13 Uncanny Valley Horror Movies To Make Your Skin Crawl
Uncanny valley horror movies have the power to take the mundane and make it terrifying. "Uncanny valley" is a term coined by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970. "I have noticed that, in climbing toward the goal of making robots appear human, our affinity for them increases until we come to a valley, which I call the uncanny valley," he explained. Basically, that means that the human brain feels positively toward non-human entities, but only to a certain point. Once it gets too close to being like a human, the human brain can't help but find every imperfection.
For example, the titular robot in M3GAN sort of looks like a little girl, but if you examine more closely, the slight differences are unsettling, and even scary. The way Sadako moves in Ring - the Japanese film that inspired the 2002 American hit The Ring - is another famous example of "uncanny valley." They actually filmed the actress who played Sadako walking backwards, and then reversed it for the final cut, so that there would be something off and otherworldly about her movements. Us, Halloween, Annabelle, and It Follows are other examples of horror films in which scares are derived by making a person look less like a human being, or a non-human entity look more human.
1. Ring (1998)
Hideo Nakata's Ring is horrifying for a number of reasons, one of them being the uncanny way Sadako (Rie Ino'o) moves. The actress who played the evil spirit studied Kabuki theater, which uses exaggerated motion to emphasize emotion. She pulled from that experience, but there was another trick to really capitalize on the uncanny valley nature of it all. Ino'o was filmed walking backwards, and then that footage was reversed so that Sadako's forward-walking movements came across as unnatural and deeply unsettling.
2. Us (2019)
In Jordan Peele's Us, "the Tethered" are spooky doppelgängers from underground who share souls with their identical counterparts above ground. Most of "the Tethered" cannot speak, and the one who can speak, Red (Lupita Nyong'o), does so in a raspy, gutteral voice. All of "the Tethered" just scream uncanny valley, as they look like their above-ground counterparts - like the Wilson family - but move in an animalistic way, and only have the most sinister intentions.
3. Mama (2013)
Mama, directed by Andy Muschietti, invokes uncanny valley with children who crawl like animals, and a troubled ghost who behaves somewhat like a human. It follows two young girls who were taken care of by a supernatural entity after being abandoned in a cabin in the woods. When their uncle (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain) take them in, the ghostly presence follows, chasing after the children. The movements of both the children and the ghost are deeply unsettling.
4. Halloween (1978)
Michael Myers (Nick Castle) from Halloween (1978) is the embodiment of uncanny valley, because his story begins when he kills his sister at just six years old. You know he is supposed to be human, because you've seen his origin story. However, the eerily slow way he walks - while still being able to catch up with young people who are running - makes him seem inhuman, as does the fact that he seems to be able to survive anything. The cherry on top is that Michael never speaks. He never even has any facial reactions, because his face is always covered with that spooky mask.
5. Smile (2022)
Smile follows psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), who begins seeing uncanny entities after a traumatic incident with a patient. Smile is all about the uncanny valley theory. The entity threatening Rose is so terrifying because it takes the shape of people she knows, like her psychiatrist, or her late mother. They look like normal people, aside from an eerie smile that stretches a bit too far across their faces. The movie's marketing campaign really played up the uncanny valley... to much success.
6. Annabelle (2014)
Annabelle, of The Conjuring franchise, is a creepy doll supposedly inhabited by the spirit of a little girl. She does little girl things, like leaving notes written in crayon, and playing games. However, the efforts to make Annabelle, a porcelain doll, look as real as possible actually end up making her all the more disturbing, thanks to the uncanny valley theory. She would be creepy to look at even if she weren't possessed by some sort of demon who wants to steal souls - so adding that, plus the cult connections, and Annabelle is a monster fit for her own franchise of films.
7. Mulholland Drive (2001)
David Lynch is a master of the uncanny, and he definitely puts those skills to use in 2001's Mulholland Drive. He lulls viewers into a sense of security with somewhat bland or awkward dialogue, before dropping a horrifying speech to freak out the audience. One example is when Dan (Patrick Fischler) suddenly goes into a speech about his nightmares, and the scene ends with a jump scare. With Lynch and his surrealistic approach, you're often questioning, is this scene really happening - or is this some weird dream?
8. It Chapter Two (2019)
Clowns are another prime example of uncanny valley. Their costumes typically exaggerate human features, like hands, feet, noses, etc. Stephen King, who wrote It, explained the fear, saying, "I chose Pennywise the Clown… because kids love clowns, but they also fear them; clowns with their white faces and red lips are so different and so grotesque compared to ‘normal’ people." A scene with an old woman who is not what she seems and Beverly Marsh (Jessica Chastain) in It: Chapter Two makes it clear why uncanny valley is so unsettling.
9. M3GAN (2022)
In the movie M3GAN, the titular character is a "Model 3 Generative Android," and basically the poster child for this theory. M3GAN (played by Amie Donald) is a robot companion who has been made to look as human-like as possible, landing her squarely in the uncanny valley. With just a quick look, it's plausible you would think she was just another little girl. However, anything longer than a cursory glance, and your brain immediately begins to spot the imperfections. The inhuman flaws are particularly noticeable when M3GAN sings, and, of course, when she runs on all fours.
10. Silent Hill (2006)
There is a lot of twisting reality into the macabre in Silent Hill, a movie adaptation of the popular horror video game. The first thing that comes to mind are the nurses. Director Christophe Gans actually hired a contortionist to perfect the unnerving way the nurses move. They look like human figures, but their blank faces, and the way that they move confuses the brain. Pyramid Head is another great example of a character in which human and non-human attributes combine to send chills down the spine.
11. The Nun (2018)
Another example from The Conjuring universe, The Nun heavily uses uncanny valley to freak audiences out. Valak (Bonnie Aarons), the demon in The Nun, looks just like a regular nun, with the habit, and all of the appropriate attire. However, her yellow eyes and sharp, pointed teeth are a giveaway that she is not to be trusted. The slight differences cause our human brains to be confused, and then terrified - with good reason.
12. It Follows (2014)
In It Follows, like in Smile, the uncanny valley effect is used by taking what looks to be a normal human being and twisting them into something strange and unsettling. The antagonist in It Follows could look like a stranger, a friend, or even Jay's (Maika Monroe) own mother. There's nothing about them physically that separates them from any other human. However, the vacant look in their eyes, and the strange, slow, shuffling way that they move is enough to make your hairs stand on end.
13. Ex Machina (2014)
Seeing as Ex Machina is literally about giving humanoid robots the Turing test - which is the test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior like a human - it fits right in with the uncanny valley theory. Ex Machina is more of a psychological thriller than a straight horror, but it's hard to make a list of uncanny valley movies and not include one of the best examples of it. Alex Garland's directorial debut even won an Academy Award in 2016 for best visual effects.
This was originally published on Ranker.com.
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