After a long anticipated wait, the Five Nights At Freddy’s movie premiered on October 26, 2023. Directed by Emma Tammi while being produced by Jason Blum and Scott Cawthon, the movie has gone through many setbacks throughout the years of its production. The franchise’s fanbase debated whether or not it would be relevant to the game’s lore and live up to expectations. Proceed with caution in these halls, as there will be some spoilers.
Based off of the video game franchise of the same name created by Cawthon, the movie follows Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) accepting a job from his career counselor, Steve Raglan (Matthew Lillard), as a night guard for an abandoned pizzeria by the name of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. Along with that, he has a younger sister who accompanies him during his night shifts named Abby (Piper Rubio) and a police officer on his tail by the name of Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail). While taking care of the place, he has to take precautions from whatever, or whoever, haunts the place to seek revenge for the terrible mishaps that had occurred in the pizzeria in the 80s.
The movie is scattered with references from each and every game, from the early myth of Sparky the Dog from the first game, to Chicas’ Carl the Cupcake attack from the 4th installment. Many hidden details decked throughout the movie are a big must for diehard fans to look out for, especially the beginning credits that reference the 8-bit mini games throughout the franchise and games. But we can’t end there yet, as there were anticipated cameos from big influencers in the franchise, noticeably CoreyxKenshin as the taxi driver in one scene and as a surprise, MatPat as a waiter in a small diner named Sparky’s. Adding to that, a small employee of the month wall was in a couple of scenes with; Razzbowski in January, Baz in March, FusionZGamer in June, Dawko in July, and finally 8-Bit Ryan in December.
Although it was dubbed as a horror film, it leans more towards a thriller, as it inclines toward story rather than just scares and gore. Despite this, it doesn’t fail to disappoint with the clever use of shadows, movement, and low amounts of gore. Notably, it involves key points of the original story, making canon a few questions about certain aspects of the games while creating its own branch of a story surrounding the main one. Made with $20 million, it was received with a worldwide total of $130.6 million just in the opening weekend.
The end credits include one of the first fan songs, Five Nights At Freddy’s by The Living Tombstone, sending many fans off as the movie ended. Overall, it is a must to watch with friends and family who are willing to get frightened for the scary season. Don’t forget to keep the power on, you never know what lurks in the shadows while watching.
