Chica with her cupcake, it invoked moments of fear and tension in the audience. The film really made you feel that any second, Bonnie or Freddy could jump at the screen. Overall, the movie really showcased the game’s core mechanics, and for that, I applaud Blumhouse. 

As a long-time fan, I appreciated the usage of the cameos, with notable YouTubers who helped popularize the game series, such as  Mattpatt and CoryxKenshin. These cameos pay homage to the community that built up the game.

However, the movie really lost me when I saw how inaccurately it handled the game lore. The FNAF lore is complex, in-depth, and full of fascinating backstories and hidden details. This is a lore that the fans of FNAF have spent years picking apart and piecing puzzles together. But as splendid as the lore is, the movie barely scratched the surface instead making a new lore, leaving many fans such as myself disappointed. 

The characters also felt very one-dimensional to me, there wasn’t much depth or complexity that the fans have come to expect in the series. This led me to have very little emotional attachment to the characters, and it was hard to feel invested in their decisions. But very importantly, I felt the writing was very corny and bland. 

The FNAF movie had its moments of brilliance, but ultimately it left me feeling disappointed as a long-time fan. It definitely succeeded in bringing the game’s visuals to life and delivering intense jump scares, but it failed in capturing the depth of the game’s lore and character development. It felt like a lost opportunity to explore the complex universe Scott Cawthon created. Perhaps newcomers to the FNAF franchise will enjoy it, but for someone who’s been with the series from the beginning, it was a bittersweet experience.