The eagerly awaited M3GAN hits theaters on January 6. When the overprotective creation starts to run amok and turn on the humans, the newest Blumhouse film about a young girl (Violet McGraw) who receives a lifelike, A.I. doll from her aunt (Allison Williams) appears to be a bonkers house of horrors.
It’s another in a long line of doll-related horror movies that have been released over the years, not just recently. When studios are using audiences as an easy target for their films, a toy that looks so human is inherently creepy. Here are the top scary doll movies to watch before M3GAN scares you again, ranging from black-and-white images to anthology portions to gory features.
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Annabelle: Creation (2017)
Thanks to the Annabelle doll’s debut in The Conjuring, another James Wan film, the doll has been a part of popular culture for many years. In 2014, the doll was turned into its own feature film, Annabelle, but it was a commercial flop that was perceived as being produced solely for financial gain, in the absence of a compelling plot. The surprise sequel from filmmaker David F. Sandberg gives viewers a compelling narrative to go along with the doll. As a result, Annabelle was transformed from a basic creepy-looking possessed doll into a terrifying object. Despite the fact that she doesn’t talk or move as Chucky does, Annabelle is the most well-known horror movie doll outside of Chucky. She has become such a recurring character in movies because of her appearance—a child’s doll that seems possessed just by looking at it—the mythology that has been built up around her, and the fact that she is based on a real doll that was owned by Ed and Lorraine Warren in real life.
Child’s Play (1988)
By far, the most well-known terrifying doll movie is this one. Even people who aren’t fans of horror are familiar with Chucky. After appearing in numerous movies over the course of more than thirty years, the murderous doll with the nasty tongue now gets his own television series, Chucky. Although he has evolved into a more comic and meta persona, he was initially nothing more than pure nightmare material. This film, which was directed by Tom Holland of Fright Night fame and stars Brad Dourif as the killer doll’s voice, is not only a creative concept but also an enjoyable ride thanks to a strong narrative and some excellent performance by young Alex Vincent. Thanks to Kevin Yagher’s extremely realistic robot work, Chucky’s appearance was really effective, which takes it over the top.
Dead of Night (1945)
This British horror anthology in black and white tells a number of stories, all of which center on a gathering of people in a cottage telling tall tales. The most entertaining section focuses on this, called “The Ventriloquist Dummy.” Maxwell Frere, played by Michael Redgrave, is a ventriloquist who thinks his dummy, Hugo, is alive. In this tense short film, where we watch Redgrave experience an emotional breakdown, he is outstanding. We ponder whether Maxwell is simply crazy the entire time or maybe, just maybe, the dummy really is alive. It’s genuinely unsettling to hear the dummy speak through the ventriloquist. You won’t soon forget how the movie ends, and Alfred Hitchcock apparently didn’t either because the shocking conclusion of his best-known film, Psycho, would be very similar.
Dead Silence (2007)
Following the huge success of Saw in 2004, James Wan made a second horror movie, this time co-writing the script with Leigh Whannell. Although it couldn’t match the anticipation for Wan’s last film, this one has gained cult status. Just before his tenure on True Blood, Ryan Kwaten plays Jamie Ashen, a character who is investigating the circumstances behind the death of his wife, who passed away after receiving a spooky Billy the ventriloquist dummy. It has to do with a ventriloquist by the name of Mary Shaw, whose body was converted into a doll after she was slain. Even if not everything makes sense, it is still regarded as a memorable thriller because it features a variety of bizarre-looking dolls and eerie and frightful visuals.
Dolls (1987)
This 80s horror film gained popularity purely because to its graphic poster, in which a doll is pictured holding its own removed eyes that are staring at us. “They walk. They converse. They murder,” reads the tagline. This movie, which Stuart Gordon directed, is about a group of people who seek refuge in a big house during a hurricane. It just so happens to be the residence of a doll maker who has a collection of haunted objects. The usage of stop-motion in this movie distinguishes it from earlier productions. A puppet in Trilogy of Terror has relatively little range of motion and expression. You can witness those dolls walk, converse, and, indeed, kill here. These dolls are as frightening as it gets, but its cheap budget and poor acting prevent it from being a classic.
Dolly Dearest (1991)
While there may be some truth to the claim that this is just another Child’s Play knockoff given that it isn’t the best in the killer doll genre, there is still a lot of fun to be had. The storyline is straightforward enough, with an evil soul that has been let out finding a home inside Dolly Dearest, a child’s doll. From a narrative standpoint, it’s not a particularly strong film, but the doll itself alone makes it one of the genre’s scariest offerings and deserving of inclusion on this list. She is undoubtedly scary, and even though the robotic work isn’t as good as Chucky’s, the fact that she is lifelike but off-balance is part of what makes it work. During the early 1990s, this movie undoubtedly gave many children nightmares.
Magic (1978)
Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margaret featured in this William Goldman adaptation, which was directed by Richard Attenborough and has Hopkins playing the role of Corky Withers, a ventriloquist. Withers achieves success thanks to Fats, his dummy. Fats gets envious when Ann-Margaret’s Peggy Ann Show appears as Corky’s potential love partner. We witness a mentally sick man who converses with his doll and converses back in his voice, similar to Dead of Night. Is the dummy alive? is a question that keeps coming up. We still have a fantastic character study regarding the onset of lunacy even without the dummy. A film that sticks with you long after it has ended is created by Fats and his very spooky design.
Puppet Master (1989)
The franchise has produced a whopping fifteen movies, but the first one had a very intriguing plot. Since then, the films have become outrageous and corny. Jewish puppeteer Andr Toulon (William Hickey) hides his works at a hotel in 1939 before taking his own life to evade the Nazis. Fifty years later, a troupe of magicians arrives at the hotel where Toulon’s creations have come to life and are out to kill under the command of a new master. The doll designs and their interactions in the film are its best feature. Here, we have a complete collection of dolls with radically varied designs, including Pinhead (no, not that Pinhead), Jester, Tunneler, and the knife-wielding Blade.
The Boy (2016)
The protagonist was Lauren Cohan of The Walking Dead fame as Greta Evans, a nanny recruited to look after the kid of a wealthy and senior couple. Their “son” is actually a child-sized porcelain doll with the name Brahms, which is the same name of their real son who passed away when he was still a child. This is the catch. A more subdued creepy doll is Brahms. Despite your anticipation, there are no sequences in which the doll comes to life and begins to walk, talk, and kill. The film’s unexpected twist comes in the form of the truth about Brahms, but even before that, the picture is frightful due to Brahms’ straightforward construction. He doesn’t have a deliberately eerie face or expression. He is so terrifying because of how innocent and helpless he appears, to the point where it appears as though he could blink or take a breath at any second.
Trilogy of Terror (1975)
Another anthology segment with a doll-related memorable story appears thirty years later. This time, there is no ambiguity regarding its veracity. This doll is extremely lifelike and hostile. The last tale, “Amelia,” is what has people talking about this made-for-TV ABC Movie of the Week. The titular woman, played by the late Karen Black, is remarkable since she is the only other human figure in the entire piece. It is a straightforward yet powerful one that is based on a story by Richard Matheson. Amelia purchases a miniature Zuni warrior doll that just so happens to contain the warrior’s soul. The doll follows Amelia around her residence for the duration of the program. This is an action-packed jewel that will make you shiver, from its horrific appearance to the sounds it emits.
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