What was once a small indie game has recently come out as a 20 million dollar budget movie. Five Nights at Freddy’s has entered theaters and despite being in the works since 2015, it has left fans with mixed feelings.
Many fans were upset with the tone the movie portrayed, saying it was too cheesy and excessively goofy. The movie had slapstick moments that betrayed the horror-inducing impression the trailers had set up. Another big problem longtime fans complained about was the amount of time the movie spent on certain scenes, with many agreeing that the ending was rushed. This was particularly frustrating, as many scenes in the middle reportedly dragged on for an unnecessarily long time.
“I got out of the theater and felt really disappointed that this was the movie we got,” Hannah Bryant, junior, said.
Although some fans were frustrated with Five Nights at Freddy’s, the general audience praised the movie. It has been applauded for its simple but creative concept, with many enjoying the PG-13 rating, as they could watch it with most of their family. It has received an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes, garnered 250 million dollars in revenue, and led to an increase in game sales since being released.
“I really liked the tone the movie chose to go with, it hit the perfect sweet spot of funny and scary,” Everrett Johnson, senior, said.
With the movie performing well and the creator of the games wanting to make more films, the question is less about if there will be a sequel and more about what an additional film should even be about. The obvious argument is that the second movie should revolve around the second game, but with the first movie taking multiple elements and story concepts from several different games, the sequel may look completely different.
“I really hope the second movie is all about the second game. All my favorite characters in the series are in that game,” Carter Mentzel, senior, said.
The movie has had quite a long development, but it is exciting to see it begin to grow on more and more people.
