REVIEW: Five Nights at Freddy’s is out, but does it live up to its lengthy legacy?

Bella Swansinger and Katelin Williams
eSomethin staff

A dim light in your office flickers on and off. The room is trashed with wrappers and soda cans, and the only thing you’ve been watching for the past three hours of your shift has been the static of video cameras. The ominous clattering of metal against metal reverberates around the pizzeria you’re stationed in. The animatronics roam freely around with a drive to end your life tonight. You’ve clocked in five nights at Freddy’s Pizzeria already, and those were five nights too long.

FNAF…. Talk to any ten-year-old and they will tell you the extensive lore of a game about murderous children trapped in animatronics in a restaurant built to resemble a Chuck-E-Cheese type family dinner. Sound insane? That’s because it is.

Created by Scott Cawthon, the FNAF universe consists of books, toys, and clothing based off the famous game series, which has amassed millions of followers, as well as their fan made vhs tapes, games, and costumes. As with any franchise this size, a TV adaption is sure to come along. Released this year, “Five Nights at Freddy’s”, starring Josh Hutcherson, has already made $130 million dollars worldwide. Students Bella and Katelin asked a few students for their opinions on the movie.

Devin Conaway, a freshman, said had a really good time seeing the movie, but wishes the jumpscares had been more frequent.

Conaway, who is new to the FNAF franchise, enjoyed the movie, but said, “There should have been more blood.” He thought the acting was well done, but did not find the movie scary at all due to lack of blood and big jumpscares. He did however find the animatronics scary and because of his lack of knowledge on the lore, wasn’t sure if it lived up to its potential. Overall he gave the movie a 8/10, and had an enjoyable time.

Elizabeth Tierney about her opinions on the movie. She has been a fan since the release of the first game, and she was very excited to see the movie. Although the movie didn’t let her down, she believed that the movie and storyline could have used more work.

“I thought the way they kept to their new storyline was good, but I was a bit upset at how they changed it up a bit from the original games” Tierney said.

Amongst these two fans seems to be a mutual agreement: the movie should have included more gore.

While the atmosphere of the movie was scary, the movie itself could have used some work, especially with the jumpscares. There weren’t as many jumpscares as one would expect in a movie adaption of a game filled with jumpscares.

The animatronics were well made, and it was cool how they all had different personalities. They could be seen roaming around and actually walking around the Pizzeria, which was a change from the games because they would be seen only teleporting. Also, the animatronics moved really quietly, which is weird because they’re literal machines.

Overall, the movie was well-made, but it didn’t meet all the hype and expectations. There were many cheesy scenes which made us have to pause.

In conclusion, as long as every so often you pause the movie and take a breather, it’s a very good movie for audiences who haven’t seen or grown up with the popular franchise.

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