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FNaF comes to streaming and DVD this month

Nearly a decade ago, Scott Cawthon released the point-and-click survival-horror game which audiences and critics alike considered both distinct and frightening, and as Cawthon expanded the franchise, it exploded into popularity through Youtube playthroughs and theories.

Then, nine years, two months, and nineteen days later the supernatural horror film  “Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNaF)” by Universal Pictures hit theaters October 27, grossing $131 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Director Emma Tammi who, according to “Forbes,” earned the largest horror film opening weekend directed by a woman, curated exceptional excitement, saving a just-adequate movie. In every element, the film executes well the mediocre circumstances and ideas behind it.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, after opening weekend, over a thousand audience reviews awarded the film an 89% score. Such was evident in the screening at which I attended; the room was exuberant, screaming and clapping as recognizable Youtube icons, MatPat from Game Theory and CoryxKenshin appeared on screen.

Alongside the cameos contribution to the film’s high anticipation, the notion that the franchise would come to life in a narrative, question-answering format on the big screen. Anyone with a knowledge of the games flooded theaters, rocketing the film to third overall for movie opening weekends at the domestic box office, according to Forbes.

Beneath the overwhelming excitement, the movie did not deliver on many elements, namely the horror.

“For a horror movie, it wasn’t very scary, probably because it was PG 13,” said junior Caroline Browning. “If I had to rate it on a horror movie, I would put it lower because it wasn’t scary.”

The film lacked both atmospheric horror and jumpscares, the latter being a staple of all of the games. Moreover, the games fanbase have largely aged out of PG 13 movies, so to align with the current age of most fans, teens and adults, the movie could have played with more horror elements through a higher age rating.

The plot faced similar issues: though executed well, the elements through which the plot progressed were underwhelming and not reminiscent of the games. The film’s brand of supernatural involved ghosts and expandable dreams explained purely through the notion of a supernatural force, while the game felt purely mechanical and science fiction based. In that, the film characters, namely the Schmidt family, the protagonists, gain relevant information due to nothing more than a baseless ‘connection’ that has no relevance due to changes in the canon lore from the games.

For casual viewers, Mike and Abby Schmidt, the missing children, and the antagonist share no relation in any manner, meaning they could have been replaced by anyone. Instead, the protagonist, Mike, shares the name of one of the most relevant game characters Michael, or Mike, who, in the games, is the son of the antagonist and has a younger brother and sister. Despite sharing a name and family makeup, film Mike has no lineage connection with the antagonist, so they are not at all the same character. This means the presence of a Mike in the film was false fanservice to draw crowds.  For dedicated fans of the games, the change in lineage-relationship between Mike and William Afton, the antagonist, confuses both the above connections and the general plot. Rather than being tied to the plot through family trauma and a family business, as in the game franchise, Mike and Abby’s presence at the Pizzeria means nothing if not for their magical dreams. 

Further, for dedicated fans, the film overrides nearly a decade of theories, built into a generic timeline of events, while replacing it with irrelevant characters with fanservice names.

That said, many elements of the movie were enjoyable, including the atmospheric sets, well designed animatronics, and deep characters. Browning noted that the actors’ performances were believable and added to the atmosphere of the film.

Overall, Cawthon never fails to provide dark and interesting content, and “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is certainly worth the watch, especially if the games have come across your radar previously.