Five Nights at Freddy’s 1 and 2
When the 70s version of Chucky Cheeses Is Less Scary
I’m going to be pretty straightforward in that I do genuinely love horror video games (as I’ve done several reviews of horror games for Lefthand Path and my Substack), but I’ve not been a fan of the FNAF video game franchise itself.
It’s not that I didn’t give it a try, though! It’s just that the gameplay loop didn’t quite grab me, since it mostly consists of checking cameras and watching the animatronic enemies slowly move around, followed by a jumpscare if you fail. To me, the jumpscare element was fun for the first 20 minutes, but became more frustrating as the game went on. There weren’t many scares beyond that point.
While I acknowledge that there is some deep lore to the game in terms of backstory for the animatronics, the evil that pervades the setting, as well as “theories” that were all over YouTube for several years and a few books… it never quite caught on with me.
However, that hadn’t stopped me from going back to the very start of the franchise and working my way through it all just to watch the two movies that are out. While I admit the game wasn’t for me personally, that doesn’t mean it’s not something someone else might be interested in. Plus, having taken that second look at both the games and films (neglecting to read the books I’m afraid), I can certainly say that there are some parts of it that I actually did like once I stopped to think about them.
While the franchise has been a big hit among a younger audience (predominantly the tween to young teen demographic because of its accessible horror), that doesn’t mean there’s not something here worth chewing on for an older audience, or for those who like simpler horror without gratuitous violence, gore, and very taboo themes. It’s approachable while still being unsettling.
So while this review will focus on the two films that are out, I did at least want to take a small sojourn here and there to talk about the franchise as a whole. As usual, I’ll be going over the films, what makes them worth watching, my personal opinions, and a short list of similar entertainment that one might enjoy.
And of course, I’ll keep it as spoiler-free as I possibly can for those who want to watch, play the games, or read the books or engage with the franchise in any way – even through YouTube commentary, essays, or let’s plays.
Let’s jump into it!
Cinematography
This was perhaps my favorite part of the two films.
Personally, I wasn’t wholly invested in either the scares or the stories, and felt that the characters – as effective as the actors were (more on that in a bit) – were not all that interesting. They often made dumb decisions that didn’t feel sensible to the situation they were in, and the plot holes felt both too large to ignore while also simultaneously being ignored. I’ll go over this in my personal thoughts down below in a little bit.
Yet the settings were great. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria was downright dirty and grungy, looking like it had genuinely been abandoned since the 80s. The animatronics in the first were moldy and worn down, befitting the settings’ appearance and very evocative of the games themselves. The second film presented them as sleeker and more modern (despite being older, story-wise), but they were still relatively unkempt so as to be uncanny.
Plus, the animatronics moved well and were genuinely terrifying.
The same can’t be said of every other location outside of The Pizzeria, however. The main character’s home looked like any other home, any other location, rather than the pizzeria was, comparatively, too clean and sterile by design, and perhaps the only other interesting location was the School in the second film.
While the settings were mostly a miss, the way the scenes in those locations were pretty nice. Angled camera shots were often used when the animatronic characters were on screen, sometimes angled upwards to look up at the characters as if we were in the viewpoint of a child character, and it was effective in making the animatronics look that much more menacing and larger than life. Which is good since they used practical effects for those characters, and they might have looked goofy otherwise.
Overall, the film was presented adequately, and quick camera jumps happen here and there to emphasize the occasional frantic, manic action. Mostly, those happen with jump scares and aren’t used too much, despite being obnoxious on occasion when they do.
Cast and Crew
I’m saying this just to get it off my chest: Mathew Lillard is underutilized in this film.
Look, I like the guy. When he’s not in a horror-based role, his characters are often goofy and awkward in a charming way, and when he is allowed to expand upon his horror skillsets, he can deftly move from charming and well-meaning to creepy and unsettling at the drop of a hat. Plus, he’s the voice actor for Shaggy from Scooby Doo after Casey Kasem died, and that earned my respect.
