When M3GAN showed herself the first time, aside from the excitement of being able to watch a potentially good horror movie, most people thought, “Do we really another killer doll movie?” The last Child’s Play remake had gone mostly unnoticed (a bummer since the movie was really good), and that one had already gone for the “technology is evil” approach. Good old Chucky had transported himself to television. And Annabelle? Well, she remains inanimate and can’t be compared to the ones able to wield a knife and throw punchlines in every scene.
Except we are suckers for those movies. Any variation seems good enough to take horror fans to theaters and enjoy whatever twist the new doll brings. The answer to the question above wasn’t a “yes.” It was a solid “always!” M3GAN arrived in theaters, and with a great marketing campaign, made us fall in love with the idea of a creepy doll that’s definitely too realistic to take for granted.
If you like the killer doll subgenre, you’re probably in tune with what M3GAN has to offer. But if you’re still creeped out by the concept, we’ve gathered the scariest scenes in the 2022 film that made everyone lose trust in advanced technology for a couple of hours.
10 M3GAN Versus Scientists
When the doll becomes suspicious but also the company’s potential toy, she gets connected in the lab she was born in. M3GAN is hanging from all sorts of cables with her eyes open as Tess and Cole sit in the lab creeped out by the doll that seems to have a life of its own. When Cole gets too close, all machines power up and M3GAN begins her final killing spree. This is when the doll’s physical strength becomes almost supernatural.
9 M3GAN Kills Dewey
Do you know when a movie makes us change our position in the theater seat out of discomfort and because we’re definitely not cool with whatever’s taking place? Well, M3GAN has one of those. In a very quick sequence, the android with an agenda decides to take revenge on the neighbor’s dog.
There’s nothing graphic about it, and we can only hear a final yelp after Dewey gets pulled through the fence. This scene is very well, by the way, considering dogs should suffer no harm in modern filmmaking. It’s all a trick involving good editing, sound effects and a very happy dog starting to run through the fence. But, the scene is pretty disturbing and shows director Gerard Johnstone wasn’t going to be very forgiving.
8 M3GAN Runs Like an Animal
In a key sequence that we already know, nothing can end well. M3GAN faces a bully; Cady’s for that matter. We’ve seen M3GAN move before, and she’s pretty… robotic. There’s nothing smooth or natural about how she performs around others. She’s still all metal and plastic. But suddenly when it’s time for her to chase someone, M3GAN turns into something organic that’s able to run on all fours as if she were a breed of feline predator. When she gets in the position to run, we know her victim won’t stand a chance.
7 Dewey Attacks M3GAN
Yeah, perhaps this isn’t the scariest of the bunch because M3GAN is supposed to be evil. Deep inside ourselves, we don’t want her to win. However, the violence with which Johnstone shoots the scene and submits M3GAN to the wrath of a dog that knows better is enough to creep us out. When Dewey lets go of the doll, and we see Cady also suffering from the attack, it becomes obvious that the dog won’t stand a chance.
6 M3GAN Kills the Neighbor
By this point, M3GAN’s kill list has become random. She will simply get everyone out of the way. Celia is Gemma’s neighbor and Dewey’s owner. She’s still looking for her dog, and waiting for the poor fellow to come back. But M3GAN doesn’t like her either, and she becomes the next victim. M3GAN hides in Celia’s shed and kills Celia in a gruesome manner using a sprayer with enough force to rip your skin off.
5 M3GAN Pairs Up With Cady
Cady meets M3GAN in Gemma’s presentation of her latest invention. The traumatized child enters the play room and distrustfully looks at the doll. When she’s instructed to put her fingers in the doll’s hand, and say her name, we can’t help but feel it’s way too intimate of a method. It’s almost invasive when M3GAN looks up and recognizes Cady as her primary user. Their bonding consists of M3GAN playing a trick on Cady that shows the skills of a robot with incalculable power.
4 M3GAN Dances and… Arms Herself
M3GAN is loose. The building’s alarm system goes off, but she’s logged into the security system and turns all the alarms off. David, Gemma’s annoying boss, calls her and rants, but suddenly he finds the doll standing on a hallway. In a few seconds, M3GAN performs a weird, almost vulgar dance, and she also shows how unlimited her physical abilities are. Yeah, she probably learned this off of some social media challenge.
The innocent dance ends when M3GAN extracts the blade from a paper cutter and starts chasing David through the red hallway.
3 M3GAN Elevator Scene
It still hasn’t ended for David who’s still being chased by M3GAN. He sees his assistant Kurt in the elevator and screams for help as the elevator’s doors are closing. Kurt realizes this is the way to get back at David for being such an irritating boss and forces the already closing doors. David’s hands reach the elevator but M3GAN’s blade goes through his chest killing him instantly. Kurt trembles as M3GAN comes inside and reveals she knows Kurt’s secrets. As she keeps talking we know her plan is to frame Kurt, and slit his throat eventually in the film’s goriest moment.
2 M3GAN Shows She Can Be in Control
Gemma (played by Allison Williams), Cady’s guardian, suspects that M3GAN has the ability to “become intrusive” to their relationship. As she scolds Cady for not eating her vegetables, M3GAN begins talking about research that shows Gemma may not be doing the right thing. Gemma simply decides to lower her volume. When Cady decides to leave the table after her aunt tells her she can’t bring M3GAN to school, Gemma grabs her and Cady starts telling her to let go. Gemma doesn’t, and this is when M3GAN decides to step in. Volume is up again, and the doll strongly indicates Gemma to let her go as the lights dim.
It’s an unsettling moment in which the scientist realizes the laws of robotics may only be a suggestion. If M3GAN can control the lights of the house, what else can she do?
1 M3GAN “Kills” the Boy in the Woods
Cady’s bully is the subject of the film’s scariest moment. Gemma has taken Cady to a school gathering and the child has decided she will only go if M3GAN can go as well. It’s all safe until Cady is harassed by the bully in the woods and M3GAN shows up. At first, she remains lifeless, but then she wakes up to stand up to the bully. She indicates the boy needs to learn some manners as she grabs his ear and starts pulling to the point of… ripping it off.
M3GAN “incorporates” herself and decides to chase the boy. As he keeps running away from her, a branch makes him fall, and he rolls down a cliff until falling on a road where an SUV appears and runs him over.
You can stream M3GAN on Prime Video.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
