10 Worst Cases of the Uncanny Valley in Film

First coined by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970, the “uncanny valley” refers to the eerie and unsettling feeling you get when you see a humanoid object such as a robot, avatar, or doll, whose appearance and characteristics teeter the fine line between looking “fully human” and “somewhat human” making the objects appear unsettling, creepy, and strange. With the rise of CGI, the uncanny valley can also be found in many films, with computer animation leading the way in the production and distribution of horrifying human-ish-but-not-quite creatures, intentional or otherwise.

Even with advancements in computer animation technology happening more and more each year, the uncanny valley is continuing to flourish, showing that the work behind replicating the human form remains a pretty tricky task. It’s worth noting that a large component is the mistreatment of VFX staff by larger companies through overwork and unfair deadlines that can result in less-than-desired creations.

10 ‘Monster House’ (2006)

Director: Gil Kenan

Especially when compared to the other animated movies of the era, Monster House‘s visual choices give the film a strange and uncomfortable feeling, thanks in part to its uncanny human designs. The designs feel like a strange crossroads between motion-captured animation, stop-motion animation, and traditional 3D computer animation to make an undesirable blending of the three. However, in a strange sort of way, the uncomfortable and offputting visuals can in some cases add to the overall experience and tone that the film is going for.

Monster House‘s entire end goal and appeal is creating the perfect child-friendly yet terrifying haunted house, creating an experience that doesn’t hold back in terms of scares and disturbing sequences. Especially for a film that is looking to unnerve its audience as the primary goal, the more offputting and uncanny human designs do a half-decent job of setting up the tone and stakes for the film. This is only further amplified when the film truly ramps up the scares, showing that the true terrors come from the house, as well as the humans.

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9 ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ (2020)

Director: Jeff Fowler

This one might be cheating a little since the film edited the original Sonic the Hedgehog design mid-production and instead featured a less hideous character model, but the “ugly Sonic” design has since become a legendary example of how much power the uncanny valley holds and that the hyper-realistic animation trend is surely (and thankfully) dying out. One can only imagine what characters like Tails and Knuckles would have looked like if the sequel continued this terrifying design philosophy.

The character has become so infamous that he was directly referenced and parodied in the recent Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers film, where the uncanny valley nightmare creation is redeemed and helps the two chipmunks defeat the main antagonist. He may have been replaced with a better model, but he (and his teeth) will never be forgotten.

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8 ‘Tron: Legacy’ (2010)

Director: Joseph Kosinski

While the long-awaited sequel to the 80s classic, Tron: Legacy, featured a great deal of exceptional computer animation, they managed to bite off more than they can chew in terms of a de-aged Jeff Bridges. As the primary villain of the film, this computerized copy of the protagonist from the original film attempts to keep the youthful look that Bridges had in the 80s, but the technology of 2010 simply couldn’t handle such a task.

While de-aged actors are much more commonplace nowadays, with the likes of Captain Marvel and The Irishman leading the charge, they wouldn’t be where they were today without the awkward stepping stone of Tron: Legacy. Ironically though, with the context of the film being that this uncomfortable-looking computerized Jeff Bridges actually being a part of a computer program manages to make the awkward visual age well, in a backward kind of way. Either way, the uncanny look of Clu doesn’t get in the way of the film too much, as Tron: Legacy still holds a reputation as a cult classic.

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7 ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (2010)

Director: Tim Burton

When the Tim Burton movie adaptation of the classic Lewis Carroll novel, Alice in Wonderland, received negative criticism over its pacing, story, and dialogue, but it was praised for its special effects, which were pretty impressive for the time.

Time has since passed, however, and Alice in Wonderland‘s CGI has aged pretty poorly with the off-putting, creepy, and weird ways certain characters look and act are now almost impossible to ignore. The film explores less of the fantastic world of Wonderland and instead takes a deep dive into the uncanny valley, with specific characters like Tweedledee & Tweedledum (Matt Lucas) and The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) looking incredibly unpleasant.

