‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’s First Reactions Are Sure to Disappoint Horror Fans

Horror sequel Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 opens nationwide in theaters on December 5, but the movie has now screened for a lucky few, and the first reactions have begun rolling in. Starting tomorrow, the movie will strive to capture the attention of horror fans, who were already responsible for the surprising success of the 2023 original. But judging from these first reactions popping up on social media, things may not be looking too good for the follow-up. Here’s an early roundup of the reviews on X:

User @the_Bradster007 offered a positive review, saying, “Tonight I got the chance to see Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 at an early screening! This was a solid sequel! It’s a lot scarier, more intense, and slightly more violent than the first film. The story is still kind of basic and not very crazy, but I had a lot of fun. 8/10.”

The @HollywoodHandle account states: “FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2 is overall terrible. A highly derivative, bland plot packed with awful dialogue and some really weak jumpscares (a few good ones too). Not much to look forward to.”

User @tylerllewtaing writes: “FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2 is only marginally better than the first but that amounts to little. The plot is incomprehensible, it treats the audience like they are dumb, it’s not scary, and I’m not sure what fans would even get out of this.”

What Are RT’s Critics Saying About ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’?

The cast of Blumhouse’s ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.’

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 belongs to a genre of films that aren’t often praised by critics. For starters, it’s a horror film and a sequel. It’s also a creature feature about animatronics going rogue that’s actually based on a video game. All elements that don’t exactly work in favor of a good critical reception.

The proof is in its 2023 predecessor, a film that still sits at 33% on the critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it’s quite obvious that Five Nights at Freddy’s is not aimed at critics. They’re certainly not the reason why it made almost $300 million at the box office, and the proof is the Rotten Tomatoes audience score, which currently sits at 86%.

With the sequel, the critics’ score will likely not improve, and though it’s too early to land an overall score, the reviews have also started to emerge. And they’re just as savage as some of the social media reactions. MovieWeb’s own Julian Roman warns that the “video game follow-up will have you laughing out loud for the wrong reasons.” Meanwhile, writing for Slashfilm, BJ Colangelo says, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 plays out like a movie written by Reddit fan theories that will only make sense to people who were forged in the discourse mines.”

Mike Massie for Gone With The Twins writes: “Perhaps most outrageous of all is the disinterest in telling a complete story; it’s downright shocking just how many conflicts are created and how few are resolved.” Finally, Zach Pope for Zach Pope Reviews does offer a rare positive review, saying, “Better than the original and fans of the games are going to scream at some of the surprises packed into this sequel. And while I had a blast with it for what it is and genuinely think it’s a great entry-level horror for kids the script… yeah, it’s rough.”

At the time of writing, the film still doesn’t have a Rotten Tomatoes score, as the reviews are still rolling in. However, if we were to judge by what’s been written so far, it does not look good for the sequel. Out of five reviews, four are “Rotten,” with just one being “Fresh.” We’ll see if things change in the coming days.