Five Nights At Freddy’s is the latest video game adaption to hit theaters, but it’s been slammed with abysmal reviews.
The film currently has a shockingly low critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, sitting at 26 per cent out of 136 reviews.
However bad reviews don’t always indicate a doomed future for a film. In fact, the film racked up $130 million globally during its opening weekend, making it a surprise box office hit.
Plus moviegoers who are fans of a franchise have proven to be much more forgiving about the flaws of a film adaption of their favorite video game.
Five Nights At Freddy’s is the latest video game adaption to hit theaters, but it’s not off to the best start
While critics considered the film to be a massive failure, audiences have given it a high score of 88 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes
For instance, The Super Mario Bros. Movie received a splat rating of 59 per cent from critics while audiences gave it a glowing 95 per cent.
The same seems to be true for Five Nights At Freddy’s – although the gap is even larger.
While critics considered the film to be a massive failure, audiences have given it a high score of 88 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Five Nights At Freddy’s is based on a video game franchise of the same name that was first released in 2014.
The film follows a security guard (Josh Hutcherson) during his first shift at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.
As the week goes on, the spooky animatronics come to life and he realizes he’s in a fight for his and sister Abby’s (Piper Rubio) life.
Despite the success of the video games, reviewers found this film to be ‘boring’ with a ‘convoluted’ plot.
Frank Schek for The Hollywood Reporter called the film a snooze while The Guardian’s Benjamin Lee claimed that the film ‘is somehow a slog to get through and will be promptly forgotten by morning.’
The film follows a security guard (Josh Hutcherson) during his first shift at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. As the week goes on, the spooky animatronics come to life and he realizes he’s in a fight for his and sister Abby’s (Piper Rubio) life
Despite the success of the video games, reviewers found this film to be ‘boring’ with a ‘convoluted’ plot
Soren Andersen from Seattle Times directly compared the video game to the movie and how one is significantly more thrilling than the other.
‘In the game, the players are Mike, and the goal is not to get killed. The pace is speedy, the threats are many. It’s all about staying alive. The problem for the movie audience is staying awake,’ they penned.
Following complaints of boredom, reviewers’ biggest problem with the film was the confusing plot that strayed too far from the original video game.
‘Five Nights at Freddy’s has absolutely no idea what kind of ride it wants to be,’ Justin Clark wrote for Slant Magazine.
‘The convoluted story feels reverse-engineered from the game, and the scares are too mild to make an impact,’ Rafer Guzman of Newsday said.
‘Expanding the game’s simple, primal premise with a surfeit of character melodrama, it’s a Five Nights at Freddy’s that labors under the bizarre assumption that the loyal fanbase wants a lot of extraneous plot surrounding the fun-center horror,’ A. A. Dowd penned for IGN Movies.
While the film was going for a horror tone with some comedic relief, reviews found that the film was neither scary nor funny.
Following complaints of boredom, reviewers’ biggest problem with the film was the confusing plot that strayed too far from the original video game
While the film was going for a horror tone with some comedic relief, reviews found that the film was neither scary nor funny
‘There are jump scares, but no real thrills. There are jokes, but no genuine laughs,’ Dylan Roth for the Observer wrote.
‘Despite a playful nostalgic kick from its setting, including some impressive robotics design and puppetry, it’s neither consistently scary nor suspenseful,’ Cinemalogue’s Todd Jorgenson said.
‘Unfortunately, this adaptation of the popular 2014 video game fails at delivering scares or cheeky laughs, resulting in a tedious experience that relies heavily on horror’s most cliched tropes.’ Tim Grierson for Screen International penned.
Some reviewers attribute the failure in creating a satisfying tone to the PG-13 rating.
‘Caught between PG and R, as well as lost at the crossroads of inadvertent comedy and horror, the PG-13 Five Nights at Freddy’s has to go down as one of the poorest films in any genre this year,’ Mark Kennedy from Associated Press penned.
‘Scrubbed and sanitized to score a PG-13 rating, this horror movie isn’t scary, silly, nor campy enough, which sucks every last drop of fun right out of the killer premise,’ Louisa Moore for Screen Zealots said.
However, fans are singing the movie’s praises to an entirely different tune, leaving one to wonder if critics and fans were even listening to the same song.
However, fans are singing the movie’s praises to an entirely different tune, leaving one to wonder if critics and fans were even listening to the same song
‘Best movie of all time. My new favorite. FNaF 4ever!’ one fan of the film exclaimed.
‘Really enjoyed the movie, felt a whip of nostalgia. Great to finally see this on the big screen,’ another enthused.
Someone else referenced how the film had been in development since 2015, but that it was worth the wait.
‘ITS AMAZING!!!! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOVIE FOR 9 YEARS and the plot is just perfect,’ they wrote.
Most of the people who enjoyed the movie appeared to be longtime followers of the franchise.
‘Great movie! Fans of the game would definitely love it,’ one fan commented.
‘As a long time fan of the FNAF crew, I absolutely loved the movie,’ another penned.
‘As a fan of the franchise, I was very well impressed! Was a very entertaining movie that kept me waiting for the next scene time and time again. Highly recommend for anyone,’ a third enthused.
Some moviegoers admitted that it was definitely ‘dedicated to the fans’ and that others might not enjoy it as much.
‘IT WAS SO GOOD! Everything I could’ve hoped for with a FNAF movie dedicated to the fans,’ they wrote.
‘Definitely a movie for the fans. However its (sic) not scary or really gore-y. It was good 4/5,’ another added.
Some moviegoers admitted that it was definitely ‘dedicated to the fans’ and that others might not enjoy it as much. However, some truly felt it was a great movie for all
However, some truly felt it was a great movie for all.
‘Great movie for both fans and newcomers,’ one fan wrote.
‘I never played the video game, but as a movie I thought it was done very well,’ another added.
‘I think they did a great job explaining all the Lore, and still creating a new story for people who don’t follow the lore, it was really really welcoming for newcomers and it was really well done, and the fact that there was no CGI and real animatronics it made me so happy,’ a third expressed.
Social media users on X, formerly known as Twitter, also gave the film rave reviews.
‘I SAW THE FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S MOVIE I LOVED IT 10/10 OMG AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, ‘ one fan tweeted.
Another user wrote: ‘Just finished the fnaf movie and i have to say: DO NOT LET CRITICS DISSUADE YOU, IF YOU ARE AT ALL A FAN OF FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S YOU NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE (sic).’
‘That everything I could’ve asked for in a Five Nights at Freddy’s Movie. Easy 8/10, very cheesy,’ a third user commented honestly.
‘But that’s what makes fnaf, Fnaf. The story isn’t perfect, but it’s fun. Very faithful to the lore of the games. Scott, Blumhouse. You all did amazing.’