The day has finally come; the hearts of childhoods are cured. It’s official, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” has hit the cinematic world by storm. Film studio Blum House stepped up and showed continuity and respect for the franchise that the fans have been loyal to. For those unfamiliar with the Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) games, there is a backstory behind each of the terrifying yet interesting virtual experiences. The lore of the FNAF timeline is truly what created the community behind the game.
There has been a growing interest in converting childhood games and toys into nostalgic movies. For example, “Barbie” and “The Super Mario Movie” were both released this year. Basing a movie off of a game is a very tricky project to execute correctly. The directors have the fans who have been playing since day one to impress. The “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie did the best it could while still being a PG-13 film. Truthfully the movie could have made more impact as an R rated film introducing some more “lore-accurate” shots. Although they included the four original animatronics, Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy, and their creator, William Afron, I felt there should have been more gore to truly encapture the FNAF spirit.
The most nostalgic parts of the movie were the cameos of Youtubers who recorded themselves explaining and playing the FNAF games as well as the choice of song playing during the end credits. Two Youtubers, Matt Patt and CoryxKenshin, are both significant faces of the FNAF franchise. Blum House definitely paid some attention to detail by adding these two social media stars to the movie and completely took viewers by surprise. As well as allowing viewers to connect to the storyline by casting well known characters, Blum House closed the end of the movie with the best song to ever release, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” by The Living Tombstone. Once this song started playing it was an automatic rush of nostalgia. Another perfect addition to this movie was the opening credit scene paying tribute to the games during the 8-bit scene.
Overall, I never would have thought this movie would ever make it in the theater, but I am very glad it did. Five Nights at Freddy’s lovers leave the theater coming full circle from watching Matt Patt’s game theory explaining the FNAF lore to watching the Springlock failure in HD. Some may have left wanting more but I was truly satisfied with the attempt and appreciate the references to the games.
