The first Five Night's at Freddy's (FNAF) movie was a smash hit, a Blumhouse film based on Scott Cawthon's genre-defining indie horror franchise about haunted animatronics at an 80s restaurant reminiscent of Chuck E. Cheese. Scott's growing narrative proved so successful not just because of the perfect atmosphere and jumpscares of the first game for YouTube playthroughs (such as those by jacksepticeye and DanTDM), but because he weaved so many Easter eggs into the second game, creating decades of lore and mysterious characters ripe for theorising. One group stood out for their continued support and interest in Scott's narrative web, building a relationship with the man behind it all who teased them through livestreams and interviews.
This was the UK-based 'Quad Squad', comprised of four friends known online now as 8-BitRyan, Baz, Dawko and Razzbowski. Each brought their own humour and specialties to their cover of the games as well as working together. And each received their own Easter eggs in the first FNAF movie, photographed as employees of the month. Scott invited them for a brief visit to New Orleans in 2023, giving them exclusive access to sets, animatronics and cast. Now the four have returned from a visit this month with fresh vlogs (linked throughout this article) documenting what they can share so far about the film FNAF 2, set for release December 5. Further videos from the four content creators will come closer to the film's release, but already they had a lot to say and share.
Everything we learned
"What we have seen is an actual masterpiece," said Razzbowski. "It was every FNAF fan's dreams come true." The group's visit coincided with the film's pick up shots, with filming concluding at the end of January. While the first film took up a single soundstage, FNAF 2 seemed to take up three/four soundstages, the whole building.
"Worth every single penny," said Baz about the film's higher budget. The Quad Squad were unable to share anything of their time in interior sets yet, other than the wonderful time they spent with Cawthon. "Scott has always been super generous and super kind to us and just very welcoming," Baz was adamant about his time on set. "It was unlike anything I've ever experienced." Their trip to New Orleans was longer this time, meaning the four creators had opportunity to leave the set and visit the specially constructed exteriors.
Their visit happened under the guise of night, all the better to see the lighting of the new location for this film, the constructed exterior for FNAF 2's older pizzeria, complete with a new sign colourfully depicting the second game's toy animatronics. "If I didn't actually go inside this and just viewed it from the outside, I would wholeheartedly believe that there was whole liveable space in here," said 8-BitRyan, but go inside they did.
Production Designer Marc Fisichella brought the squad into the hot set. They recorded their first whispered reactions to the dilapidated exterior, through the doors and into the realised entranceway, an interior structure matching the interior set. This was a major highlight for all four, as on the first movie, the exterior set was already built and torn down in the same day, before they could visit.
The next day they visited the exterior recreating the establishment from the first film, with added posters teasing some further FazFest lore. The green screen at the edges of the flat artificial wall, less deep than the front of the second pizzeria, reveal the extent of the location's extensions in post production.
FazFest seems to be some in-universe convention on October 12 celebrating the Fazbear franchise: "For the fans by the fans." Posters depict and mention the four main animatronics in toy form as well as mentioning a costume contest. This must be an event tying into the location of the second game, which featured not only new toy animatronics, but the remnants of previous mascots.
"The withers looked absolutely terrifying," said 8-BitRyan, referring to the withered animatronics, versions of the original suits missing parts to give them much more horrifying looks. The visitors were indeed treated to a look at, and potential interaction with, the wonderful suits created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. They even saw a scene with fan favourite Mangle, a cobbled-together animatronic exoskeleton, being filmed. "I was blown away by the craftsmanship that's gone into these... you can really see the love, passion and detail," Ryan continued. "There were so many surprises on the sets themselves."
"They are so accurate," said Dawko of the toy animatronics. He revealed how emotional he was to leave the filming this time. "It really hit me." FNAF 2 was the big break for his channel, the first to find some of the Easter eggs. Dawko has continued playing through the games as a beacon for the fan community, with many charity livestreams, cast interviews and collaborations of FNAF merchandise through his brand Hex.
"The crew, everybody there was so friendly, so nice, all working together. Just amazing people," Dawko continued. It seems it takes a village of kind creatives to make a horror film. Look forward to FNAF 2's release this December, and subscribe to the whole Quad Squad for more videos from these talented and dedicated creators, not just further behind the scenes, but their fantastic YouTube content from gameplay to reactions and analogue horror breakdowns.