Sunday 10 October 2021

Castle Vanian Halloween Special: Top 5 Demonic Doll Movies

The interesting thing about tackling this list how many massive series there are in the category. You've got the Child's Play movies, the Puppet Masters, the Conjuring movies, and the Robert the Dolls. It isn't a huge category - not like, say, movies about witchcraft - but it is dominated by very large and well known series. 

Some were easy to dismiss. The Robert the Doll movies were... well, not that great. The Puppet Master movies could be hit and miss. When it came to the likes of The Conjuring and Child's Play, though... that was when it got hard to chose. 

Picking just one Child's Play movie was especially difficult. I can't think of a single movie in the franchise that wasn't worth watching. And, unusually (especially when it comes to horror,) the quality got better as the series went along. 

You'll find an entry from most of these series on this list (with an obvious exception) and a couple of standalone corkers. Check it out:

Top 5 Demonic Doll Movies

5. Puppet Master (1989)

Puppet Master centers around Andrew Toulon's living dolls as they do the bidding of a twisted psychic with a chip on his shoulder - until they don't. That's what I love about the puppets, they have a certain morality of their own. The movie never delves too deeply into any backstory but it offers cheeky, murderous dolls and a stuffed dog that comes back to life. That's worth a look, right?

For more, click here.

Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
4. Child's Play (1988)

The killer doll, Chucky in his first screen appearance. The Child's Play movies get slicker, and funnier, and nastier - but this is the first and will always be the one people remember. The thing that I love about the first Child's Play movie is that you've got the voodoo element, which explains how the doll becomes alive (but not how Chucky becomes an evil fucker - that comes later.)

For more, click here.

Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Magic (1978)

You can't go wrong with Anthony Hopkins, even when you're making a movie about a magician slowly losing his mind after his mentor dies. Magic works so well in part because Fats looks so much like Hopkins (enough so that when he borrowed the doll to get used to it, it unnerved Hopkins so much he threatened to throw it into a canyon) and partly because Hopkins took the time to learn ventriloquism, which rumor has it he can still do. The thing that really makes it, though, is that you never know whether Fats is possessed or whether Corky is out of his mind.

For more, click here.

Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. Annabelle:Creation (2017)

The Conjuring movies provide a consistently brilliant viewing experience and Annabelle: Creation is no exception. We already had our introduction to Annabelle in the original The Conjuring movie and her own movie so this was taking it a step further (or is that a step back?) Atmospheric and jumpy as hell, it's a sad, heart-breaking tale underscored by pure fright. 

For more, click here.

Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
1. Dead Silence (2007)

It doesn't matter how many times I watch this one, it always gets my heart racing. The dolls are frightful, the sets are beautifully crafted, and Mary Shaw is one of the scariest bitches I've ever seen. Considering how the movie starts and the constant scares, you might not believe me when I tell you that it's a slow burner but it is. It's so brilliantly done that you never see this one coming. 

For more, click here.

Wondra's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Jay's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I think this is the only time our ratings have ever been the same...

You know the drill: if you disagree, drop a comment below.

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