Five Nights at Freddy’s has returned for a sequel that’s earned a dramatically low Rotten Tomatoes score in first reviews. Emma Tammi is back in the director’s chair for the film, which sees The Hunger Games’ Josh Hutcherson reprise the role of Mike Schmidt, a former security guard who uncovers the terrifying animatronics mystery of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.
You star Elizabeth Lail is also back as police officer Vanessa Shelly, alongside Piper Rubio as Mike’s little sister, Abby.
Based on the video games series of the same name by Scott Cawthon, who also penned the first film and the sequel, the new adaptation sees Abby reconnect with her animatronics friends at Freddy’s a year after the events of the 2024 movie.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 also uncovers the origins of the deadly Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.
Matthew Lillard appears once again as William Afton, the serial killer behind the animatronics and Vanessa’s father.
Universal
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Joining the follow-up is also Skeet Ulrich in a Scream reunion with Lillard. Ulrich portrays Henry Emily, the father of one of Afton’s victims, Charlie. Cast is rounded out by Mckenna Grace and Teo Briones as paranormal activity hunters Lisa and Alex.
Much like Five Nights at Freddy’s, which has a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the sequel didn’t convince critics and mostly garnered negative reviews.
Branded an “an incoherent mess” that would have gone “straight to DVD” back in the heyday of physical media (via Associated Press), the new Five Nights has an even lower critics’ score than the first film.
Bloody Disgusting also didn’t rate the film, calling it “less of a movie and more a series of fan service moments, Easter eggs, and teases of the overarching game lore, held together by baffling plot choices”. Ouch.
“[Its] sole imperative appears to be boring its audience to death,” The Daily Beast noted, with The Guardian slamming Cawthon’s writing.
“Cawthon is singularly unqualified to write towards human experiences that aren’t marble-mouthed attempts at references,” they wrote.
With such scathing reviews, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the follow-up is currently sitting at a brutal 12% rating on the aggregator.
Universal
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The score may change as more reviews come in as the film hits cinemas today, though we wouldn’t hold our breath for a Certified Fresh badge for this one.
However, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has already proved a success among moviegoers, particularly horror fans, as was also the case for the first film.
An audience score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes confirmed that viewers enjoyed Tammi’s first movie. The new Five Nights has earned an even higher Popcornmeter score of 88% in just one day, with more than 500 verified audience reviews.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is in cinemas now.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.Â
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).Â