The movie transports audiences to a children’s entertainment center where two youngsters find themselves trapped as the establishment’s animatronic mascots come to life with murderous intent, driven by the spirits of deranged killers. Produced by Blumhouse, this film delivers a thrilling experience and achieved box office success, paving the way for a sequel set to release in 2025. While “Freddy’s” offers a unique premise, it joins a long list of horror films that blend chaotic humor with intense violence.

As anticipation builds for the upcoming sequel, fans of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” might be in search of similar films to enjoy in the meantime. Fortunately, there’s no lack of wildly imaginative horror movies that capture a comparable quirky essence. Here are ten standout titles, ranging from timeless classics to recent gems that may have flown under the radar.

The ’80s slasher era saw many iconic films, though not all weathered the storm of remakes well, with some reboots notoriously mishandling beloved killers. However, the 2019 remake of “Child’s Play” defied expectations, emerging as one of the standout horror remakes of the 2000s. It provides a perfect follow-up to “Five Nights at Freddy’s” with its adult-oriented technological chaos and chilling murder scenes.

Not many iconic ’80s slashers have survived the reboot craze, with some of the worst horror remakes becoming infamous for doing their classic killers dirty. But 2019’s “Child’s Play” bucked that trend, becoming one of the best horror remakes of the 2000s, and a great chaser if you’ve just watched “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” with its R-rated high-tech mayhem and terrifying murder sprees. 

Like the original 1988 film, the 2019 remake of “Child’s Play” centers on a child’s doll with a lust for blood, but reimagines just about everything else to make it something all its own. Rather than being a toy inhabited by the soul of a serial killer, this film’s demonic doll is an AI companion whose programming is sabotaged. Its rage is directed at those close to young Andy Barclay (Gabriel Bateman), who bonds with the doll before it begins its killing spree.

On paper, “Child’s Play” had everything going against it, as a reimagining of an iconic film for a modern audience. But like “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” it impresses with wildly creative bloodshed and a handful of solid performances from the likes of Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, and Mark Hamill — who voices Chucky himself. 

Born out of ’60s psychedelia, the 1968 variety kids series “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour” became well-known for its cast of quirky-named mascot characters and catchy songs. Imagine the musical zaniness of “Yo Gabba Gabba” with the kitschiness of “Chuck E. Cheese” and you have a good idea of what the show was like. But what the heck does this have to do with “Five Nights at Freddy’s?” Well, decades after the series ended, the property was reimagined as a horror film, “The Banana Splits Movie.”

Released in 2019, “The Banana Splits Movie” tells a borderline meta story where the “Banana Splits” TV series is airing in the modern day. The film stars Finlay Wojtak-Hissong as Harley Williams, a little boy who loves the show, and as a gift for his birthday, gets tickets to a live taping of an episode. Unbeknownst to them, the show was just canceled, and the animatronic characters overhear the grim news on the day of the taping. So when their programming promptly goes haywire, they embark on a vengeful killing spree across the studio.

Comically bloody, “The Banana Splits Movie” is definitely not for the original “Banana Splits” show demographic. Yet, despite the mash-up, it totally works thanks to some of sci-fi’s most evil robots, making it the perfect spiritual precursor to “Five Nights at Freddy’s.”

Movies like “Five Nights at Freddy’s” may seem like a more modern trend — tongue-in-cheek slashers where colorful children’s characters go on a bloody rampage — but they are older than you think. One of the best early examples is 1988’s “Killer Klowns from Outer Space.” It’s the brainchild of the Chiodo brothers, the FX wizards behind “Critters,” Weird Al Yankovic’s “UHF,” and “Team America: World Police.”

Like “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” centers on a group of bloodthirsty monsters who otherwise look like goofy cartoon characters. This time, the murderous monsters are, as the title suggests, aliens from beyond the moon, who arrive on Earth and descend upon a small town seeking food — using the people as their next meal.

Side-splittingly funny in a way few horror movies are, “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” became a bona fide cult classic among a certain subset of the horror fandom. Thankfully, with over-the-top humor becoming more commonplace in horror in recent years, the film has enjoyed a resurgence, with Amazon Studios embarking on a big-budget remake that might star Ryan Gosling. So if you want a head start, there is no better time to check it out, especially if you loved “Five Nights at Freddy’s.”

One-to-one comparisons with “Five Nights at Freddy’s” may be few and far between, but films with a similar sense of twisted humor aren’t as difficult to find. And few are as good as another Blumhouse release, the 2018 black comedy slasher “Happy Death Day.” The film’s screenplay was penned by comic book scribe Scott Lobdell, best known for his iconic ’90s “X-Men” run.

Rather than superheroes, though, “Happy Death Day” introduces college-aged troublemaker Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe), whose always out partying and getting into something unsavory. But one otherwise ordinary day, Tree is killed in cold blood by an unknown assailant, only to be alive and well the next morning — repeating the events of the previous day. Stuck in an unexplainable time loop, Tree relives her own murder over and over, while trying to find out who did it and how to stop him.

Though it doesn’t have any silly costumed characters, “Happy Death Day’s” black humor is similar to “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” It too has a sequel, “Happy Death Day 2U,” which further explores how Tree relived her murder when it happens to one of her college friends.

When the Nicolas Cage film “Willy’s Wonderland” released in early 2021, many thought it was a rip-off of the “Five Nights” concept. While the creators have denied this, claiming the script was written many years before, “Willy’s Wonderland” is an almost identical story, featuring a group of killer animatronic mascots at a children’s party venue. Original or rip-off, though, it doesn’t matter, because “Willy’s Wonderland” might be the better movie — largely thanks to the presence of star Nicolas Cage.

