13 Cinematic Dolls As Creepy As M3GAN
Only time will tell if M3GAN becomes a horror classic, but in the currency of 2023, she’s already become something even better: a TikTok superstar.
M3GAN went viral a few months ago when Universal released a clip of her weird and daring dance straight from the depths of the uncanny valley. Immediately a style icon (and queer) was born. Reviews are shockingly good , but we’ll see if the overprotective animatronic companion can outdo his own viral success.
She definitely has some competition for being the most iconic creepy doll in movies. Scary movie dolls (usually, but not exclusively, possessed) date back to the silent film era, and Erich von Stroheim ‘s “Great Gabbo” car is a particularly early example of this form. However, this kind of failed, and the subgenre remained largely dormant until the 1940s, when it received another push in the arm thanks to the Talky Tina episode in The Twilight Zone . Since then, we’ve rarely been without a scary doll on screen, perhaps because the terrifying possibilities of a child’s toy turned into a ruthless killer are too delightful to pass up.