Dolls aren’t always as benign-seeming as Barbie. Take these 20 demonic movie playthings, for instance – all of whom have been cooked up by some very twisted minds indeed.

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With all the terrifying dolls that have haunted our screens over the years, you’d think that parents would know better than to ever buy them for their kids. However, it’s fair to say that Barbie isn’t quite as threatening as the psychopathic playthings that menace and murder in horror movies. The following 20 big-screen dolls, for example, are all twisted enough to fuel your nightmares for weeks on end…

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20. Billy – Dead Silence (2007)

Never trust a ventriloquist’s dummy. After all, not only are those yapping mouths and intense eyes pretty darn creepy, but there’s also a chance that – if 2007’s Dead Silence is anything to go by – they’re haunted. What’s more, that movie’s demonic doll Billy has a penchant for cutting out tongues as penance. And if that doesn’t give you sleepless nights, then nothing will.

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19. Zuni doll – Trilogy of Terror (1975)

There’s not much subtlety in the frantic made-for-TV movies that make up 1975’s cult classic Trilogy of Terror, but the raw aggression of the Zuni doll in particular is enough to make even the most fearless want to jump behind their couches. Like a rabid ferret, it scurries around after Karen Black with its teeth bared, looking to shred her with any sharp instrument at its disposal.

18. Chuckesmee – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012)

Terrifying baby doll Chuckesmee is so creepy that she never even made it into the film she was meant to star in. Granted, that film was the otherwise saccharin The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, so she probably would have been a little out of place. And director Bill Condon knew that she wasn’t a good fit to stand in for a growing Renesmee when, at one point during filming, “she turn[ed] her head and mechanically stare[d] right into the camera.” Eerie. Twilight fans looking to be scared, however, can see Chuckesmee on the DVD extras of the collected movies.

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17. Tina – Dolly Dearest (1991)

As evil dolls with actual personalities go, Tina from 1991 horror Dolly Dearest is right up there with Chucky. And possibly because she’s possessed by a demonic Mayan spirit, Tina’s face gets more and more contorted and creepy as the film goes on. Thanks in part to the psychotic plaything, then, it’s surprisingly watchable for a straight-to-video movie – but only if you can stomach Tina’s knife-wielding antics.

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16. Annabelle – The Conjuring (2013)

Before she went on to be the star of her own movies, mysterious doll Annabelle played a big part in critically acclaimed paranormal flick The Conjuring. And like some creepy movie dolls before her, Annabelle is also possessed – in this case, by an “inhuman spirit” that attempts to jump from her to humans like some kind of hellish flea. What’s more, even keeping her under lock and key doesn’t stop her from escaping and wreaking havoc.

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15. Hugo – Dead of Night (1945)

Ealing Studios’ anthology movie Dead of Night may be the first film to successfully play with the idea of a ventriloquist descending into madness by means of his creepy dummy. And while said dummy Hugo may just be menacing in the mind of his mentally ill owner, it’s hard not to imagine that the doll’s face – which manages to be both lifeless and maniacal at the same time – didn’t have some part to play in that insanity.

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14. Chucky – Child’s Play (1988)

As the poster child of evil killer dolls the world over, Chucky single-handedly traumatized a whole generation of kids who were too young to have watched 1988’s Child’s Play but did anyway. Possessed by the soul of a murderer, Chucky is a foul-mouthed, virtually indestructible maniac who’s killed his way through six movies to date and even found the time to take care of a wife and baby along the way. God help us all…

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13. Fletcher – Making Contact (1985)

Way before he shot to fame with Independence Day, director Roland Emmerich helmed 1985’s Making Contact. And although it’s ostensibly a fantasy movie centering on a boy who develops psychic powers, the menace is ramped up considerably when the kid encounters a spirit that’s possessing a particularly freaky ventriloquist dummy. Devilish doll Fletcher, moreover, is up there with the scariest of his kind.

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12. Leech Woman – Puppet Master (1989)

While the knife-eyed Blade is the star of the show in 1989’s Puppet Master and its unending series of sequels, the Leech Woman is without doubt the franchise’s most appalling invention. After all, as her name hints at, she heaves giant leeches from her mouth that can quickly but painfully kill people. We’d fancy our chances more against Jester, to be honest.

