PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Other than driving (and monkeys, to a lesser extent), my biggest fear in the world is robots. I’ve always been terrified of robots for some unknown reason, and I have this irrational fear about them taking over the world one day and wiping out the entire human race as we know it. There are several movies about killer robots, so I decided to put together a list of the scariest movie robots (in my humble opinion, anyway).
10. Maximillian – The Black Hole (1979)
While this movie is more science fiction than horror, the villainous robot named Maximillian that appears in it is scary as hell in my opinion. Not only is he just intimidating-looking in general, but he is also totally and completely evil and doesn’t have a problem with slicing and dicing anyone that gets in his way. The scene where he takes out Anthony Perkins’ character with his spinning blade freaked me out when I first saw it when I was a kid as it was totally unexpected, and as a result this is definitely not a robot that I would like to come across in a dark alley one night.
9. Unicron – Transformers: The Movie (1986)
I was a huge fan of The Transformers growing up (and still am, to be honest), so my twelve-year-old self was very excited to see the movie when I first saw the trailer one day. My mom took me to see it the day before 7th grade started, and that opening scene where Unicron shows up and eats an entire planet scared the living daylights out of me as I wasn’t expecting it. The movie itself is darker than night as many beloved characters are violently killed in it, but that opening scene with Unicron is just brutal and beyond terrifying for a movie that is supposed to be for kids.
After I saw it, I used to worry that Unicron was going to show up one day and eat Earth and there would be nothing anyone could do about it. The Transformers has its share of scary robots (if you don’t believe me just read the IDW comics and check out Overlord, who is pure nightmare fuel), but Unicron is the scariest of the scary in my opinion and is basically the Devil in the universe of The Transformers.
8. Chica – Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)
I love the FNAF games and think that all the animatronics that appear in the series are frightening, but Chica has always creeped me out the most. There is just something about her that is unsettling in general, and as such I would have to say that she is the scariest of all the FNAF killer robots. I wasn’t too big on the film adaptation as I felt like it was a missed opportunity that could have been amazing, but at the same time I still thought that Chica was just as creepy here as she is in the games.
I dug the bit with her taking out people with her robotic cupcake pal, and really hope that she-and all the other robots-are a lot more hardcore and brutal in the future movie installments. She is totally terrifying in the FNAF games that she appears in, so I know that she has the potential to be just as horrifying on the big screen as well.
7. The T-1000 – Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
I remember seeing the trailer for this movie back in the summer of 1991 and was a little disappointed that the big villain of the movie was going to be played by a scrawny, less than intimidating guy. I was hoping we would see Arnie battle it out with a big muscle-bound guy much like himself and thought that there would be no way that the guy that they chose would be any sort of match for the Terminator. Boy, was I wrong.
Robert Patrick ended up doing an awesome job, and his creepy performance turned out to be amazing. He is legit scary as the T-1000, and he does a wonderful job all around when it comes to making the character terrifying. The bit where he kills John Connor’s foster dad never ceases to freak me out, and without a doubt this robot is one scary guy that I wouldn’t want to stalk me. I can’t believe that I ever thought for a moment that he wasn’t intimidating, as he turns out to be one of the scariest characters from the entire movie franchise.
6. The Santa Robot – Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022)
I thought that this movie was totally underrated and that it was a fun movie in general. The main antagonist-which is a Santa Claus robot-is the thing of nightmares and is as creepy as they come. He’s like a Terminator in a Santa suit as he is almost unstoppable, and the fact that he just goes around brutally murdering people without the slightest bit of emotion makes him especially unsettling. Seeing him walk around belting out “Ho Ho Ho!” in that scary voice as he is slaughtering people creeped me out a lot more than I ever thought that it would, and I for one wouldn’t mind seeing him in a sequel.
What makes him even more terrifying is that he really has no motive and has absolutely no qualms about who he kills, making him the perfect killing machine. This is one Santa I don’t want to come down my chimney on Christmas Eve (or any time, for that matter).
