“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is a well known video game franchise that has been around since 2014. It started out as a horror game released by Scott Cawthon, which was the first to introduce the “mascot horror” genre. This goes by using mascots or characters, primarily affiliated with children’s media, turning them into killers and twisting the whole ideal. The series has grown since its debut nine years ago with multiple games and media releases, making it all the way to the big screen recently. Fans have been waiting through hoaxes and fake leaks, so getting the movie after all that time has been a big event, to the point where box office records have already been broken.

This of course includes me as well, since I have followed the series for many years now. It was exciting to watch the announcement for the movie a few months ago, so getting to finally watch it was finally better. I was accompanied at Bridge Street’s Cinemark with two friends the day after the movie’s opening. If anything, what was most disappointing was that Cinemark did not have their merchandise, as advertised, available unfortunately. Instead of ordering genuine Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, I had to settle with Pizza Hut.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” tells the story of the disappearance of five children at the restaurant, which was revealed to be a murder committed by an employee named William Afton, otherwise known as the “Purple Guy” due to his purple attire. The souls of the children would go on to possess the animatronic mascots and try to kill the restaurant’s nightguard, due to the ghosts thinking he is William. What was most notable was how the original story was depicted in a different way, combining factors and details from multiple FNAF games rather than going by just one.

For example, Freddy’s location that needed to be watched was abandoned instead of open, as it was during the events of the second game. Others included the dream and nightmare factor of the fourth game, which was in direct correlation with the main character. The ninth game’s main antagonist was also shifted to a main protagonist while being confirmed and presented to be William Afton’s daughter. The supposed death of William comes from the third game, too. 

What was strange about the movie was how the animatronics were seen as friendly during parts of the movie. Throughout each game, only one animatronic is deemed as friendly with the rest hunting the player and killing them. To see the original mascot cast acting as friends, despite it being a trick, was definitely off. But seeing the nature of the animatronics, it was not presented enough. There were only two parts, one being major, showing the animatronics actually killing people. This could have happened at least one other time, but the kills were well made during that scene.

In terms of the killers themselves, the production team did a really good job presenting them in the movie. The animatronics were built as puppets with each part being controlled by a different person. They were all built very well and looked exactly like the actual animatronics from the original game. Not just that, but the full scale pizzeria set was exceptional, with every detail set to make it look like an actual pizzeria from the 80s. There was CGI present for the jumpscares, which was pretty good for the most part, though the jumpscares were not anything special unfortunately.

Easter eggs were plentiful throughout, with a few only long-term followers of the series may have spotted. My favorite was the appearance of a broken animatronic suit of the character Sparky the Dog in the back room. What makes this special is that Sparky was one of the first ever hoax animatronics from the first couple of years of Five Nights at Freddy’s, which also originally appeared hidden in the back room, too. Fans were also quick to spot the secret character known as “Shadow Freddy,” known as an easter egg character in the second game.

Overall, the movie was worth the wait with only a few parts and aspects that could be improved on. It has already been teased that a second movie is being planned, which has already caught my excitement for the future. Though Scott Cawthon has retired from leading the series, others have ensured that it still goes far and wide, with a sign of stopping not in sight for a long time.