So why do I think he’s underutilized? Mainly because in the first film, he’s there at the beginning of the film, and then at the end, and only a slight bit in the middle of the second film. I won’t spoil anything as to why I feel he’s heavily underutilized, but I will say that the character he plays is supposed to be a major lore character to the FNAF franchise, so I expected him to be there for at least a third of the film or at least have a more active role.
That said, I think the other actors did fairly well. Josh Hutcherson as Mike comes off in the first film with a tired, desperate earnestness that felt genuine, while he made it believable that he’d be more assertive in the second film. Pipe Rubio as Abby was cute as the child character, and was precocious enough to not be annoying while moving the plot forward,, and I really did like Elizabeth Lail as Vanessa, who seemed to know more than she was letting on, even in the second movie.
Director Emma Tammi also did well in making the film look and sound almost like the games did. While the story was predominantly a Scott Cawthon written piece, they seemingly worked really well together in creating what would have otherwise been a pretty boring, hard-to-translate premise and expanding upon it in a way that actually was engaging. The games themselves tend to be stationary, with little to no characters and most of the actual story hidden in lore that players must find for themselves. That works great for games, but not so much for film, and the adaptation and cinematography work went hand in hand.
Especially since they had Lyn Moncrief as the chief cinematographer, who had worked on various horror and thriller shows and films before, and an extensive Art Department. Plus, they had the “Jim Henson Creature Shop” for the animatronics, which I’ll discuss in more detail below. What made the film work as well as it did was having people on hand who knew what they were doing in adapting a pretty bare-bones video game series into two successful movies.
Practical Effects
What I have to give major props to is the choice to use actual, practical effects in the two films. It would have been far easier to use CGI – and possibly even cheaper, considering that they didn’t show up as often as I would have liked – but the realism of their design and movements lent a sort of authenticity to the films that actually was a breath of fresh air.
And I mean that too. CGI animatronics would have moved too quickly, too smoothly, and would have looked uncanny. You can see this in the games, even as far back as the first one, where Freddy, Chica, Foxy, and others move around and look like it’s natural for them to do so. While the first four games didn’t really have a lot of movement – since you’re confined to one room till “FNAF: Security Breach“, you can still see it in certain animations. Their movements look too natural for characters that are, essentially, animatronic mannequins with stiff joints and a basic robotic framework.
Not so in the films. They look chunky, they move slowly and awkwardly, and they act as one could imagine puppets would. Personally, this makes them more terrifying given what they are beneath their soft exteriors, which I won’t go into too much detail about, as it constitutes a spoiler for both the film and the games.
All in all, I appreciate what they went with instead of taking the expected route. Doing so with the animatronics gives the film a distinctive appearance that makes it stand out, and, aside from the cinematography above, it was one of my favorite parts of this film, even though at several points I was trying to imagine the sheer terror of a slow-moving animatronic bear in a top hat.
Is It Scary?
That depends on what you personally find scary.
If atmospheric scenes of quietness that fill you with a building dread are something that you find terrifying, then this movie does have it in spades. While it doesn’t have many long shot scenes slowly panning around the environment, there are a few certain locations where this happens at, with minimal jumps to other characters in the scene.
If you find jump scares terrifying as well… well… they are there to an almost annoying degree. In fact, jump scares constitute perhaps 9 out of 10 scares in both movies, being heavily inspired by the games. There are some violent actions that result in a character’s death on screen, which thankfully mitigates how jump scare-heavy the films are, at least keeping it from being repetitive and boring. In fact (and a minor spoiler), we even open up on the first movie with a character being killed in a gruesome, if bloodless way.
However, the violence is just that: bloodless. While some blood splatters here and there to remind you that this is a horror film, it’s never the result of a direct action against a character themselves. Even in the second film, where we open up to (again, another minor spoiler) a character being murdered, it’s never outright shown, with only the end result being seen with blood.
While it is interesting to see how it plays out while not leaning into the more disturbing aspects of the story, it’s not overtly gratuitous, which works in its favor, or not, depending on how you want your scares. In the end, it’s scary enough to make you jump, laugh, eat some popcorn, but I’d doubt scary enough to stick with you after the end credits of either film.
