We all heard the news that a famous game will be getting a movie, with YouTubers starring in it. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s the game Five Nights at Freddy’s, also known as the FNAF game. It was announced that the movie company “Blumhouse” would be making the movie, but there are hidden movies (movies that don’t make it to theaters nor streaming services, and are only available on digital) before FNAF that I recommend you watch if you’re gonna go see FNAF. These animatronic movies have a base similar to Five Nights at Freddy’s, where animatronics(robotic cartoon characters meant for entertainment centers) exist. These movies are not that great, but they are something to watch before this movie comes out, so that’s what I recommend. These 2 movies were inspired by a leak in 2015 that Blumhouse would be making the movie, but that was never fully confirmed.
The first movie inspired by the 2015 leak, that there was a chance for the FNAF movie, is called The Banana Splits Movie, released in 2019. Originally The Banana Splits Movie was inspired by the actual show called “The Banana Splits” which was first released on September 7, 1968. The show was owned by Hanna Barbera, who made Johnny Bravo, The Flintstones, and even Scooby-doo. Now Hanna Barbera went defunct in 2001, folding into Warner Bros. Originally Warner Bros wanted to make the FNAF movie, but then the rights got to Blumhouse instead. That didn’t stop Warner Bros, however. They connected with Blue Ribbon Content to make another animatronic movie. They based it on the show since the original animatronics from the show were already off-putting and weird. This movie, however, isn’t good mostly because the plot doesn’t seem to make sense.
The plot involves the show shutting down instantly and in real life, you do need to make a 2 week notice before canceling a show. If you are into animatronics or gore I do recommend this movie, if that’s your style, since there is so much of it for you to enjoy. The only big issue for this movie is just the plot, and since I’m not a gore fan I just felt uncomfortable watching this. I like horror movies, but mostly when it comes to Scarce or Slashers because it’s just more unreal than gory. This movie also didn’t do well financially either, since it ended on a cliffhanger. It was supposed to have a sequel, but sadly the sequel was canceled due to the movie not performing well at the box office.
The second movie is Willy’s Wonderland which is also taken as an homage to the popular game FNAF, which during this movie’s making we did get more information that the movie would come out. Now the creator of Willy’s Wonderland didn’t technically make this on the FNAF leaks he got it from a place called Boomtown Reno, and creepy shopping mall easter bunnies. This movie is sort of a horror movie. It does have kills, but also has action scenes in it since the main character is none other than Nicolas Cage! This plot however does make sense, unlike the Splits. Haunted animatronics need to feed off human kills, so the town folks decided to make a deal with Willy saying they would feed them outsiders if it meant the townspeople were safe. However, they meet a mute person who ends up doing the most unexpected thing most people in horror movies can’t do. I can’t say much, since I do encourage people to watch this. It is more action than horror and has way too many montages, but it is still considered a horror movie when it comes to some scenes. Even my cousin on Instagram @ange1_rodr1guez states that he would recommend the movie, especially saying that it has a very good and fast-moving plot. My cousin is also very picky about horror movies, so hearing him say “8.5/10, and I like how quiet the guy was makes him more serious throughout the movie” was a relief to hear that he enjoyed it too.
