The Five Nights at Freddy's creator has been amazed by the movie's animatronics. Originally developed as a video game, Five Nights features a security guard desperately trying to survive as malicious animatronics try to butcher him. The franchise has been wildly successful and strong enough to produce numerous sequels, spin-offs, shorts, books, and comics. Its upcoming movie is the natural next step. While an early concern was the quality of the animatronics in the Five Nights at Freddy's movie, those concerns may have been assuaged.

While speaking with SFX Magazine (via The Direct), designer Robert Bennett described creator Scott Cawthon's reaction to the animatronic designs. Cawthon was happy with the designs, as they were exactly what he hoped to see. Check out his quote below:

"Scott Cawthon, when he came down, he was there about a week before we started filming, and he was so grateful: 'This is exactly what I wanted them to look like. This is what I imagined they would look like.' It’s Scott that you want to make happy, and I think the fact that he was so impressed with everything made the work worthwhile."

Five Nights At Freddy's Animatronics Are Key To The Movie's Success

Like other horror movies, Five Nights succeeds or fails based on the quality of its villains. Even if the writing was capable of producing the greatest horror movie of all time, if the animatronics fail to appear menacing, the movie's entire outlook will suffer. The movie's challenges are why several Five Nights at Freddy's attempts were cancelled, including Silver Eyes and Animatronic Armies. After all, they are meant to be the stars and the central conflict, even if Josh Hutcherson will portray the actual lead as the security guard.

The video games that the movie is based on helped to redefine the entire genre. Video game horror has long been related to slashers and zombie attacks, but Five Nights changed that scope by taking beloved childhood images and turning them into horrifying caricatures. The animatronics lend to the horror, as the faded look of Freddy Fazbear feels terrifying even before it launches at the player.

The cast of Five Nights' may be important, but they are not the source of the movie's marketing. Instead, the animatronics are the key to its success. If they looked goofy or ridiculous, it would be difficult to take the film seriously. With realistic-looking enemies and an eerie quality to everyone that Hutcherson will face, Five Nights at Freddy's has already succeeded at most of what it needs to accomplish.

Source: SFX Magazine (via The Direct)