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11. Billy – Saw (2004)

The Saw franchise’s red-eyed puppet Billy isn’t usually one to get his hands dirty. Still, encountering him is still definitely not an experience to be relished. After all, the way he tells hapless victims that they’re in for a world of pain imbues him with unparalleled menace. And for that reason – and no matter how much screen time he gets in subsequent movies – he’ll always be an icon of the sadistic splatterhouse series.

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10. Robert – Robert (2015)

Perhaps the eeriest thing about 2015’s Robert is the fact that it was inspired by real-life events. Well, that is if you believe in the story that a cursed doll was apparently given to painter Robert Eugene Otto. And even if you don’t, the filmic Robert is pretty creepy by himself, given that he’s prone to wrecking furniture, tossing random objects around and, in general, being a total terror.

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9. Pin – Pin (1988)

Not many people talk about 1988 Canadian movie Pin – maybe because it was overshadowed by the debut of the similarly named Pinhead from Hellraiser the previous year. But this underrated horror is worth checking out, not least for its unusual premise, as it charts the destructive effect of an unnervingly lifelike medical dummy on a family’s lives. And while we never really see Pin do anything, his sinister, fleshless presence still manages to unsettle.

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8. Fats – Magic (1978)

Perhaps inspired by the ‘crazed ventriloquist’ classic Dead of Night, Magic sees the great Anthony Hopkins play Corky, a shy but talented ventriloquist who is on the verge of success when he starts to be plagued by the voice of his dummy Fats. And the leering doll – a manifestation of Corky’s split personality – becomes increasingly jealous and dominant, causing Corky to do some very bad things…

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7. Brahms – The Boy (2016)

If you’re a nanny tempted by a lucrative job for an old British couple, don’t do it if they’re asking you to babysit a pale-faced doll – it’s not going to end well. That’s what happens in 2016 horror The Boy, in which doll Brahms seems to take on a life of his own when the babysitter doesn’t tend to his suspiciously human needs.

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6. Clown doll – Poltergeist (1982)

1982 horror classic Poltergeist doesn’t boast any dolls as protagonists per se; instead, it’s centered more on invisible spirits that get more and more aggressive as they haunt a family. And yet one of the most persistently creepy things in the movie is the toy clown, which appears towards the end of the movie and immediately puts the viewer on edge in anticipation of it doing something awful. Needless to say, then, it eventually meets any grim expectations.

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5. Jack Attack – Demonic Toys (1992)

1992’s Demonic Toys is basically a cheesy version of Puppet Master – a film which in turn was pretty cheesy itself. But while, as this suggests, Demonic Toys is far from a great movie, it nevertheless has its creepy moments. And of the four demonically possessed toys featured, the cackling Jack Attack is the freakiest. After all, if jack-in-the-boxes aren’t already bad enough, this one has bloodshot eyes, sharp teeth and a penchant for throttling people with his cord. Yikes.

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4. Blade – Puppet Master (1989)

As the leader of the murderous doll gang in the Puppet Master series, Blade’s become something of an icon – and not just because of his catching trenchcoat-and-hat outfit. Furthermore, he’s used for both good and evil throughout the movies, but with his hook hand and knife-sprouting eyes he’s definitely better suited to villainy.

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3. Slave dolls – Tales from the Hood (1995)

Tales from the Hood is made up of four stories revolving around African Americans and spooky happenings. One of the stories, moreover, involves a white supremacist moving into a house that’s home to a large bunch of black slave dolls – all of whom take violent exception to his racist ways. And even though we’re kind of on their side, their stop-motion movement and glaring eyes make them terrifying to behold.

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2. The dolls – Dolls (1987)

The image of one doll from Dolls holding its eyes in its hands is an enduring one from late ’80s horror movies. What’s more, something about the texture of the dolls’ faces – not to mention both their twitchy movements and the slimy voodoo-like skulls under their porcelain exteriors – makes them incredibly unsettling. That, and the fact that they’re all dead-set on murder, of course.

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1. Suzie – May (2002)

Doll Suzie may not really have blood on her hands in 2002’s May, but she nevertheless still drives her titular owner to do terrible things. In particular, after May has her heart broken, she begins to confide in her ghostly-looking plaything. And, as a result, Suzie inspires May to build a “friend” for herself from human flesh. Never listen to dolls, people!