OH excitement falls flat for FNAF movie

Since the early 2010s, the Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) games, created by Scott Cawthon, have stood out as a popular indie horror series known for their theories, lore, and abundant jump scares from possessed animatronics. So people got excited when Warner Bros. Studios announced they would release a movie based on the series on Oct. 27, 2023.

“I was a big fan of the games and had been anticipating [the movie] for years,” said senior Phoenix Goldstein.

The series has sold over 33.5 million copies as of 2023, showing how well-known the games are even by themselves. The movie also received a huge profit, with over 200 million dollars worldwide.

Naturally, fans expected the movie to follow the features that sold the game in the first place: jump scares, spectacular building of suspense, mystery, etc. 

Mike Schmidt, a man looking for a job after tragic family issues that forced him to take care of his younger sister Abby, was hired by Steve Raglan as a security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Plex. Eventually, Mike met Vanessa Monroe, who introduced him to the animatronics. 

After the plot starts to kick up more, Vanessa and Mike try to save Abby, finding out that Steve, the mastermind and murderer behind these incidents, was not only Vanessa’s dad but also killed Mike’s younger brother.  The animatronics realize what’s happening and kill Steve instead of Mike, Abby, and Vanessa.

Several questions and expectations surrounded the FNAF movie, especially since movies can easily brush over or delete key parts of an existing series. Would FNAF be good despite being PG13 and, by default, worth it? Or would it be another “Super Mario Bros.” in the making? 

“[I expected] that they would at least have a springlock scene and touch on the basic lore,” said Goldstein. 

In actuality, the FNAF movie was based on existing theory and lore that was not explicit in the games or books. This left a bit of canon to fall flat or be brushed over entirely.

And while in an optional poll, three out of five students said they enjoyed the movie, two out of five expressed more than just dislike for it.

“It was just cringe. It wasn’t what I wanted or expected […] I was not a fan; I’ll just say that… Plus, it was too easy to get bored or disinterested very quickly. I had a decent nap though,” said junior Skye Weaver. 

Weaver isn’t the only one who thinks that, since students who enjoyed the movie didn’t hope for much at the beginning, either.

“[I thought] that it was gonna be cheesy,” said senior Zianya Nava.

(Timeframe) has passed since the movie’s release, and there seems to be more negative feedback, or negative feedback passed as jokes, than positive feedback.

Famous YouTuber Seán McLoughlin, also known as Jacksepticeye, posted on the app X, formerly Twitter, and said, “Just saw the FNAF movie… I didn’t really like it.” After the post, some people felt they shouldn’t watch the FNAF movie to “save their money.” 

McLoughlin isn’t the only influence. Others have posted memes on Tiktok, showing Metroman from “Megamind” walking out from a dark area as the text reads something like “Me leaving the FNAF movie after…”

Since the movie’s release, the main point brought up in X discussions and TikTok memes is the lore of the FNAF movie.

“It was based [on] the books and really kept true to the storyline, but some parts were left out,” said Hamid. 

The lore of the FNAF series is complicated, usually following the story of William Afton killing many children and himself in the search for immortality. 

“[Something I disliked about the FNAF movie was that] it didn’t have as much horror as it did mystery, but I can’t blame the movie because it is PG13,” said Goldstein. 

But not all reviews have been negative. Many OHS students also shared what they thought the movie did well.

“I liked the casting. Every actor did relatively [well] in their roles,” said Weaver.

The actors played a noticeable role in the movie’s sales, with several being famous outside of their new roles in FNAF.

“[I liked] the actors and the detail [in] the animatronics,” said Hamid.

The animatronics are one of the larger selling points, as they are the mascots in and outside the FNAF universe and represent the franchise the best.

“I liked that the animatronics were fully [scaled] and matched the exact models from the game,” said Goldstein.

Overall, OH students shared more negatives regarding the film’s story and plot than positives. It doesn’t make the movie terrible by any means, but it makes your interest in the series something to consider before you pay for a ticket.

“I would say if you like FNAF, watch it; otherwise, it [wasn’t] worth it for me as someone who doesn’t really like FNAF,” said Weaver.