After seven years of setbacks, the highly anticipated “Five Nights at Freddy’s” film adaptation finally premiered on Oct. 25, 2023.  

Following the release of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” in 2014, the game quickly garnered a dedicated fanbase and caught Hollywood’s franchise-loving eye. Within a year, Warner Bros. announced they would produce a feature film based on the game.  

Scott Cawthon, the game’s creator, turned down multiple scripts from several production companies, before settling a deal with Blumhouse Productions, who is known for their low-budget horror films.  

Throughout the developmental process, Cawthon had the final say in most creative aspects and promised fans of his video game that a movie would not be made until he felt that the circumstances were perfect. His input would ensure that they were.

Perfect, however, is not a word attributed to the film since its release. It is difficult to imagine that there were years’ worth of work and even worse screenplays that were turned down. 

Entering the theater with a base-level understanding of the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” game, one would expect a grimy, eerie thriller, but what you find instead is a movie that fails to balance its scare factor with family-friendly humor.  

It feels that the writers were unsure if their target audience was meant to be those who grew up playing the game and are now entering the theater as nostalgia-seeking adults or young players who have just been introduced to the world of “FNAF.”

With that, every time the film would dare to reach the bounds of horror, daytime would come once more and pull back the curtain on any tension that had built throughout the night. The pacing and mood felt both incomplete and incoherent up to the very end, with a rushed conclusion that neglected to resolve major plot points.  

The performances given in the movie by seasoned actors Matthew Lillard and Josh Hutcherson were truthfully laughable. Yet one can not help but feel sorry for the cast, as it is abundantly clear that they did the best with what they were given: a bad script.  

Often, the script felt like a first draft, with conversations that frequently went from point ‘A’ to point ‘C’ without any of the world-building middle parts. Rather than a working dialogue, the conversations felt like each character making broken-up statements.

While it was disappointing to see some great actors in this way, there was not much the cast would have been able to do to salvage the integrity of the film.  

The overall direction of the film also left something to be desired. The cinematography resembled that of a commercial. The quality did not reflect as a major motion picture should. On more than one occasion, the camera shots did not even line up, a sloppy mistake that speaks poorly of the crew’s dedication.  

With the promise of making a movie that would appeal to the deep lore of fans, the end product disappointingly strayed so far from the source material in so many different directions. There were three main plotlines, none of which existed within the game or connected in a way that made their appearance redeemable.  

Much like the videogame, the movie was certainly over-the-top theatrical, though it feels less intentional in this form. The game leans into the fact that horror and camp go hand in hand, something the movie is unable to replicate. 

There were a handful of Easter eggs that gagged exciting squeals out of the audience, and it seemed as if seeing the characters on the big screen was enough to satisfy the dedicated fanbase, but after such a long wait, fans of the game deserved so much more. If the film had put its best effort forward to appease the fanbase, the outcome likely would have been an overall better quality film; luckily, it seems as if they have two more chances to get it right.  

Though it has not been officially announced by either Blumhouse or Universal Pictures, it is speculated that some of the actors are already signed on for a trilogy. 

Watching the film was certainly entertaining, not because you are presented with a quality film, but because the live reactions to the movie are amusing to experience first-hand. Truly a film that if you are going to see, you should definitely see in theaters.