This weekend I went back to the theater to watch a horror movie from my childhood, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.
Based on the popular children’s horror series, “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” this movie follows a merge of the games, novels, and its own storyline to tell the story of a murderous father and entrepreneur and the haunting sorrow of children who lost their lives too young.
The first movie introduced our protagonists: Mike Schmidt, his little sister Abby, and the main villain's daughter, Vanessa.
The trio learned the truth about the missing children’s incidents, the ghosts haunting the original Freddy, Bonnie, Foxy, and Chica crew. It killed William Afton/Springtrap in hopes of returning to a semi-normal life.
The sequel begins with Abby starting school and trying to make new, alive, friends, Mike finding his groove as her guardian and having processed the loss of his brother, and Vanessa trying to come to terms with the nightmares her father left behind.
While Mike is content to put Freddy’s and its horrors behind him, Abby wants to reunite with the ghost children she called friends, and William’s ghost stalks his daughter, reminding her of their permanent bond.
The story of Freddy’s has also become more popular, making it hard for the trio to move on.
Especially when Abby is lured back to the original location, with the promise of finding her friends in a new form who need her help, Abby sets the animatronics free in this new abandoned location with heartfelt intentions. Another dark secret of Vanessa’s resurfaces. Trust is torn apart between the trio as revenge and the threat of death now loom over the town.
Compared to the first film, the sequel is more action-packed, more violent, and overall more horror-oriented. The set and costume designs are phenomenal, and the movie sets the stage nicely for its third installment, hinted at by the after-credits scene. Overall, the movie was a funny, sometimes humorous watch.
For adults who grew up on the series, it’s full of cameos, nostalgic jokes, and other things to grab your attention. For youth obsessed with the series from the newer novels and games, it can be a fresh step into the earlier days of the franchise while offering a scary overtone appropriate for teenagers.
Overall, I’d give the film an eight out of ten, with the only limiting factors being it felt a bit too short, ended abruptly, and held slightly less story focus than the first film.