The Five Nights at Freddy’s series isn’t Matthew Lillard’s only video game movie franchise. After years of scene-stealing performances in the likes of Hackers, it was the first entry in the Scream movie franchise that gave Lillard his breakthrough. The wild, manic energy he brought to the character of Stu became a cornerstone for many of his future roles.
In fact, most of Matthew Lillard’s movies featured him playing over the top characters, including She’s All That or Without a Paddle. There was also a run of Freddie Prinze Jr and Matthew Lillard films, including She’s All That and their live-action Scooby-Doo movies. Like with most working actors, Lillard’s career has had its peaks and valleys.
Thankfully, it feels like he’s more popular than ever. After impressing everyone with his dramatic supporting turn in Twin Peaks: The Return, Lillard has been working constantly, appearing in The Life of Chuck and the Five Nights at Freddy’s series. He’s also voiced Shaggy in countless Scooby-Doo offshoots.
Lillard has also popped up in a surprising number of video game adaptations. Given the critical history of that genre, it should come as little surprise that Lillard’s game movies are a mixed bag, quality wise.
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007)
Easily one of Jason Statham’s worst movies, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale came at an odd time in the action star’s career. He was still testing out different genres for himself, and on paper, a big budget, Lord of the Rings-style fantasy epic must have sounded like a safe bet.
After all, In the Name of the King also paired him with stars like the late, great Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Leelee Sobieski and more. However, the film was helmed by the infamous Uwe Boll, who was known for snapping up game properties like Alone in the Dark and churning out B-movie turkeys from them.
In the Name of the King isn’t Boll’s worst, but it’s also a turgid, chintzy fantasy “epic” where every single actor feels like they’re in a different film. Lillard’s intentionally hammy and smarmy villain turn at least gives the production some energy, but it can also be grating when the rest of the cast are playing things so deadpan.
Still, it at least looks like Lillard is having some fun. Given the cast and budget involved, In the Name of the King should be way more entertaining than it is. Even for hardcore devotees of Statham or Lillard, it’s a movie best skipped over.
Wing Commander (1999)
Wing Commander is a series of cult video games that began way back in the early 1990s. The overaching story involves mankind at war with a catlike alien species, and the games were known for their FMV sequences featuring the starry likes of Mark Hamill and Clive Owen. In 1999, the game’s creator Chris Roberts helmed the movie version.
In keeping with the games, the Wing Commander movie had a big cast, including Lillard, Prinze Jr, Saffron Burrows and the late, great David Warner. If it sounds like the film should have been a Top Gun in Space, it’s clear something went very wrong behind the scenes.
Wing Commander is a total mess where nothing really works. The special effects look terrible (even for the era), Prinze Jr is wooden as the square-jawed hero and Lillard’s usual shtick becomes very obnoxious. It looks and feels like an expensive Star Trek fan film, and it hasn’t got an original notion in its head.
Wing Commander was a total dud upon release, earning terrible reviews (it sits at 10% on Rotten Tomatoes) and soon fading into obscurity. Sadly, that’s exactly where it belongs.
Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)
Five Nights at Freddy’s adapts the wildly popular game series, which involves a security guard being stalked by murderous animatronics inside a closed-down restaurant. The original game turned jump scares into an artform, and soon spawned a mega franchise.
Naturally, talk soon turned to a movie adaptation, which took a surprisingly long time to arrive. Coming nearly a decade after the original game, 2023’s Five Nights at Freddy’s earned close to $300 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), becoming a smash hit in spite of universally terrible reviews.
For better or worse, the adaptation was something largely designed with fans in mind. It goes deep into the lore of the games, and the familiar cast of animatronic mascots are correct and present. That said, the film spinoff lacks the constant, nervous unease of the games, and the lack of gore makes the stalking scenes feel very toothless.
Josh Hutcherson also does his best to make a dull protagonist interesting. Needless to say, Matthew Lillard’s supporting turn as the boss of Hutcherson’s security guard is the highlight. He doesn’t get much screentime, but he’s a lot of fun when he appears – and the finale lets him get very hammy indeed.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2025)
The box office receipts for Five Nights at Freddy’s meant a sequel was inevitable, and fans didn’t have long to wait for it. The sequel is seen as a slight improvement on the 2023 original, though it grossed about a third less and had many of the same flaws.
Again, it feels like Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is mostly aimed at devotees of the games. The sequel has a couple of effectively staged jolts and the atmosphere is stronger, but it shovels a lot of exposition and backstory onto audiences that is a lot to take on for casual viewers.
It’s also just not that frightening; a pretty fatal flaw for any horror flick. It’s another situation where Lillard doesn’t appear in that many scenes, but he’s still considered the highlight. If anything, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 could have used more scenes with Lillard, who brings a real creepy energy to proceedings.
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021)
Matthew Lillard’s best video game adaptation is also something of a technicality. Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms follows the shockingly well-received animated gorefest Scorpion’s Revenge, and really digs into the mythology of the games as the battle for Earth Realm begins.
The balance of action and character that made Scorpion’s Revenge so good is lost in the sequel, but fans of animated bloodshed and deep dives into Mortal Kombat lore won’t be disappointed. Unfortunately, Lillard doesn’t get much to do in Battle of the Realms, as he only makes a cameo as Scooby-Doo’s Shaggy.
This sees Scorpion himself hopping around the WB Animation logo, before Shaggy grabs him and yells “Zoinks: Get over here, man!” before pulling him behind the logo. That’s it for Matthew Lillard’s involvement in Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms, but it’s still the most purely entertaining movie on the actor’s list of video game adaptations.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo
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- Created by
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Scott Cawthon
- First Film
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Five Nights at Freddy’s
- Character(s)
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Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie (FNAF), Chica (FNAF), Foxy (FNAF), Springtrap (FNAF), Balloon Boy (FNAF), Mike Schmidt
- Video Game(s)
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Five Nights at Freddy’s, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Five Nights at Freddy’s 3, Five Nights at Freddy’s 4, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a multimedia horror franchise created by Scott Cawthon that began with the first entry in the video game series, Five Nights at Freddy’s. The core story of the franchise focuses on a pizza franchise known as “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza,” a kid-friendly entertainment center with animatronic hosts. The stores are closed when the animatronics begin to go berserk, slaying some of their guests. However, for most entries, a security guard is tasked with observing them at night, completely unaware of the horrible history behind the mysterious, murderous robots.
