10 Five Nights At Freddy’s Movie Scenes Ripped Straight From The Video Games

Five Nights at Freddy’s managed to stay incredibly faithful to the indie horror video game it was based off of, with a significant number of scenes seemingly ripped straight out of the source material. The original Five Nights At Freddy’s, made by Scott Cawthon, was an instant sensation, spawning a prolific series of games with ground-breaking mechanics, a terrifying atmosphere, and a deep labyrinth of cryptic lore to uncover one piece at a time. The film managed to pay homage to each of these aspects, lifting many visual elements and story beats straight from the first game.

While Five Nights at Freddy’s diverted from the game in a few key ways, the film managed to harness the success of the series’ fervent fandom and took in a whopping $297 million worldwide. Clearly, the filmmakers took genuine care to do the franchise justice, as evidenced by a key handful of scenes that were essentially big-budget re-creations of events from the Five Nights at Freddy’s games. Whether faithfully depicting in-game mechanics via action sequences or referencing critical aspects of the Five Nights at Freddy’s mythos with cheeky visual nods, the film certainly did its homework.

10
William Afton Stood In For Phone Guy

The first game’s call logs and flippant advice came back for the film

Every level in the original Five Nights at Freddy’s was punctuated by a voicemail message from a speaker simply referred to by fans as “Phone Guy,” who gave the player casual advice on surviving the horrors of the run-down restaurant with all the gravity of an office memo. The film had William Afton stand in for this character, as he gave the hapless Mike near-useless advice with a cheery smile. While the identity of Phone Guy was never confirmed in the games, it made sense to consolidate the cast of Five Nights at Freddy‘s by combining the two characters.

9
William Afton’s Death Was Nearly Identical

The first game wasn’t the only one to be directly referenced

The overarching villain of the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, William Afton is a despicable murderer who has died and come back a great many times. The film managed to re-create his first death with a scene that was nearly identical to the games, first depicted on-screen in Five Nights at Freddy’s 3. In an attempt to escape the souls of his child victims possessing the characters of Freddy’s Fazbear’s Pizza, Afton hid in the hollowed-out shell of an animatronic rabbit, only for the mechanical springlocks of the suit to wickedly snap into place and crush Afton’s organs.

8
The First Security Guard’s Death Was A Game-Over Screen

The movie opened with a death all-too-familiar to those who had played the game

Five Nights at Freddy’s wasted no time in explaining why working as a security guard at Freddy’s is so dangerous and opened with a brutal death scene in which Mike’s hapless predecessor was caught by the animatronics and violently stuffed into a mechanical suit. This death is evocative of the brief cutscene that plays upon being caught in the first game, in which Mike’s corpse is crammed into one of the claustrophobic suits. Since Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 will reintroduce Mike in all likelihood, it’s obvious why the film had to change who suffers this fate.

7
The Jumpscares Were Straight Out Of The Games

It wouldn’t be Five Nights at Freddy’s without some critical surprise attacks

Considering how famous the series became for its jumpscares, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie was surprisingly light on the classic horror technique. However, the film carefully picked its moments to finally unleash the blood-curdling frights on its audience, with Foxy and Chica’s cupcake (Affectionately referred to by fans as Carl) getting some of the most jarring scares. The movie also was sure to branch out with characters beyond the first game as well, with a figurine of Balloon Boy from Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doling out some classic jumpscares straight from the source material.

6
Mike Watching The Security Cams

The classic game mechanic got its dues on the big screen

The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie was sure to incorporate real mechanics from the game into some of its scenes. The best example of this was Mike’s first shift, in which he took stock of the pizzeria via the many security cameras set up in the office. In the Five Nights at Freddy’s game, keeping track of the animatronics via camera was one of the most critical mechanics to master, ensuring that no mascot could make it to the player. Hopefully, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 expands on cameras to pay homage to this signature trait of the series even more accurately.

5
Foxy’s Sprint From The Pirate Cove

The movie demonstrated why Foxy is the most terrifying animatronic

By far the most frightening of Five Nights at Freddy’s animatronics was Foxy, the decrepit fox puppet tucked away in the Pirate’s Cove section of the pizzeria. Extra aggressive compared to the others, Foxy was one of the most difficult enemies to keep tabs on in the first game, quickly sprinting down the hallway on all fours compared to the sporadic movement of the other animatronics. The movie was sure to include a scene of Foxy rapidly closing the gap on his victims at a similarly alarming pace, a nod to the character’s confrontational behavior in the game.

4
Golden Freddy’s Cameo Evokes The Game’s Easter Egg

The gilded version of Freddy is just as easy to miss as in the source material

The rarest animatronic to encounter in Five Nights at Freddy’s was Golden Freddy, originally referred to in the files as “Yellow Bear”. A run-down version of the regular Freddy Fazbear animatronic with a coat of gold paint, Golden Freddy was a mysterious force players could encounter, disrupting the security systems of the pizzeria while causing the cyrptic phrase “It’s me” to flash on the screen. Five Nights at Freddy’s movie referenced Golden Freddy with a brief Easter egg cameo, in which the entity briefly revealed himself to Abby in her and Mike’s childhood home.

3
The Opening Credits Referenced The Series’ Mini-Games

Right down to the vintage 80s pixel art

The majority of the lore in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series was disseminated to players through obscure Easter eggs and hidden clues. One of the most popular methods to do so was the small collection of pixelated mini-games players could access in between nights, evoking the feel of a run-down arcade game one might be able to play at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The film’s opening credits paid homage to these recognizable interludes by utilizing the same iconic pixel art characters, even teasing the events of the film to eagle-eyed viewers.

2
Freddy Bites Max In Half

The titular mascot’s jaw strength isn’t to be underestimated

One of the mini-games players could access in Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 depicted an incident in which Freddy viciously bit one of the patrons of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, resulting in one of the restaurant’s many casualties. Though it was initially mistaken to be the infamous “Bite of ’87” referenced in the first game, the incident went on to be known as an earlier tragedy, the “Bite of ’83.” The film was sure to replicate the imagery of this monumental story beat in the scene where Freddy bites Mike’s babysitter, Max, leaving a bloody mess behind.

1
The 6:00 AM Alarm

The film took the time to emphasize the importance of the hour

The most relieving sight to any Five Nights at Freddy’s player was the turning of the clock to 6:00 AM, marking the end of Mike’s shift and signifying that the player had survived another night. Sadly, neither the clocks’ signature chime nor the infamous Toreador March from the game made it into Five Nights at Freddy’s soundtrack, leaving some room for improvement for the sequel. However, Five Nights at Freddy’s was sure to present audiences with a few choice close-ups of Mike’s alarm clock changing to 6:00 AM, a direct nod to the games.