Except for the Marionette doll in the second film. That character and puppetry special effects did legitimately creep me out in the best way.
You’ll Like This If
You’re a fan of the FNAF Franchise, or you like beginner horror.
I’m not joking about that first bit either. Scott Cawthon, the creator of the FNAF franchise, poured his love into this film and wanted to ensure it was something fans would love. There are so many easter eggs in the background or in the way the characters talk or reference things that I didn’t notice on my first watch; I really only noticed them on my second watch, after playing some of the games and reading some of the books.
I’m also not joking about it being a beginner horror either. As mentioned above, there’s really not a whole lot of disturbing content in any of the two films, books, or games, despite the subject matter. It’s almost bloodless, with the few deaths that do happen occurring so quickly that they don’t linger on the pain, and most of the screams and frights that happen are from the copious amount of jump scares.
In essence, it’s “safe edgy”, unlike other films that deal with missing children, such as “The Black Phone” films.
Some people will probably like this. It engages with darker subject matter without being gratuitous. Some people just don’t like copious amounts of blood, gore, violence, and certain themes, and that’s perfectly fine. For others who want this, it might be frustrating that it could go further with its subject matter, but it intentionally holds itself back to aim for a young teen demographic and a friendlier rating.
You Won’t Like This If
You don’t like jumpscares.
I mean that. The entire FNAF franchise is built on cheap jump scares. While there is plenty of atmospheric dread that goes on in both the films and movies, with grungy visuals that are raggedy and caked in dirt and mold, the majority of the frights tend to come at you screaming directly into your face.
In the games, it’s direct to you, and then a game-over screen. No blood, no violence. Just an animatronic that screams at you, and then you have to start over again. In the film, the camera often jump-cuts to quick frights, as if to emphasize them, and in several cases lingers uncomfortably long.
On a personal level, I’m not a fan of this style of terror. Give me a good existential dread, or a shadowy figure looming in the back, or some sort of corruption going on. While there are a few instances of this type of terror – especially in the second film – they are few and far between.
Plus, if you’re not a fan of characters making dump decisions purely to move the plot along… well… you’ll be really disappointed. The films are something you need to turn your brain off and just enjoy while eating your snacks. If you’re expecting any deeper level other than “scary things happen to characters”, then you’ll be sorely disappointed.
Overall, if you don’t like simple jump scares or simple horror and want something more than “safe edgy” entertainment, you’ll probably want to skip this.
Personal Thoughts
Personally? I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a top five for me. Heck, it’s not even in the top twenty horror films I’ve seen in 2025. It was just that I expected something extremely derivative and dull, and instead got a decent schlocky horror that was light on gore, full of atmosphere, and a decently fun story up until the last fifteen minutes of the film.
And I do mean that I enjoyed the ride till the last fifteen minutes. Leading up to then, the movies tended to be atmospheric in a way that made me sit on the edge of my seat, and while the jump scares were very predictable to the point of being annoying – since I think those types of scares are cheap – there were some truly unsettling moments that happened, especially in the second film with the marionette.
But the rush to the ending? I disliked it. It felt as if the films had a great idea on just being built up on the lore of the video games, and being something meant purely for fans who knew the whole story, and then in the last fifteen minutes, have the surprise villain show up, explain the whole story, and then promptly get defeated in their introduction scene. I’m sorry if that’s a spoiler, but I feel it should be said for those like me who are introduced to the franchise’s lore through the films. It’s something I felt was particularly poor writing that took me out of the film’s world and left me scratching my head, rather than giving me an epiphany.
BUT I digress! The films at least did the job of getting me interested in “Five Nights at Freddy’s” Lore, and I did end up picking up a few of the books and playing the video games to further round out the review.
Were they all as good as the film?
Ehh… to each their own. Personally, I’m impressed more with series creator Scott Cawthon, since he made it very clear that he thought the first “FNAF” game would only do moderately well at best, flop at worst, and he’d have moved on. When it became a mega hit, he had to scramble to fill in the story’s gaps, did the best he could, and even went on record saying he could have made it better. Yet, despite all that, he ensured it was a great introduction to horror for young children. Not too grotesque, and focused on fun gameplay, simple horror tropes, and a deep enough “mystery” that children could latch onto.
