With the popularity of films like M3GAN, leading to spin-off films including this summer’s M3GAN 2.0 and the upcoming SOULM8TE, it seems like a suitable time to look back through the history of robots in cinema and why they are so often portrayed as bloodthirsty killers. As our real-life technology continually advances, meaningful conversations are always needed about what to do with it and its future implications. That’s where the sci-fi genre steps in. The following killer robots stick with us because they are unique, lethal, and speak to our real fears around technology.
5. Freddy Fazbear & Friends – Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)
Freddy and his friends Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy have haunted us since their introduction in the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game series in 2014, and their long-lasting appeal proves that they hit us where it hurts. Emma Tami’s film adaptation focuses on the lore of the animatronics than the scares, making them complex antagonists and, at times, unlikely anti-heroes. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a once successful children’s entertainment restaurant, now lies abandoned after five children went missing while at the restaurant.
The new overnight security guard, Mike, is constantly warned against seeing the animatronics after dark, and for good reason. From Foxy using a robotic mask straight out of aSaw trap to turn a previous security guard’s face into pulp to Freddy biting a duplicitous babysitter in half, they are undeniably monstrous.
What is frightening is to see how childhood fears and trauma have been weaponized into killing machines. The horrible events of the past can haunt us into adulthood if our metaphorical body suits trap the memories inside. Freddy Fazbear helps us see that even the most innocent of technology becomes dangerous and dark when put in the wrong hands.
4. BB – Deadly Friend (1986)
As is perhaps fitting for Wes Craven’s Frankenstein-esque horror film, BB is more of the film's tragic villain. BB started as a regular machine created by robotics prodigy Paul. While Paul’s programming seems impressive, BB is, unfortunately, really annoying, which gets him “killed.” A reclusive neighbor blasts BB away with her shotgun (though, to be fair, the robot was trespassing, lurching toward her with red eyes and incomprehensibly gargling, so I can see why she might have overreacted). This is a massive loss for Paul emotionally, but also a loss in his career.
Luckily, BB’s unused brain comes in handy when his neighbor, Samantha, is tragically killed by her abusive father. Paul has fallen in love with Sam, so he has the bright idea to put BB’s microchip into her brain to bring her back to life. Of course, it’s not Sam who has returned from the dead, but BB. BB, disoriented and malfunctioning, uses Sam’s body to burn her father to death, explode the gun-toting neighbor’s head with a basketball (another long story), and throw one of Paul’s bullies at an oncoming police car.
BB is vicious, uncontrollable, but ultimately not to blame. BB represents a technology created by someone who didn’t appreciate its significance. The technology is only as good as its creator, and Paul faces devastating consequences for daring to treat humanity like a machine.
3. The Gunslinger – Westworld (1973)
On the other hand, what would happen if animatronics appeared to have humanity but were still treated like machines? The answer is in Westworld, directed and written by Jurassic Park’s Michael Crichton. Delos is a futuristic amusement park with different “worlds” to enjoy, each filled with animatronics that are in most ways indistinguishable from living people. Westworld is filled with robotic cowboys, bandits, and saloon girls, who park guests can befriend, kill, seduce, or otherwise without repercussions. The guns are real, and the robots are harmless.
The protagonist, Peter, kills a Gunslinger, chillingly portrayed by Yul Brynner. What seems like harmless fun turns out to be a big mistake (huge) because the Gunslinger remembers their encounter even after his reset. The Gunslinger kills Peter’s friend in another gunfight, which should be impossible due to his programming. The violent attack sets off a tense chase through the other parks, which are also filled with rogue robots. The Gunslinger has the upper hand as he chases Peter without the hindrance of exhaustion or conscience. Not even a face full of acid quite slows him down in his single-minded mission to get even with the man that killed him.
This “vacation of the future,” as Delos describes it, warns us of a future that dehumanizes and desensitizes us. This future also places money over human lives, risking people like Peter for the sake of profit, and abuses technology they don’t understand. The Gunslinger reveals to us the terrible things that can happen if we get too comfortable in that dynamic.
2. M3GAN – M3GAN (2022)
We all have experienced struggles or even little inconveniences that just a little extra technology would eradicate. Gemma, a brilliant toy designer, is looking for a solution after she unexpectedly becomes the caretaker of her niece, Cady. Taking care of a traumatized child is a lot harder than she thought it would be, and she’s at a loss for how to help Cady without disrupting her own life. So, she does the only logical thing and designs a doll who, with the help of A.I., can step in as Cady’s emotional support robot.
Of course, M3GAN is still just a prototype, and prototypes have glitches. Her programming charges her to protect Cady, and she follows that initiative to its logical conclusion. She uses a loophole to override Gemma’s safeguards. Now, she can kill anyone who causes harm to her friend. She kills the neighbor’s dog after it bites Cady on the arm. She chases a pre-teen bully through the woods, running on her hands and knees like an animal, rips off his ear, and then giggles after she runs him straight into oncoming traffic. She’s campy, violent, and one step ahead of her adversaries, including Gemma.
M3GAN is a result of over-reliance on technology for the sake of convenience. Gemma’s error is dismissing Cady’s needs and using a shortcut to avoid the effort of emotional intimacy. M3GAN simply exploits Gemma’s human failings so she can reach her full murderous potential.
1. T-1000 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Including a Terminator from James Cameron’s series is a no-brainer for this list. I was torn on which Terminator to include, but ultimately decided on T-1000 because T-800 feels very similar to the Gunslinger from Westworld. Robert Patrick’s T-1000 versus Schwarzenegger’s T-800 is a battle held up as a shining example by sci-fi fans everywhere, and for good reason. While the T-800 was the central antagonist of the first film in the franchise, an unstoppable and mindless killing machine in the vein of the Gunslinger, the newer, more lethal model now outpaces him.
T-1000 is slick, efficient and cannot be reasoned with. He can transform into any weapon he needs, mimic any face or voice, and revive himself after almost any injury. He is what I would consider the realization of the ultimate fear – a weapon originating from technology designed to help humanity and then used by a future government to destroy its opposition. T-1000, as a representative of Skynet, is nothing but cold, calculated, killer efficiency.
In comparison, T-800 shows the ability for human understanding. He doesn’t protect John just because his programming tells him to – he protects John because he understands the value of love. It sounds cheesy when put like that, but it’s true. T-1000 is the top killer robot because he represents the worst, darkest anxiety about technology, and what exactly is at the core of that fear – a lack of human decency. Plus, the scene where T-1000 infiltrates Sarah Connor’s psychiatric ward keeps me up at night, so that counts for something.