Five Nights at Freddy’s is a beloved video game created in 2014 by Scott Cawthon. Popular YouTubers at the time brought the game into the mainstream. This caused an uproar of positive feedback. The thrill and horror as well as the unique spin on horror games caused it to become very popular even today. Ever since the release, there have been 20 other video games and 48 books out with many more to come.

However, recently an exciting project came out called the FNAF movie. Many old and new players of the game were excited, expecting the horror to be dialed up to the top. Unfortunately, when the rating of the movie came out, calling the movie PG-13, many people were upset and disappointed that Scott dismissed the original aura of the movie to be child-friendly. Many old players complained that waiting 8+ years for a child-friendly movie was lame, and they started to say they weren’t going to watch it as a rebellion against Scott. But another side said it was a good call for Scott because it means people who don’t understand FNAF could watch the movie without being caught off guard as well as bringing fresh new people into the “fandom” from the movie.

Of course, I watched the movie, and I can agree that the excessive blood and gore was not needed. The child-like presence in the movie made the viewers understand that the animatronics aren’t meant to be killer machines and are in fact kids who got their lives cut too short and are being controlled by the person who killed them.

There is a scene in the movie of all the characters building a fort in the pizzeria and laying on the floor having a good time. But later in the movie, the animatronics show their true plan about wanting to have Abby (the young girl in the movie) all to themselves. They wanted to turn Abby into an animatronic just like them. They were going to stuff her into one of the suits. Now, thinking back to the fort scene it makes it much darker knowing their plan. They were having a good time, laughing, smiling and happy knowing that they were going to kill her right after. They were sure that she was going to be just like them. The evil intentions of their plan were to have Abby like them enough to follow them into a storage room where they, the animatronics, would stuff her into a suit and kill her.

Now knowing all this, it is safe to say that a horror movie does not need excessive blood and gore to be considered a good horror movie. The intentions and hints given to the viewer is enough to keep them scared and intrigued in the movie. This is why I believe the FNAF movie did a good job in keeping it child-friendly and having a deep horror part of it for the true fans of the franchise.