The movie adaptation of Five Nights at Freddy’s has been a resounding hit, but a different horror film used the video game franchise’s premise of evil animatronics two years ago. Five Nights at Freddy’s stars Josh Hutcherson as a security guard who takes the night shift at an abandoned family entertainment center called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, where he finds that the animatronic mascots come to life and kill people. The concept is essentially Night at the Museum at Chuck E. Cheese, with a lot more blood and violence than the Ben Stiller-starring family film.
When it hit theaters, Five Nights at Freddy’s was an instant blockbuster. It broke a few box office records and, while it was widely panned by critics, it was universally adored by fans of the games. These games have been crying out for a big-screen adaptation ever since they first debuted, but an official adaptation took so long to get off the ground that an unofficial adaptation stole its thunder in 2021. Two years before a proper Five Nights at Freddy’s movie came out, a Nicolas Cage vehicle borrowed its premise.
Willy’s Wonderland Used Five Nights At Freddy’s Premise 2 Years Ago
Two years before an official movie version of Five Nights at Freddy’s materialized, Willy’s Wonderland copied its premise. Cage stars as a lonely drifter who’s tricked into taking a janitorial position to clean up the eponymous family entertainment center, which has been abandoned. Throughout the night, he’s stalked by several murderous animatronic characters. Although the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was praised for its dark sense of humor and Cage’s intense performance – and its similarity to Five Nights at Freddy’s earned it a cult following.
The backstory of the murderous animatronic characters is slightly different in Willy’s Wonderland than in Five Nights at Freddy’s. In Five Nights at Freddy’s, the animatronics are supposedly possessed by the spirits of several dead children whose dismembered bodies were stuffed into the animatronic suits, and coming to life to kill people is an act of revenge. In Willy’s Wonderland, the animatronics are possessed by the souls of a cannibalistic killer and his seven psychotic disciples. In both cases, the animatronics are possessed by the vengeful souls of the dead, but they’re very different souls.
Why Willy’s Wonderland Did Animatronics Better Than Five Nights At Freddy’s
Willy’s Wonderland has much better animatronic action than Five Nights at Freddy’s, with more realistic movements. Willy’s Wonderland has twice as many animatronic villains as Five Nights at Freddy’s. In Five Nights at Freddy’s, Mike Schmidt is terrorized by four animatronic characters: Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy. In Willy’s Wonderland, Cage is terrorized by eight: Willy Weasel, Arty Alligator, Cammy Chameleon, Ozzie Ostrich, Knighty Knight, Tito Turtle, Gus Gorilla, and Siren Sara. Not only does Willy’s Wonderland have twice as many animatronic villains; it also puts more emphasis on the humor. Five Nights at Freddy’s is a straightforward supernatural horror film, but Willy’s Wonderland is a full-blown slapstick comedy.
Willy’s Wonderland
- Release Date
- February 12, 2021
- Cast
- Nicolas Cage
- Rating
- r
- Runtime
- 97minutes
