Movie Review: Can’t Outfaz The Fred (FNAF)
Al Stone-Gebhardt and Eli Styles | November 1, 2023
Da-da-dum-dum-da-da-dum-dum.
Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place. Can we take your order?
In the flashy and fearsome fanbase of Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF), the recent movie of the same name has been long-anticipated and highly discussed. FNAF began in 2014 as a single indie horror game created by Scott Cawthon, an American video game developer. Since then, Cawthon has released seven other games in the main FNAF series alongside a few other spin-offs. There are also 28 books belonging to the FNAF world.
Fans of the games specifically are passionate about the lore behind them. Phrases such as “Purple Guy” or “The Bite of ‘87” might send these avid enjoyers into a frenzy, especially if they have viewed the long, detailed videos of a certain theorist on YouTube.
Fans have been awaiting the release of the FNAF movie since it was announced in 2014. However, production did not begin until early 2023.
The movie follows Mike Schmidt, a down-on-his-luck guy struggling to keep a job and support his little sister, Abby.
After being fired from a security gig at the mall, Schmidt visits a career counselor — Steve Raglan — in desperation to find another option. The counselor, played by horror movie veteran Matthew Lillard, assigns Schmidt to the night shift at the dilapidated Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Place.
While on the clock, Mike Schmidt begins to feel a curious connection to the unsolved kidnapping of his younger brother, Garrett, back in the 80s.
Strange and vivid dreams bring him closer to solving the mystery than ever before; Freddy’s holds the key to his past and Schmidt knows it. Additionally, he knows the fuzzy animatronics are involved somehow.
It is Abby’s abnormal affection for the animatronics that enable Mike Schmidt to unveil the truth about the mysterious establishment, discovering restless spirits possessing the robotic suits.
Viewers watch in anticipation as Schmidt must face his past and reconcile his rocky relationship with Abby — all while putting the spirits to rest from their purgatory. But someone is watching him — someone who doesn’t want him meddling with the animatronics.
Hit your local theaters to find out if Schmidt is able to survive the five nights.
Admittedly, FNAF isn’t the magnum opus of horror films, nor is it too intense for casual fans of horror to digest.
For a game notorious for its jumpscares, FNAF simply falls short of the claustrophobic and thrilling panic of being trapped in a security office with killer robots at your doors. The movie shares almost nothing with its game counterpart aside from the familiar animatronics.
Moreover, FNAF falls short of a comprehensive narrative, deterring potential fans. While compelling, the narrative lost the plot in an attempt to mesh different elements of the games into one movie.
With scares few and far between, a dissatisfying story and some uninspired jump scares thrown in for good measure, the PG-13 rating of the movie spelled out FNAF’s downfall.
While the movie lacked some crucial aspects of a freaky film, Five Nights at Freddy’s more than made up for it with sound design, cinematography and nostalgia. Seeing animatronics we’ve watched over the years come to life on the silver screen — without the use of CGI! — is nothing less than breathtaking.
The best part of the movie was a surprise cameo by YouTube theorist Matthew Patrick, known commonly as “MatPat” online. The 36-year-old internet celebrity is notorious for eccentric and outlandish theories regarding the FNAF franchise — to us, it was Cawthon paying homage to the roots of FNAF and its devoted fanbase, which was a monumental pillar of the movie.
The end credits were also a fan-favorite: not much could spark a FNAF fan’s heart rate higher than hearing the beginning sounds of The Living Tombstone’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s” after waiting an entire movie for niche references.
In all, Five Nights at Freddy’s is clearly for the fans — so sit back, embrace the camp, and try to survive your first five nights.