“Willy’s Wonderland” sees Cage as an unnamed drifter, who is offered a nighttime job at a family entertainment center. Little does the new janitor realize, the animatronic characters that inhabit the entertainment center aren’t just programmed to sing and dance, they’re actually alive – and aren’t as kind at night. Instead, they have homicidal intent, and got the janitor in their crosshairs.

Featuring one of Nicolas Cage’s most outlandish roles, “Willy’s Wonderland” proves that while the beleaguered actor, who seemingly signs on to just about any movie he’s offered, has better tastes in scripts than you might think. Though it may seem like a bad B-movie at first glance, it’s actually a great one, and ideal for fans of “Five Nights at Freddy’s.”

Make no mistake, “Army of Darkness” is very different from “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” Heck, it’s not even much like its predecessors, “Evil Dead” and “Evil Dead 2.” But similarly to “FNAF,” its story is both hysterically funny and brimming with blood, gore, and the supernatural. “Army of Darkness” sees Bruce Campbell return as Ash Williams, a monster-hunting madman with a chainsaw for a hand.

In the previous film, Ash battled a horde of unliving Deadites — demonic spirits that possess the living and turn them into crazed monsters — only to be transported back in time at the end of the story. Now, waking up in the Middle Ages, Ash — with a chainsaw and a shotgun — must battle even more Deadites, while allying himself with a wizard who he hopes will send him back home. To do so, he’ll have to find the infamous Book of the Dead — the Necronomicon — and kill a whole lot of Deadites along the way.

Not as violent as the first two entries, “Army of Darkness” has gotten some heat from diehard fans for embracing laughs over gore. But what it lacks in blood it more than makes up for in wackiness, a trademark of director Sam Raimi.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” features possessed children’s mascots, but what if there’s no spirit at all, and a toy just wants to kill for revenge? That situation is realized in the 2019 British horror comedy “Benny Loves You,” the feature debut of writer-director Karl Holt, who based “Benny” on his 2006 short film, “Eddie Loves You.” Holt pulls triple duty, also starring in the movie as Jack, a toy designer fed up with his mediocre life and seeks to reinvent himself.

When he makes the impulsive decision to toss all of his old toys in the garbage, one of his dolls isn’t very happy. Benny, a bright orange stuffed animal, feels betrayed and won’t go quietly. Benny decides to get even — by spilling copious amounts of blood. But with nobody believing Jack’s beloved toy is a bloodthirsty killer, Jack must try to control Benny himself.

The idea of a murderous doll is nothing new, but “Benny Loves You” is a fresh take on the sub-sub-genre of terrifying toys. Funnier than most, and just as gory, it’s a breath of fresh air that will leave you howling with laughter and terror.

Similarly to most killer toy movies, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” sees a young boy fight off a group of psychotic costumed mascots. “M3GAN” mixes those two ideas — with a lifelike, robotic companion that becomes a psychotic killer. The Blumhouse film was produced by James Wan, creator of franchises like “Saw” and “The Conjuring,” on top of superhero fare like “Aquaman.” 

While Wan had prior experience with killer dolls in the “Annabelle” films, “M3GAN” is a different beast. Rather than being haunted by a spirit — as in “Five Nights at Freddy’s” — the titular doll in “M3GAN” is possessed by a new, advanced artificial intelligence, similar to the “Child’s Play” remake. But here, it’s a prototype for a revolutionary new line of humanoid companions in the form of a young girl. M3GAN bonds with the recently orphaned Cady (Violet McGraw). But as their relationship develops, she becomes increasingly belligerent, targeting anyone she deems a harm to Cady — including her family and neighbors.

A stunning film that gives a chilling twist to an overdone idea, “M3GAN” was a huge hit and spawned a franchise, with a sequel that landed in 2025. There’s also an upcoming spin-off, “SOULM8TE,” which will blow everyone away in 2026.

If you want to see all that came before “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” there’s no better place to start than “Little Shop of Horrors.” Though a remake of sorts — based on the 1982 stage musical adaptation of the 1960 low-budget cult classic starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Roger Corman — the 1986 horror musical comedy takes it to another level. The film, directed by “Muppets” great Frank Oz, stars Rick Moranis, with appearances by ’80s comedy legends like John Candy, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, and Christopher Guest. 

Seymour Krelborn (Moranis) is a lovelorn flower shop employee with a crush on his demure co-worker Audrey (Ellen Greene). But when the business struggles, he finds he can attract more customers with an unusual plant he bought during a solar eclipse. Dubbed “Audrey II,” Seymour soon discovers that the bizarre plant feeds on blood, and Audrey II starts forcing Seymour to bring him human victims. Audrey II grows into a menacing monster that Seymour seems powerless to stop.

A laugh-a-minute comedy, “Little Shop of Horrors” is surprisingly family-friendly. Complete with a bevvy of comedy cameos and rousing musical numbers, it will almost certainly become a regular in your horror movie rotation.

While its predecessor released in October, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” has a December release, making it something of a holiday movie. And if you’re looking for a true Christmas movie that has the “FNAF” feel, the 2022 Shudder original “Christmas Bloody Christmas” is right up your alley. 

“Christmas Bloody Christmas” sees an experimental sentient AI originally intended for military operations be given a new purpose as a new AI toy of sorts. Dressed as Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick, the robot is reprogrammed and ordered to bring 12 nights of wonder to kids in town. Unfortunately, after its computer systems are corrupted, all this robot Santa brings is a yuletide massacre. On Christmas Eve, two music shop employees find themselves Santa’s latest targets after he escapes from a toy store and goes on a rampage.

Take the insanity of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” and pour in a healthy dollop of Christmas spirit (and maybe a little bit of rum-fueled Egg nog), and what you’ll get is “Christmas Bloody Christmas.” A crazed nightmare of a movie, it’s sure to get your bells jingling.