Killer toys are fictional characters based on toys, dolls or puppets that come alive and commit violent or scary acts. Reasons for these actions have included possession by demons, devils, monsters, ghosts, supernatural creatures, dark magic, and malevolent or malfunctioning technology.
List of films The films that feature killer toys are listed as follows:
Film Year Rating (Rotten Tomatoes) Reference The Devil-Doll 1936 79% (19 reviews) Dead of Night 1945 93% (44 reviews) Attack of the Puppet People 1958 No score yet (1 review) The Curse of the Doll People 1961 No critic reviews yet Devil Doll 1964 33% (6 reviews) House of Evil 1968 No critic reviews yet Barbarella 1968 74% (46 reviews) A Reflection of Fear 1972 No critic reviews yet Asylum 1972 67% (12 reviews) From Beyond the Grave 1974 60% (5 reviews) Craze 1974 No score yet (2 reviews) Patayin Mo Sa Sindak Si Barbara 1974 Trilogy of Terror 1975 92% (12 reviews) Cathy's Curse 1977 No critic reviews yet The Wiz 1978 41% (34 reviews) Magic 1978 86% (21 reviews) Tourist Trap 1979 40% (5 reviews) The Pit 1981 No score yet (4 reviews) Poltergeist 1982 86% (63 reviews) Curtains 1983 57% (7 reviews) Xtro 1983 40% (10 reviews) Black Devil Doll From Hell 1984 No critic reviews yet The Devil's Gift 1984 No critic reviews yet Joey (a.k.a. Making Contact) 1985 No critic reviews yet Dolls 1987 60% (15 reviews) GhostHouse (a.k.a. La Casa 3) 1988 No score yet (1 review) Child's Play 1988 71% (48 reviews) Pin 1988 No critic reviews yet Puppet Master 1989 43% (7 reviews) Child's Play 2 1990 40% (15 reviews) Puppet Master II 1991 33% (6 reviews) Child's Play 3 1991 23% (13 reviews) Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge 1991 No score yet (3 reviews) Dolly Dearest 1991 No score yet (4 reviews) Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker 1991 No score yet (1 review) Dollman 1991 No score yet (4 reviews) Demonic Toys 1992 No score yet (4 reviews) Telotte, J.P. The Mouse Machine: Disney and Technology, p. 172 (2008) Curse, Death & Spirit (a.k.a. Honto ni atta kowai hanashi: Jushiryou) 1992 No critic reviews yet Dollman vs. Demonic Toys 1993 No score yet (3 reviews) Puppet Master 4 1993 0% (4 reviews) Puppet Master 5 1994 No score yet (2 reviews) The Fear 1995 No score yet (1 review) Tales from the Hood 1995 50% (20 reviews) Patayin sa Sindak Si Barbara 1995 Doll from Hell (a.k.a. Ikenie) 1996 No critic reviews yet Amityville Dollhouse 1996 No score yet (2 reviews) Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders 1996 No score yet (1 review) Pinocchio's Revenge 1996 No score yet (4 reviews) Trilogy of Terror II 1996 No critic reviews yet Shadow Zone: My Teacher Ate My Homework 1997 No score yet Quicksilver Highway 1997 No score yet (3 reviews) Curse of the Puppet Master 1998 No score yet (2 reviews) Small Soldiers 1998 48% (44 reviews) Bride of Chucky 1998 49% (39 reviews) The Fear: Resurrection 1999 No critic reviews yet Blood Dolls 1999 No score yet (1 review) Totem 1999 No critic reviews yet Retro Puppet Master 1999 No score yet (2 reviews) Ragdoll 1999 No critic reviews yet The Dummy 2000 No critic reviews yet May 2002 69% (68 reviews) Demon Island 2002 No score yet (1 review) Terror Toons 2002 No score yet (1 review) The Santa Clause 2 2002 Love Object 2003 40% (25 reviews) Puppet Master: The Legacy 2003 No score yet (1 review) Doll Master (a.k.a. Inhyeongsa) 2004 No critic reviews yet Seed of Chucky 2004 34% (77 reviews) Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys 2004 No score yet (1 review) Marronnier 2004 No score yet... (2 reviews) When Puppets and Dolls Attack! 