Creepiest Movie Dolls

I can’t continue the theme of creepy dolls without talking about movie dolls. Some are supposedly based on a true story, some just came from a good imagination. Either way, I’m thrilled every time there’s a new doll movie to watch. Even if the movie itself isn’t especially scary – the dolls are always pretty damn creepy.

If you’ve ever lived in a house with dolls, you can relate. Seeing dolls in a store is not particularly creepy, but having one staring at you in your home can be quite unsettling! Although there is a large list of movies about creepy dolls and puppets, this is a list of the ones that I found especially evil:

• Fats (Magic 1978) – Fats is owned by magician turned ventriloquist Corky (played by the great Anthony Hopkins). Corky is trying to rekindle a relationship with an old flame and Fats is having none of it! He’s a nasty, foul-mouthed little guy. Fats controls Corky and eventually gets him to kill people. It’s a psychological thriller with a nice twist at the end. 

• Blade (Puppet Master 1989) – Puppetmaster Andre Toulon discovered the Egyptian secret of life and used it to bring his puppets to life. The Nazis found out and wanted it for themselves. He killed himself instead of giving it to them. But they were determined to find his secret…

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• Billy [and all the other puppets]  (Dead Silence 2007) – James Wan directed this. Apparently, he likes to name his puppets Billy!  Newlyweds Jamie and Lisa receive a package containing Billy the dummy. When Jamie gets home from picking up dinner, he finds Lisa murdered and missing her tongue. He’s the number one suspect, but he suspects the dummy. There’s an urban legend about a dead ventriloquist named Mary Shaw who possessed her doll and killed someone. Jamie starts trying to prove that it was Billy. Meanwhile, Detective Lipton is out to prove that Jamie did it. Take a look into Billy’s dead eyes and you’ll be creeped out too! 

• Dolly (Dolly Dearest 1991 ) – There’s something about Dolly’s face that’s a little extra creepy to me. Elliott Read moves his family to Mexico and reopens an old doll factory. There’s only one doll sitting in the abandoned factory and he gives it to his daughter Jessica.  What they don’t know is that Dolly is possessed by an evil spirit that was accidentally unleashed by an archeologist. Dolly is slowly taking over Jessica. 

• Brahms (The Boy 2016) – Lauren Cohan plays Greta, an American nanny hired to work for a British family.  It turns out that she’s babysitting a doll that’s made to look like their dead son. She’s given a ton of rules for taking care of him which she doesn’t follow (I don’t blame her…it’s a doll!). Brahms is not pleased! He creeps me out because he reminds me of the porcelain dolls that my grandmother used to own.

• The Clown (Poltergeist 1982) –  Why, why, why, and why???  That doll is creepy AF! You know I have a thing about clowns https://scarymatter.com/2021/06/08/i-hate-clowns/ and this one is no exception. No parent that loves their child should buy them a clown that looks like that. And why is it sitting at the foot of his bed??? That’s basically an invitation to murder the poor kid.

I have to mention a couple of segments from some anthologies too. They’ve got quite a few creepy-ass dolls to contribute to your nightmares:

• Dead of Night (1945)- The segment “The Ventriloquist’s Dummy” introduces us to Hugo. It seems like ventriloquist Michael Frere’s life is being controlled by his dummy, Hugo. And he is not a nice dummy. He’s mean, he bites and drives Frere to violence.  And he’s creepy AF.

• Trilogy of Terror (1975) – In a segment titled “Amelia”- Amelia is terrorized by a Zuni fetish doll. Why she bought a doll with those teeth carrying a spear is anyone’s guess. Too bad she didn’t see the warning it came with. It’s possessed by a warrior called “He Who Kills”. A chain that it came with fell off, and it seems that it was holding the spirit at bay.

• Tales from the Hood (1995) – In the segment KKK Comeuppance, former KKK member (but still a racist) Duke Metzenger buys an old Southern plantation. The original owner had his slave killed and buried on the property.  Their spirits are now inhabiting voodoo dolls that were hidden in the mansion. These creepy dolls are angry and do not want Mr. Metzenger in their house. You can guess what happens next.

And yes – I did leave off the obvious ones like Chucky and Annabelle. I think everyone is pretty used to them by now. If you love a creepy doll movie as much as we do, I hope you found something here that you haven’t seen yet. And if you do, let us know after you watch them…we’d love to hear about your nightmares!