Megan Hayes | News Editor
I, like many others, flocked to the theaters and was met with possibly the biggest crowd I had seen in years. The long awaited movie Five Nights at Freddy's, a culmination of a franchise many grew up with, finally hit the theaters on October 27th.
The franchise was first created in 2014 by Scott Cawthon, with the release of the first Five Nights at Freddy's game (also referred to as FNAF). The original game was pushed out for download on Windows, but quickly was made available for Apple and Android, as well as XBOX and Playstation following its popularity.
In the game, you play as a security guard, Mike Schmidt, who has to survive from 12AM to 6AM for five nights in an abandoned pizzeria. The only catch, though, is that there are giant haunted animatronics roaming the building, and you must keep them out of your office to survive. The game has a point-and-click design which requires the players to toggle two light switches and door locks, as well as a security camera interface. The player must maintain the electricity of their battery power until 6AM, or else the lights all go out, the doors unlock, and the player dies.
So, why is this such a big deal? After the original launch of the game, it gained popularity on youtube where some notable creators like Markiplier, CoryXKenshin, MatPat, and more posted playthroughs. This garnered the attention of their fanbases as well as other creators, and started a chain reaction of the game blowing up. At the time, the fanbase became extremely popular amongst younger people and was marketed into plushies, merch, fan-made games, and more. Several other games were created by Cawthon, which pushed the fanbase further into popularity. Some of the most notable are FNAF 2, FNAF 3, FNAF: Sister Location, and the newest game: Security Breach.
Now, back to the movie. Directed by Emma Tammi, it follows Mike Schmidt (played by Josh Hutcherson), and his younger sister, Abby (played by Piper Rubio). Mike is struggling to keep custody of his sister and ends up begrudgingly taking an overnight security job. At the dilapidated Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, Mike discovers that if he sleeps on the job, he has freakishly vivid dreams about his missing younger brother Garrett, who was kidnapped. Only later does Mike find out he finds such a strong connection to missing children in the building because the animatronics are inhabited by souls of lost children. Mike experiences a conflicting battle about his younger sister, Abby, and his long-lost brother, Garrett. Mike has to make decisions and fight back against the animatronics to protect his family.
This movie will be in theaters everywhere for the next two weeks, so make sure to see it! It is great for those that grew up watching and playing the Five Nights at Freddy's games, and have a nostalgic connection to the franchise.