This story contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Five Nights at Freddy’s.
A secret reference to Scream spotted in Five Nights at Freddy’s was noticed by horror movie fans, as many have been expressing their glee about the Easter egg on social media.
In the original Scream, Matthew Lillard played Stu Macher, an eccentric teenager who’s revealed to be one of the movie’s two killers. The character memorably wiped blood from his knife during a scene near the end in which he’s pursuing Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). In Five Nights at Freddy’s, Lillard’s character is revealed to be William Afton, a child murderer who wears a Springtrap animatronic suit while going on a rampage close to the end of the film. At one point, Lillard does the same blood-wiping maneuver that he’d done as Stu in Scream, and many fans have pointed this out on social media.
Before Lillard’s William Afton was left for dead in his animatronic suit, the character said, “I always come back,” a reference to the FNAF games. As Lillard previously revealed he’d signed on for three movies, he will most likely return in a potential sequel, so there’s a good chance that the actor is not finished playing the role just yet. As FNAF has been a tremendous success at the box office, a sequel is more than likely, though one hasn’t been officially announced just yet. In any case, director Emma Tammi has given high praise to Lillard’s return to horror.
“Matthew Lillard is an icon, and he stepped into this iconic role with both reverence for what he knew the fanbase would want to see and also a wild imagination for bringing this character to life in a way that has never been seen,” Tammi told Screen Rant. “That is a combination of the way he moves, the way he speaks. At times ad-libbing a line. This was before the strike, just to be clear, that was still allowed. He inhabited the role with such joy and menacing fear. And that’s the brilliant combination that he is capable of.”
Five Nights at Freddy’s Has Been a Smash Success
Tammi wrote the screenplay for Five Nights at Freddy’s, which has earned $217 million (and rising) against a $20 million budget, with Seth Cuddeback and original game creator Scott Cawthon. Along with Lillard as the villain, the movie also stars Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, and Mary Stuart Masterson. Taking direct inspiration from the popular video game series, the film follows security guard Mike (Hutcherson) as he accepts a job at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, unaware of its killer animatronics and their possible link to a traumatic event from his own past.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is playing in movie theaters and streaming on Peacock, while Scream can be found streaming on Max.
Source: TikTok, X
