I’ll admit it. I’m about three months late to discussing Markiplier’s film “Iron Lung” (four in regards to “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2”). I’ve been fairly busy with my academic and social life, and I haven’t considered these films until recently. However, with my Intro to Film and Media Studies course drawing to a close, I have been thinking back to these movies and how the contrast between both films’ quality, especially regarding the horror element (both films are in the horror genre), could offer a lesson for students at the College of William and Mary, especially future filmmakers.
“Iron Lung” was directed and self-distributed by Mark Fischbach, aka Markiplier, a gaming YouTuber and filmmaker, and it is set in the aftermath of an event known as the “Quiet Rapture.” All the stars and habitable planets of the known universe disappear, leaving survivors to search for the remaining resources, such as, presumably, in the depths of a moon covered in human blood, which serves as the film’s setting.
“Iron Lung” is a surprisingly good film, featuring a strong element of horror. The film is specifically atmospheric in its plot, which, while certainly slow and limited due to its taking place in a single setting (a submarine in the ocean of blood), builds up throughout the film’s duration. Our protagonist Simon (played by Markiplier) feels increasingly isolated and despondent until the last third of the film, when the horror pays off in truly gory and horrifying ways. I won’t spoil the film for those who haven’t seen it, but I highly recommend watching the film once it becomes available on streaming services.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” was directed by Emma Tammi and based on the eponymous game series created by Scott Cawthon. While I feel that an explanation for the movie is less needed than for “Iron Lung” due to the popularity of the FNAF franchise, I will say that it involves the protagonists exploring an abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza restaurant while fending off possessed animatronics. While I feel that “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” addresses some problems from the previous film, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” from 2023, it also introduces a lot of problems of its own, such as liberties taken on the source material, generic dialogue and character development and an overall cheesy atmosphere for the entire film.
All of these converge onto the biggest problem of the film for me: the lack of actual horror. While “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” does feature bigger scares than the last film, it barely lives up to the games’ reputation as a horror franchise, with the cheesy atmosphere, in particular, undercutting what could have been terrifying moments. While the film could be enjoyed with company in a “so bad it’s good” vibe, I personally found it too cheesy to be enjoyable.
Ultimately, with me being more conscious about filmography and what it takes to have a clear cinematographic character, I’ve noted how “Iron Lung” has more of such a character than “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.” With its setting in a submarine and little beyond that besides flashbacks, Simon’s limitations in a fairly dark and rusting interior require more resourceful filmmaking.
This constraint highlights a level of attention to detail that is lacking, or at least not as apparent, in the Easter egg-laden spectacle that is “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” which mainly concerns itself with characters going place to place to prevent villain William Afton from killing innocent people with his animatronics. What I feel that future filmmakers, including students at the College, could take away from these films is to pay attention to the mise-en-scène, or elements of the film in each frame, and cinematography to determine what kind of character their films will have.
