The novelty has worn off a bit from the sheer insanity of Five Nights at Freddys actually being represented in a major way this year, and I can now admit that the house is kinda dumpy. Just not scary or very memorable outside of a few key moments. It wasn't a house I found myself running back to very often over the run, especially for the constant 90+ minute wait that it constantly attracts.
It's hard to describe how surreal those initial runthroughs were though. As someone who was into that first game the day Mark posted his very first lets play video, less than a week after the first games' release, it's absolutely crazy to see it take the same spot as Stranger Things, Halloween, The Weeknd at one of the biggest horror events around. The merch, promo material, the statue in the intro zone - I still don't think I'm fully over it honestly haha. This was a game made by a singular down-on-his-luck game developer, and now it's being put on the same level as IP as big as Friday the 13th. It's just really cool and gratifying to see this indie franchise grow to where it's at.
And given all of that, there are some admittedly killer highlights here. That grimy Fazbears Pizza facade into the Parlor show scene is one of the best things I've seen out of the event. The scale and authenticity to an actual Chucky Cheese or Showbiz Pizza is remarkable. Seeing life-sized, actual animatronics of Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica is so incredibly cool. The house generally hits all of the major beats I'd want it to, and thankfully avoids the pitfall of sticking too closely to the dreadfully dull source material film. No forest scenes here, thank god. We finally get to see Chica clanking around the kitchen. Springtrap looks great here and serves as a decent finale. The security booth is built in great detail with both side doors, the classic poster, an "IT'S ME" smudged on an old mirror, and my favorite part, Foxy singing his Dum-de-dum Pirate song down the hall. We even basically get a "Bite of '87" equivalent moment from the film through a shadow projection. Those moments are so much fun to experience as a long-time fan, and I appreciate that the budget was clearly here for this IP.
Unfortunately, that's kind of where the positives end. FNaF as an IP should lend itself almost perfectly to a Haunt format, as the series is built on terrific location, character, and prop design, building a unique sense of place; and anticipation leading into jumpscares. Those pillars fit neatly within the design of HHN houses. The issue stems from how exactly to portray the animatronics themselves, and the answer they came to unfortunately doesn't quite deliver that second quality. The animatronics are big puppets, since Freddy and the gang in-lore are simply too big to use scareactors for. The puppets are certainly accurate and look nice, but that's about all. They don't move great, look really bulky, and are visible almost constantly. There are a lot of hand scares and show scenes without any menace. There are essentially zero actual jumpscares in this HHN haunt. Obviously, a very big problem.
I don't know how they would fix that honestly. I would also worry about a Depths of Fear-type situation where the costumes are awful on the performers and the house is constantly empty because of it. But having actual costumes, even if it means removing the size of the characters, is a necessary element to actually portraying how the characters behave in-game. I would take a bit of scale-fudging for increased mobility and personality.
I was similarly disappointed with the Foxy hallway scene. The best case scenario amid everyone I've talked to about it was a bungee scare with Foxy leaping down the hallway, FNAF2-style. What we got was essentially a static figure slowing moving forward, and that's when the effect worked at all.
The other scares come from Ghost Kids and victims, which just don't really deliver. Inconsistent in their appearances, and just not very intense or energetic at all.
As mentioned earlier in the thread, there is also an unfortunate lack of sound effects from the games. That's really unfortunate, as FNaF1 has really incredible, eerie, and striking sound design! A lot of the SFX from that game has been incorporated into the larger internet zeitgeist, and for good reason, it's all pretty instantly recognizable as FNaF! I'm glad Foxy goes Dum-de-dum, but that's really about all that I caught.
In the end, it just isn't solid enough to justify the E-ticket house waits that it attracts. If I were to wait 120 minutes for Terrifier, I would recieve a house experience worth all 120 minutes. That is a proper E-ticket haunt. This just doesn't have the set design, length, or scares to truly hit that bar.
While we're still here, the Louie's takeover left something to be desired too. While I do really enjoy the off-model Cupcakes visually, and the staff uniforms are fun, it was missing any element to actually feel like dining at Freddy's. Namely, pizza! I get that it's based off the bit in the film, but it's crazy to me that pizza was off the table this year completely, and admittedly I ate at the event a lot less because of it. If it had the papers with kids art littered on the walls, 80s music playing over the speakers, actual pizza to eat, then I would have spent a lot more time in here. At best, it was a minor diversion, which for a major restaurant like Louie's for HHN isn't great. The profit margins on those cupcakes had to be insane though, so I wouldn't bet that Universal sees it the way I do haha. And honestly, that Eggs Benedict + Exotic Butters menu item justifies the whole thing. That's a really great bit. That's utilizing the IP to it's fullest.
It didn't quite live up, but I appreciate the greatness that is here. Those big moments still wow me like they did the first few times, and despite everything the IP's inclusion at the event has still satisfied me. The merch is great, and it's just really cool seeing the statue in Origins, the billboards, the poster on the arch, all of the fans dressing up across the event. And with the little Puppet tease at the end of this house, and how incredibly popular the house has been all season, I would not at all be surprised to see Five Night at Freddy's 2 come to the event in a year or two; which is legitimately mental to say out loud lmao. What a cool event. Hopefully some of those kinks can be significantly worked out by then.