5. Vera – Superman III (1983)
I know what you’re thinking. Superman III? How could anything from that movie be scary? Trust me, there is. Toward the end the main villain’s sister Vera is pulled into a supercomputer and turns her into one of the most terrifying cyborg creatures that I have ever seen in a move. She looks scary as hell when she emerges from the supercomputer in her cyborg form, and when I first saw this scene when I was a kid I was traumatized. There is just something about the way that she looks that really bothered me (I think it was her eyes more than anything), and the whole bit where she is being transformed into the cyborg is just plain scary in general as it looks painful and doesn’t seem like it would be a lot of fun.
I’m a little ashamed to admit that something from a Superman movie scared me but take a look at her (or better yet, watch the scene for yourself) and you may just agree with me as it is mighty damn creepy for an 80’s superhero movie.
4. M3GAN – M3GAN (2022)
I wasn’t a fan of this movie at all as I just didn’t think that it was very good in general, but damn, if the title character isn’t pure nightmare fuel. She’s creepy, and there is just something about her that gives me the wiggins. Her voice, the way that she moves (and dances), and just her overall physical appearance is enough to give anyone the heebie jeebies, and that scene where she is running around on all fours gave me nightmares for at least a week. I like the fact that they used an actual little girl instead of animatronics or CGI to bring her to life, and the results are utterly frightening.
Here’s hoping that they do a better job with the sequel when it comes to the plot, the other characters, and the death scenes, but regardless I’m sure she is going to be just as horrifying in the next movie as she was in the first one.
3. BB – Deadly Friend (1986)
I know that you guys out there are probably tired of hearing me talk about this movie, but I love it. I always thought that Paul’s little robot buddy BB was beyond terrifying, and that’s before he starts going around killing people after his main computer chip is implanted into poor old Samantha’s brain. We realize almost immediately that something isn’t quite right about him in the opening scene as he attempts to strangle a guy who tries to steal Paul’s mom’s purse, and things just get creepier from there. He isn’t the cute, innocent little robot that Paul thinks he is, and that last scene at the morgue when his face is all monstrous and demonic looking has scared the crap out of me for years.
As I said, I love this movie (we even named one of our dogs BB after the robot in this movie), and I think it deserves a lot more love and attention than it gets, primarily because of the killer robot that appears in it.
2. ED-209 – RoboCop (1987)
I’ve been terrified of ED-209 ever since I saw RoboCop back in the day. It just looks intimidating, and its voice (and growls) have made several appearances in my nightmares for as long as I can remember. It is totally unpredictable, which makes it even more dangerous and scary. That scene where it completely blows away the guy in the board meeting is probably the best scene in the movie in my opinion, and if you ask me that bit is scarier than a lot of stuff, I have seen in your average horror film. I really don’t want this thing chasing after me because if it did, I would be so scared I would just curl up in the fetal position on the floor and wait for it to finish me off (unless I could get to some stairs as it apparently can’t navigate them very well).
And my pick for the scariest movie robot is…
1. The Terminator – The Terminator (1984)
I don’t care what anyone says, The Terminator will always be a horror movie in my mind. The title character is basically a robot version of Michael Myers as he is seemingly unstoppable, has no issue with killing anyone in his way, and he is totally and completely relentless. I remember my dad watching in on VHS when I was a kid and it scared me so bad that I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep that night because I kept having nightmares about the Terminator coming to get me. He’s scary when he looks like Arnie, but he’s freaking terrifying when we see his true form toward the end (oh man, those red eyes…brrrr!!!). Without a doubt this movie freaked me out when I was a kid, and I think it is probably the main reason that I have been scared of robots for most of my life.
There you have it gang, my list of the Top Ten Scariest Movie Robots. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Honorable Mentions:
- The robots in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) – The bit where the one separates the guy’s skull and then sets itself on fire afterward toward the beginning never ceases to freak me out, and don’t get me started on the robo-Ellie thing.
- Ava from Ex Machina (2014)-Oh man, they way she looks and moves!!! Terrifying.
- War Beast from Death Machine (1994)-Just look at this thing and tell me it isn’t horrifying.
