Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Ladies and gentlemen, gamers and horror nerds alike, the Five Nights At Freddy’s movie is finally here—and as expected, franchise fans and horror diehards alike have all kinds of things to say about it.

FNAF fans have been waiting years for their beloved franchise to become a studio film, which finally came true when the movie debuted day-and-date on Peacock and in theaters on Friday, October 27. The thriller, which is based on a video game series by Scott Cawthon, took over the weekend box office despite being released on a streamer the same day. It garnered a $78 million domestic opening, plus another $52 million internationally—a whopping $130 million start and Blumhouse’s biggest opening for a film to date.

The Internet Loves the New FNAF Film

It will probably come as little to no surprise that the FNAF fans—of which there are so, so many—absolutely loved the film. Folks on X/Twitter went absolutely nuts for the film, with one fan declaring it “the best movie I’ve ever seen actually” and another calling it “perfect, I absolutely love every part of the movie.” A third fan gushed that the movie “is going to be my new comfort movie that I have on repeat.” Meanwhile, some of the older fans were excited about seeing the franchise finally make it to the silver screen. “The [FNAF] movie healed my inner child, 8-year-old me is absolutely bouncing off the walls [right now],” one X/Twitter user raved.

Fans seemed to be most excited about how much lore the movie was able to incorporate, as well as the Easter eggs and how it was, as a result, clearly made with them in mind. “I have been a FNAF fan since the first game came out and I have to say I loved the #FNAFMovie. So many Easter eggs and attention to detail and yet also easily readable for people who know nothing about FNAF,” one X/Twitter fan wrote. “I’m glad it’s not over the top gore so the younger fans can enjoy it too.”

“Five Nights At Freddy’s was more than I expected and that’s not a bad thing,” another fan wrote on the social platform. “I had high hopes for the movie and it was a thousand times better, the characters, their lore, references, humor. Simply a work of art and a love letter to fans.”

It seems as though that excited energy was present in the screenings folks went to as well as during the at-home viewings on Peacock. “From my [theater] experience, every time an animatronic would move/disappear the entire audience would GASP AND SCREAM IN SHOCK,” a viewer from X/Twitter revealed in a post.

Matthew Lillard’s Villain Exceeded Expectations

If there was one element of the film that stuck out for fans, though, it seemed to be the inclusion of William Afton as Spring Bonnie/Springtrap. “And the Oscar award for the best villain entrance goes to…” one fan wrote in all caps about Matthew Lilliard’s introduction as the franchise’s central antagonist. Another gushed, “Matthew Lillard absolutely devoured his role like wow.” One X/Twitter user was particularly pleased to hear that Afton’s signature line made it into the film: “‘Um it doesn’t make sense in context,’ ‘It doesn’t fit,’ ‘It’s random,’ SHUT UP HE SAID THE DAMN LINE!”

Lillard’s performance was getting praised up and down the internet, even for the most subtle choices he made as an actor, including “that unhinged look in his eyes. His smile never reached his eyes. It is threatening,” one X/Twitter fan wrote.

“Springtrap was easily my [favorite] part of the #FNAFMovie,” another excited X/Twitter viewer posted alongside images of the actor in costume. “Matthew Lillard’s performance was unhinged and fits perfectly with this character. The suit is absolutely perfect and [how the film builds] him up is perfect. Very excited to see him ‘come back’ in a sequel!”

Not All Fans Had a Great Time, Though

That said, not everyone was on board with the film adaptation of the beloved horror video game series. Here and there, some more negative assessments of the movie could be found on social media. “After having a day to marinate on it, the FNAF movie is good on the merits of it being a love letter to fans of the franchise, but similar to the very convoluted story that [is] in the games, the story is hard for average viewers to get with prior context,” a more critical fan mused on X/Twitter, while another went in on the horror elements. “To enjoy the #FNAFMovie you 100% need to be a fan of the game. It just simply wasn’t great horror,” the user explained. “It was lame. The Banana Splits movie and Willy’s Wonderland were both superior animatronic horror movies. By a wide margin!”

Some were a bit more wishy-washy, but generally positive about the whole thing—as was the overwhelming majority of the internet, surprisingly. Another viewer wrote: “The plot and lore is a little inaccurate when trying to understand it but it’s great [overall:] plot, characters, suspense, everything, has everything a [FNAF] fan could want!”

Overall, the response has been massive from FNAF fans, and it’s great to see them latch onto such a fun film. With an incredible opening weekend in the books, the movie can only go up from here—so here’s to a sequel, Fred-heads.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.