And it worked, I feel. Even the books have this sort of soft edginess to them despite the grungy visuals and the fact it does involve child murders. It’s engaging enough that children would feel like they want to dive in, while being something that they might feel is “taboo” to be into, like a secret interest that they shouldn’t have.
While not my favorite, as I feel I might be too old for it, I like and appreciate the franchise for what it is. Plus, I actually thought “Security Breach” was the best FNAF game. Yes, I am a Roxanne Wolf fan, and those two are correlated. Feel free to tell me how wrong I am.
Overall, the movies were fun up until the end, the games were ok, and the books are at least a quick read.
If You Liked This, You’ll Also Like
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” as a franchise was so hugely popular that it spawned dozens of copycats, so you can practically take your pick of any mascot horror that’s inspired by FNAF. I’m not joking about that either: In the span of FNAF’s main run, there have been so many that have come out that there are now parodies of FNAF and Mascot Horror because the tropes have become so overdone in the last 10 years alone.
While the genre might be stale both in Films and Video Game forms, there’s still plenty there that’s worth diving into if you’re a fan of this particular franchise. When it comes to movies, there’s a literal plethora of films that date back even to the 1970s and 80s. “Chucky” is one example, since, at its core, it’s a murderer haunting a child’s toy who goes on to murder (which means you have all the same main ingredients as the FNAF films).
When it comes to games and books, though, there are fewer options, but good ones all the same. Mostly I’ll be focusing on the “Five Nights At Freddy’s” core concepts – such as jumpscares, animatronics, or otherwise “kid-friendly” things that are actually horrifying, as well as things with a deep lore that reward inquisitive-minded people to dig deeper in.
Films, Animations, and Shows
- – Willys Wonderland (2021) NOTE: This is a Horror Comedy starring Nic Cage
- – The Banana Splits Movie (2019)
- – Dead Silence (2007)
- – Puppet Master (1989) NOTE: This is also a franchise film with multiple sequels.
- – The Hug (2018)
Video Games
- – Poppy’s Playtime (2021)
- – Bendy And The Ink Machine (2017)
- – Dollmare (2024)
- – CASE: Animatronics (2016)
- – Night Blights (2016)
Books
- – Five Nights at Freddy’s Books and Graphic Novels
- – House of Leaves (2000) NOTE: Get the physical copy. This is an intense book.
- – The Lockwood & Co. Series – Jonathan Stroud (2013-Present)
- – Something Is Killing the Children – James Tynion IV (2019-Present)
- – The Thief of Always – Clive Barker (1992)
Fanworks
I’m choosing to include Fan-made projects for this review since Scott Cawthon is extremely fan project-friendly and has endorsed many fanfiction projects in the past.
- – Five Nights at Candy’s (2015 – Present)
- – The Joy of Creation (2018) NOTE: Currently being adapted into an original IP
- – Five Nights at Freddy’s: Lost Souls (2020)
- – The Discovery and the Hunt by Dalek_Kolt (Found on Reddit)
Final Words
In the end,what matters with the movie, and the franchise as a whole, is that it is fun, even if it doesn’t make sense a lot of times.
A lot has been said about the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” franchise and the lore of the games, and thankfully, the movie doesn’t delve too much into it other than background easter eggs. It’s clear that the movies were made FOR the fans, but they’re thankfully engaging enough without prior knowledge of what’s going on.
After all, that’s what happened with me! I watched the first two films, thought it was a perfect time to dip my toes into the franchise, picked up the games and a few books, and went with it. While I could probably have avoided doing that and come to the same conclusion with the films alone, I don’t regret it. If you’re someone who wants easygoing thrills without it lingering as a disturbance on your psyche, then these films and even the games are perfect for you.
And hey, I’m actually looking forward to seeing what they do for the third film. As of this writing, it’s not confirmed, but the films did well enough that it’s a possibility, and if they do? I’ll be there to review that as well.
~ Rease Stoneheart
