M3GAN

This AI bad Barbie brings IRL terror.

I love a Blumhouse horror movie. Producing titan A24 may lead the recent emergence of so called prestige horror films but Blumhouse brings the campy, crazy stuff that I just can’t get enough of. Megan fits the brand perfectly with an off kilter premise, creative kills and just a dash of winky, tongue in cheek humor.

The film’s biggest hurdle is lead actress and nepo baby Allison Williams. Like most of you I was introduced to Williams as Marnie in HBO’s Girls and I first thought it was just the character that was insufferable. At this point I’m convinced she – the actress – is just impossible to like, poor thing. The cast overall is pretty mid, as the kids say. The biggest exception is lead child actress Violet McGraw who turns in a creepy kid performance to rival the greats like The Sixth Sense’s Haley Joel Osment or The Shining’s Danny Lloyd.

The story is a fun ride through fully charted waters. There’s allusion to Prometheus and Frankenstein; the monster created in one’s own image. The robot’s uncanny resemblance to Williams is a touch on the nose. There’s surface level discussion on the effects of technology on today’s youth but thank goodness it doesn’t get to deep. Thematic depth isn’t what I’m looking for in a Monday night horror flick.

What I’m looking for is Chucky level dolly mayhem and in that regard, the film delivers. I can’t recall ever seeing someone done in by a pressure washer before. It was pretty rad though. It all comes together in a literal clunky ending that you can predict from the earliest frames. But it is the wacky journey and not the destination that make this an enjoyable, if forgettable, watch.