5 Movies Like Five Nights at Freddy's (That Are WAY More Horrifying)
Inspired by the extremely popular survival horror video game, the Five Nights at Freddy’s movies star Josh Hutcherson as troubled security guard Mike.
In the first movie, Mike begins working the night shift at the defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Initially, he believes his job is to stop trespassers. However, Mike soon discovers that the animatronic creatures that used to entertain the children can spring to life, and he must then find a way to stop them.
After the financial success of the first film came Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, continuing Mike’s battle against his animatronic foes, this time taking him to the original spot of the pizza chain. The sequel retraced a lot of the footsteps of the original, and was more bothered about setting up a third chapter, with the film seemingly ending before its final act had started. Although popular with a subset of fans, most were left yearning for something more akin to the creepy and unsettling nature of the video game.
So if you’ve been left wanting by the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, here is a round-up of similar movies, but way more horrifying.
After the incredible success of the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game, director Kevin Lewis was one of the first to adapt the idea from pixels to cinema with Willy’s Wonderland. Starring Nicolas Cage, Willy’s Wonderland finds Cage’s nameless janitor fighting demonic animatronics after being tricked into taking a job at a condemned arcade and family diner. Aspects of the plot of Willy’s Wonderland are so close to that of FNAF, it is a wonder that Lewis and writer G.O. Parsons were not hit with a lawsuit.
One point of significant difference between the two properties is that Cage’s janitorial hero does not speak. Given that the actor is known for his high-energy performances and tendency to shout, it is fascinating to see him rendered mute. An inability to speak does not, however, equal a tamed Cage, with the actor improvising a dance with a pinball machine that is worth the price of admission alone.
Released just a couple of years before Tim Curry traumatised children everywhere as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, Killer Klowns From Outer Space gave audiences a reason to fear the circus profession. Featuring an epic title track that will get trapped in your head, Killer Klowns… is set over one night as an alien species, who happen to look like clowns, invade a sleepy American town. Their reign of terror includes some horrific and ingenious methods of death, including candy floss cocoons, skin-melting cream pies, and a shadow puppet T-Rex.
By no means a film to be taken seriously, there does remain something very eerie about the four intergalactic Klowns. Each character looks suitably creepy, and their laser-focus on death and mayhem makes them a formidable foe you certainly wouldn’t want to cross paths with.
A key story point in FNAF is that Freddy and his animatronic companions befriend Mike’s younger sister, Abby. Completely won over by her new buddies, Mike must work extra hard to vanquish the clan of killers so he can save not only himself, but Abby too. Another film that tapped into the creepy toy trying to bring a child over to its side is Imaginary.
In Imaginary, children’s author Jessica is left looking after her new husband’s daughters, Taylor and Alice, after they move into her old family home. Shortly after moving in, youngest daughter Alice finds a teddy called Chauncey. At first, Alice and Chauncey’s relationship seems sweet and innocent, but Jessica soon realises that something isn’t right with the bear as it wants Alice all to itself.
Packed with jump scares, Imaginary would make a brilliant gateway horror film, and is a solid candidate for any upcoming slumber parties. For the more experienced horror fan, the film relies on a lot of familiar tropes, but its final act unfolds in another dimension where the production design is pretty disturbing.
Directed by Danishka Esterhazy, whose previous film, Level 16, is far more serious in tone, The Banana Splits Movie is a horror comedy full of insane carnage. For a generation of children, The Banana Splits provided Saturday morning entertainment on the variety show The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. Featuring characters Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper, and Snorky, the show also made a hit out of The Dickies’ song, ‘The Tra La La Song.’
Despite being a beloved children’s show, the more compelling way to translate the characters into a film was apparently to stick them inside a horror movie. Set in more modern times than the show’s original ‘70s run, The Banana Splits Movie follows a group of fans who are allowed to watch a new recording of Banana Splits. The time period update means that the former people in character suits have been replaced by animatronics, but this quickly becomes a problem as news of their imminent cancellation turns them all into homicidal maniacs.
Watching their favourite characters from their youth dismembering and burning people was a step too far for some of the show’s original audience. For those less attached, The Banana Splits Movie is bloody good fun.
When it comes to items meant to entertain children coming to life with murderous intent, Chucky is the grand master. Originally appearing in Child’s Play back in 1988, the doll possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray has featured in six sequels, a remake, a documentary, and three seasons of a television show. Although always the bad guy despite his Good Guy doll casing, Chucky has become a quippy horror icon, à la Freddy Krueger. As such, some of his fear factor has diminished, but a quick trip back to the original Child’s Play proves just how horrifying a Chucky movie can be.
Child’s Play begins with Ray being hunted down in a department store and shot at by police. As he lies dying, Ray, a keen student of the Occult, uses this knowledge to transport his soul into the body of a nearby Good Guy doll. Later, single mother Karen brings the doll home for her lonely son, Andy. Having been obsessed with the concept of a talking doll, Andy is delighted by his new friend. That is until he realises that his doll isn’t like the others…
Far from the more cartoonish era of Bride of Chucky, Child’s Play is inherently creepy, and gave an entire generation a fear of dolls. The scene in which Karen realises that the doll she has heard talking many times hasn’t had its batteries inserted is pure nightmare fuel, and never fails to bring forth goosebumps.