2004 No critic reviews yet... Doll Graveyard 2005 No score yet... (3 reviews) Tiki 2006 No critic reviews yet... Dead Silence 2007 21% (76 reviews) Terror Toons 2: The Sick and Silly Show 2007 No critic reviews yet... Black Devil Doll 2007 No score yet... (3 reviews) Dangerous Worry Dolls 2008 No score yet... (1 review) Triloquist 2008 No score yet... (2 reviews) Puppet Show 2008 No critic reviews yet... Skull Heads 2009 No score yet... (2 reviews) The Hole 2009 81% (36 reviews) Demonic Toys 2 (a.k.a. Demonic Toys: Personal Demons) 2010 No score yet... (1 review) Puppet Master: Axis of Evil 2010 No score yet... (1 review) Shake, Rattle & Roll 12 (Segment: Mamanyiika) 2010 No critic reviews yet Puppet Master X: Axis Rising 2012 No score yet (1 review) Ooga Booga 2013 No score yet (2 reviews) The Conjuring 2013 86% (223 reviews) Curse of Chucky 2013 76% (21 reviews) Maria Leonora Teresa 2014 No critic reviews yet Finders Keepers 2014 No critic reviews yet Annabelle 2014 29% (134 reviews) Poltergeist 2015 30% (135 reviews) Goosebumps 2015 78% (164 reviews) Krampus 2015 67% (130 reviews) The Boy 2016 29% (63 reviews) Annabelle: Creation 2017 71% (189 reviews) The Toymaker 2017 Cult of Chucky 2017 79% (24 reviews) Tales from the Hood 2 2018 78% (9 reviews) Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween 2018 47% (95 reviews) Child's Play 2019 63% (205 reviews) Annabelle Comes Home 2019 65% (206 reviews) Benny Loves You 2019 79% (26 reviews) Brahms: The Boy II 2020 10% (58 reviews) The Curse of Humpty Dumpty 2021 Curse of Humpty Dumpty 2 2022 M3GAN 2022 93% (305 reviews) Imaginary 2024 24% (100 reviews) The Monkey 2025 M3GAN 2.0 2025 Pinocchio Unstrung 2026 SOULM8TE 2026
In television
Evil dolls are antagonists in episodes of The Twilight Zone, both the 1959–1964 series and the 2002 version: 1962: "The Dummy" (3.33) with a ventriloquist dummy that attempts to exact revenge when he is replaced 1963: "Living Doll" (5.6) features Talky Tina (voiced by June Foray), a doll belonging to the stepdaughter of Erich Streator (played by Telly Savalas) 1964: "Caesar and Me" (5.28) features a ventriloquist dummy that goads his owner into committing robberies and deserts him when the police come for him 2002: "The Collection" features a young girl's strange collection of dolls which were made from her past babysitters The theme of evil toys has also been used in Doctor Who episodes: 1966: "The Celestial Toymaker" 2011: "Night Terrors" 1986: Smurfs episode "Gargamel's Dummy," the series' antagonist Gargamel casts an evil spell on a ventriloquist's dummy Jokey Smurf had created for a talent show, hoping to use it to help him destroy the Smurf village and ultimately, the Smurfs. The dummy was a parody of Gargamel, and the real Gargamel, angered upon learning of it, casts the spell to begin exacting his revenge. 1992: The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror III", the segment "Clown Without Pity" features a Krusty doll that tries to kill Homer. The segment borrows elements from the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll", the Child's Play films, Gremlins, the 1975 TV film Trilogy of Terror segment "Amelia" about a killer Zuni fetish doll as well as its 1996 cinematic sequel Trilogy of Terror II segment "He Who Kills", which are both in turn adaptations of Richard Matheson's 1969 short story, "Prey". The segment also borrows elements from Cape Fear. In a different episode, "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner", a possessed killer doll named "Baby Button Eyes" appears in a horror film, The Re-Deadening (a parody of Dolly Dearest). The doll is most likely based on the real-life appearance of "Annabelle", a possessed Raggedy Ann doll. 1994: The Mega Man episode "Crime of the Century," Dr. Wily reprograms a bunch of dolls and other toys to perform robberies all over the city. However, it's all just a diversion so Wily can get his hands on something much more valuable: a giant black pearl. Rozen Maiden, anime about supernatural doll come to life with Rosa Mysticas. Ventriloquist dummies and dolls are also portrayed as evil in the works of R.L. Stine: 1994: The Goosebumps books and TV series had the "Night of the Living Dummy" stories which featured a sentient ventriloquist dummy named Slappy. 