“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is the first game out of a series that soon followed after its rising popularity and fan base. Created by Scott Cawthon, you play as a security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, who must survive the nights by avoiding being attacked by haunted animatronics.
With a total of 13 games and 28 different books, the story behind “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is a very complicated one, to say the least. However, with its huge, dedicated fan base it was only a matter of time before a movie came out.
In general, the movie was a fun watch full of easter eggs, references and cameos. They did an amazing job of bringing the animatronics to life and stayed true to their designs. It was a safe call to use practical effects instead of CGI, which made the film feel more real. The sound design was also very impressive and helped to bring more of the horror aspect into the movie — especially for the animatronics.
The film also had a lot of respect for its fans. From the opening sequence to the final credits, elements drawn from the video games were deftly woven in. They knew exactly who was gonna be their target audience and brought in several aspects from the video games into the movie successfully.
Video game movie adaptations are a hard thing to pull off due to the high expectations of the fans, but did “Five Nights at Freddy’s” pull it off? Well, I believe this movie can be a hit or miss with fans of the series. I enjoyed it, but it was a little underwhelming and disappointing due to the lack of actual horror in the movie. The film was rated PG-13 which put some restrictions and imposed limitations on the level of horror that could be portrayed, potentially leaving fans wanting more. I understand the choice gave younger fans a chance to see the movie, but they should have been more bold.
As for the overall story, it stuck pretty close to the original but it did change a couple of aspects in the film that led to some fan disagreements. If you don’t know much about “Five Nights at Freddy’s” and want to watch the movie, you might be confused and not enjoy it as much as an avid fan would. The story behind “Five Nights at Freddy’s” can be a difficult one to understand, only watching the movie wouldn’t be enough. As for the ending, it felt a little too rushed. The main villain did not have enough screen time, and toward the end, it felt like he just appeared out of nowhere with no major build-up.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” wasn’t the worst video game adaptation, but it definitely wasn’t the best. The film successfully captured the essence of the games with impressive practical effects and sound design. It paid homage to fans by integrating game elements seamlessly. However, the decision to rate it PG-13 limited the horror, potentially leaving some fans wanting more intensity.
Nick Hancock 
Steve Anderson 
Grace Chaves