M3gan is the killer robot doll of your nightmares

What is it about a movie about a dead-eyed doll that just sends everyone into a terrified spin?

It’s never long between horror movies starring anthropomorphic killer dolls, and as technology advances in the real world, so it does too in slasher flicks.

Meet M3gan, the latest incarnation of a creepy toy that you just know will break out into a bloody rampage before the end credits roll.

And her dead, murderous eyes are so terrifying, folks on the internet are already in a tizzy just watching the trailer.

Megan the Robotic Doll is already a viral sensation following the new trailer for #M3GAN. pic.twitter.com/CRsaEm4o93

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 11, 2022

really makes you think #M3GANpic.twitter.com/yeXROu10a5

— Pat Mercabre 👻 (@Pat_Merc) October 12, 2022

Annabelle has 24 hours to respond to #M3GANpic.twitter.com/LaWy2Fah80

— Freida Slaves (@cxrodge) October 11, 2022

we're calling it early#M3GANpic.twitter.com/QHL57useix

— FANGORIA (@FANGORIA) October 14, 2022

everybody's tryna be me https://t.co/hFKPKY1AoF

— Chucky (@ChuckyIsReal) October 12, 2022

In the film, Allison Williams plays Gemma, a woman who assumed guardianship of her niece Katie (Violet McGraw) after the death of Katie’s parents.

Gemma is a roboticist and has been working on a prototype android designed to be a kid’s best friend and protector. Gemma “assigns” M3gan (model 3 generative android) to Katie and programs her to protect Katie from all physical and emotional harm.

Of course, as we all know, movie robots don’t really understand nuance and M3gan takes her mission too literally – and that includes any attempt to make her eat her vegetables.

The trailer reveals M3gan’s protective drive at full throttle, and when she turns deadly, she’s adept with sharp implements. Plus, she’s a little too lithe, whether that’s her unhinged dancing or speeding after a hapless victim like a wild animal.

CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS
Annabelle and Chucky found gagging#M3GANpic.twitter.com/jHoNNc8KcC

— mirko 🌸 (@crucifiedllove) October 11, 2022

There’s an impressive horror pedigree behind the film. Directed by Gerard Johnstone, the movie is produced by James Wan and Jason Blum, two very well-known names in horror circles.

Wan is behind the Saw, Insidious and Conjuring franchises (as well as Aquaman and Furious 7) while Blum has produced a legion of horror movies including Get Out, The Purge and Paranormal Activity.

And Williams, since the end of Girls, has started to carve out a mini scream queen persona after roles in Get Out and The Perfection. McGraw played the young Nell in The Haunting of Hill House.

Creepy. Picture: Universal

Horror movies love a killer doll trope. From Chucky to Annabelle, there’s something primal about a lifeless object gaining sentience that goes against everything that is right and good – and yes, there are plenty of creepy toys in Toy Story too, such as those ventriloquist dummies in the fourth movie.

M3gan seems destined to be mentioned in the same sentence as her infamous forebears.

M3gan is in cinemas on January 12.

Originally published as M3gan is the killer robot doll of your nightmares