2010: R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour featured Lilly D. in the episodes "Really You" Pt. 1 and 2 and "The Return of Lilly D". 2014: R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour features another killer toy in the episode "Near Mint Condition", which centers around Mangler, a rare cybernetic teddy bear from an '80s cartoon that was withdrawn from the market for allegedly killing and maiming its owners. 2000: In the Sabrina: The Animated Series episode "Generation Hex", a rare collectible Billy-Go-Boom-Boom doll that the titular character purchases with extra fundraising money comes alive and takes her forty years into the future to warn her of the consequences of her selfishness. 2003: In the What's New, Scooby Doo? episode "Toy Scary Boo," the gang investigates a store with living toys that are taking it over. 2006: In The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius episode "Flippy", Jimmy puts a chip in a dummy to help his father's ventriloquism act, only for it to go awry and steal from Hugh's brain to make the dummy sentient while leaving him a mindless zombie. Later, Flippy almost kills Hugh by throwing him off a cliff in order to keep his energy and stay alive. 2013: In the Grojband episode "No Strings Attached," Trina Riffin suffers from pupaphobia after she had wicked visions of puppets when she was a child. 2015: In the first episode of Ash vs Evil Dead, "El Jefe", the demonic forces attack Ash Williams at the supermarket where he works by possessing a "Little Lori" doll. Chucky, an American horror television series about a serial killer-possessed doll committing murders, which is based on the Child's Play franchise
List of episodes The episodes that feature killer toys are listed as follows:
Series Episode Year Reference The Twilight Zone "The Dummy" 1962 The Twilight Zone "Living Doll" 1963 The Twilight Zone "Caesar and Me" 1964 Doctor Who "The Celestial Toymaker" 1966 Night Gallery "The Doll" 1971 Spectreman "Hit and Run" 1971 Ultraman Taro "The White Rabbit is a Bad Guy!" 1973 The Ghost Busters "The Dummy's Revenge" 1975 Ultraman 80 "Duel! 80 vs Seven" 1980 The Smurfs "Gargamel's Dummy" 1986 Friday the 13th: The Series "The Inheritance" 1987 Tales from the Crypt "Strung Along" 1992 The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror III" 1992 Sailor Moon S01E18: "Shingo’s Innocent Love! A Sorrowful French Doll" 1992 Mega Man "Crime of the Century" 1996 Goosebumps "Night of the Living Dummy II" 1996 Goosebumps "Night of the Living Dummy III: Part 1" 1997 Goosebumps "Night of the Living Dummy III: Part 2" 1997 Goosebumps "Bride of the Living Dummy" 1998 The X-Files "Chinga" 1998 Sabrina: The Animated Series "Generation Hex" 2000 Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction "Battered Doll/Poker Justice" 2002 What's New, Scooby-Doo? "Toy Scary Boo" 2003 The Twilight Zone "The Collection" 2003 The Simpsons "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" 2004 Totally Spies! "Toying Around" 2004 The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius "Flippy" 2006 Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King "Battleground" 2006 R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series "Really You: Part 1" 2010 R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series "Really You: Part 2" 2010 Doctor Who "Night Terrors" 2011 R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series "The Return of Lilly D" 2012 R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series "Near Mint Condition" 2014 Ash vs Evil Dead "El Jefe" 2015
List of comics The comics that feature killer toys are listed as follows:
"The Kid Gang" (May 17 - Sep 14, 1954), a series of Mickey Mouse comic strips with Bill Walsh as writer and Floyd Gottfredson as artist, the antagonist Big Ben (a gangster leader who misleads the children) abandons Mickey to the mercy of automatic killer toys and dummies.
See also Haunted doll Uncanny valley
References