My review for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is going to be harsher than my feelings about the first movie, and here’s why: with an increased budget of $36 million—$16 million more than the original—this should have been a home run.
Let’s start with what worked. The male performances showed real improvement. Josh Hutcherson continues to prove he’s more than just the boy from District 12—his portrayal of Mike shows genuine depth and emotional range, grounding the supernatural chaos around him.
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The real treat, though? Watching Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich share screen time again. As a longtime Scream fan, seeing these two together nearly 30 years after they terrorized Neve Campbell in Woodsboro brought pure nostalgic joy. They haven’t lost an ounce of their chaotic energy, and honestly, their scenes were worth the price of admission alone. Lillard, who voices William Afton in the games, feels perfectly cast, and adding Ulrich to the mix was inspired.
Unfortunately, the female performances didn’t match the energy the guys brought to the screen. The characters felt underdeveloped and the performances reflected that, particularly with Vanessa. It’s disappointing because with better character development or casting choices, this could have been something special.
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Here’s my real frustration: where did that extra $16 million go? The animatronics weren’t noticeably improved, the sets looked similar to the first film, and the story didn’t warrant the increased investment. When you have the foundation of strong male leads and fan-favorite casting, you need to build on that, not let other elements drag the film down.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has some great moments—especially for Scream fans—but it doesn’t live up to its potential or justify its budget.
Grade: C
There are extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.
| Rated: | (PG-13) Violent Content | Terror | Some Language |
| Genres: | Horror, Thriller |
| USA release date: | 2025-12-03 |
| Movie length: | |
| Starring: | |
| Director: | Emma Tammi |
| Writer(s): | Scott Cawthon |
| Language: | en |
| Country: | US |
Plot
One year since the supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, the stories about what transpired there have been twisted into a campy local legend, inspiring the town’s first ever Fazfest. With the truth about what transpired kept from her, Abby sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, setting into motion a terrifying series of events that will reveal dark secrets about the true origin of Freddy’s, and unleash a long-forgotten horror hidden away for decades.
RunPee.com owes RunPee Sis a huge debt of gratitude. She sees any movie needed with no complaints and has done so for ten years (even basing Thanksgiving and Christmas family festivities around the seeing films). In 2015 Sis ran the entire RunPee enterprise herself, while RunPee Dan, Jilly and Mom went traipsing off to Europe. Sis is the spider in the web holding the RunPee family together — besides being a funny, well rounded person, and a joyous pleasure to be around. Her favorite films start and end with horror (which thank goodness she’s happy to see, since most of us don’t have the stomach for it) — but also likes silly comedies, sad dramas, and musicals of all types. If you’ve used a Peetime for a scary film, you probably have RunPee Sis to thank for it.
Favorite movie genre: Horror, horror, and more horror. The more disturbing, the better. Period.