* These creepy doll movies will keep you up at night
* Both classic horror flicks and independent thrillers
* Annabelle: Creation hits theaters August 11
Marketed as the next chapter in The Conjuring universe, the follow-up installment to 2014’s Annabelle brings us the highly anticipated and nightmare-inducing Annabelle: Creation.
Produced by horror master, James Wan and directed by David F. Sandberg (
), the new film opens in a small American town in the mid 1940s and shows us how Annabelle came into being. After the tragic death of their little girl (the titular Annabelle), a doll maker and his wife welcome a nun and six girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home. Things take a frightening turn when a demonic wooden doll soon takes on a life of its own and stalks the inhabitants of the house.
To celebrate the return of Annabelle, we’ve conjured up 9 best creepy doll movies guaranteed to haunt your dreams. And say hello to sleepless nights when Annabelle: Creation hits theaters on August 11.
1. Dolls
A group of unsuspecting travelers take refuge at a mansion during a storm and discover two magical toy makers and their haunted collection of murderous dolls.
2. Puppet Master
Alex Whittaker and three other gifted psychics are investigating rumors that the secret of life has been discovered by master puppeteer Andre Toulon. But the psychics discover Toulon’s secret of death comes in the form of five killer puppets, each one uniquely qualified for murder and mayhem. Note: this franchise would go on to include films starring Dollman and Demonic Toys as well.
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3. The Conjuring
Based on a true story, The Conjuring was the induction of one of the creepiest doll films of all time thanks to a possessed doll named Annabelle. The film teetered between the evil doll and a dark spirit terrorizing a family in which ghost hunters, Ed and Lorraine Warren are called upon to help with the spirit removal. The doll itself was seized and quarantined to a glass case where it sits in today (the real doll this movie was based on was a
doll).
4. Magic
Magic is a disturbing psychological thriller where failed magician Corky, a paranoid-schizophrenic (played by Hannibal Lecter himself, Anthony Hopkins), manifests his id through his dummy, Fats.
5. Trilogy of Terror
The third and final segment of this made-for-TV anthology film still haunts us to this day. It features iconic horror actress, Karen Black, who must fight to survive against a Zuni Fetish Doll possessed by the spirit of a tribal hunter named “He Who Kills.”
6. Poltergeist
They’re here. This classic horror movie offers a scare-a-thon worth of frights, but it’s the possessed clown doll in the film that’s responsible for many moviegoers’ sleepless nights. Word to the wise: don’t buy creepy clown dolls and leave them on a rocking chair facing your bed; you’re just asking for trouble.
7. Child’s Play
Chucky is hands down one of the most well-known horror icons. Child’s Play introduces Chucky, an innocent-looking doll inhabited by the soul of a serial killer, who becomes the ultimate killing machine culminating in a murderous slasher-style rampage.
8. Saw
Saw is seen as one the biggest horror series of this century. The Jigsaw Killer – played by Tobin Bell – is right up with Jason and Freddy when it comes to horror icons. But it’s the presence of Billy the Puppet that’s sure to keep you up at night. Although Bell spoke through him, it’s the doll’s ability to ride his own tricycle that ups the nope factor. (Amazon Prime members can watch the Saw movies for free. Get 30-days of Amazon Prime free right now to try it out).
9. Dolly Dearest
It’s time to play. An American family moves to Mexico to fabricate dolls, but little do they know their toy factory sits next to a Sanzian grave and the toys come into possession of an old, malicious spirit.