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6 ‘Justice League’ (2017)

Director: Joss Whedon

Despite Justice League‘s legacy as one of the most expensive movies ever made, it still features a fair deal of uncomfortable uncanny valley visuals, all of which revolve around Henry Cavill. While the film originally had visuals that were in line with the previous films, the multitude of reshoots proved to be a major issue, as Cavill was growing a mustache for his role in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The solution was to use CGI to remove his mustache in all the new footage they shot, which while seeming like a good idea on paper, had disastrous results.

While it may not be immediately apparent to unaware viewers that a mustache was CGI’d off of Cavill’s face, it’s incredibly noticeable that something was done, as the final result does not resemble Cavill’s normal human face. This is specifically an instance of the uncanny valley that goes in and out, as it is dependent on the scene and shot being used, as certain shots look perfectly passable, while others look like a bad deep fake.

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5 ‘The Polar Express’ (2004)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

An animated Christmas flick about the importance of believing in Santa Claus starring the familiar and loved voice talent of Tom Hanks is a pretty great idea in theory, but The Polar Express made the fatal mistake of filming actors with motion-capture technology, which gave every character dead, lifeless eyes and disconcerting movements that ultimately makes the viewing experience pretty unpleasant since the kids just look so creepy.

It still holds a pretty solid spot in the world of well-loved Christmas films due to its charming plot and overall magical “Christmas-y” vibe, but the uncanny valley is almost impossible to ignore, with some reviews describing The Polar Express‘ animation as “a wee bit horrifying.”

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4 ‘Beowulf’ (2007)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Another addition to the uncanny valley Robert Zemeckis cinematic universe, this computer-animated film is based on the Old English epic poem of the same name and reads less like a film and more like an extended cutscene for some kind of fantasy video game, except with no fun gameplay.

The animation process is similar to The Polar Express, meaning that the characters of Beowulf, unfortunately, have the same dead eyes and offputting faces, and while the CGI details and textures are incredibly well done, they still never look quite right. Beowulf is not a terrible film, but sometimes the animation style is just a bit too jarring.

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3 ‘The Hulk’ (2003)

Director: Ang Lee

Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe took over, superhero films didn’t have the same kind of polish that is now well-expected and emblematic of the entire genre, and Ang Lee‘s 2003 film, The Hulk, is a great example of that bygone era. More well known for poignant, soulful, and tragic pieces such as Brokeback Mountain and the martial-arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee’s involvement in a blockbuster superhero film was a bold risk, and sadly it didn’t pay off the way Marvel probably would have liked it to.

This early rendition of the Hulk is more reminiscent of claymation monsters rather than the imposing and powerful superhero from comics, making his appearance incredibly jarring compared to his real-looking human counterparts. It’s safe to say that this Hulk is an early venture into the silver screen that Marvel would much rather forget.

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2 ‘The Mummy Returns’ (2001)

Director: Stephen Sommers

While the previous The Mummy film was a landmark film when it came to the implementation of CGI characters blended with practical effects into live action, The Mummy Returns graces screens with one of the ugliest and most uncomfortable characters put to film. While the majority of the film features middling to passable CGI, when the final climax occurs, and the introduction to Dwayne Johnson‘s Scorpion King occurs, the film takes a massive shift into the uncanny valley.

The character combines its strange, seemingly completely animated early 2000s 3D model, contrasting with the real-life actors of Brendan Frasier and Arnold Vosloo, making the visuals look even more jarring in comparison. It’s easily one of the wildest and unintentionally hilarious finales in an action film and acted as the final nail in the coffin for The Mummy Returns being considered a passable follow-up to the iconic original.

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1 ‘Cats’ (2019)

Director: Tom Hooper

Filled with terrifying, grotesque cat-human hybrids, the musical film Cats, based on Andrew Llyod Weber‘s hit Broadway show, is the poster child for unsettling, uncanny valley trainwrecks and led to Llyod Weber adopting a therapy dog because of how badly the film inflicted “emotional damage” onto him. Trying to get through this film without cringing or feeling deeply disturbed is borderline impossible, and watching celebrities like James Corden, Rebel Wilson, Jennifer Hudson, and the great Dame Judi Dench superimposed onto weird cat-like goblin creatures is one of the most uncomfortable movie-watching experiences you will ever have.

There’s not much else to say about Cats since the horrendous CGI overshadows any small moment of goodness, with each A-List celebrity clearly giving it their best shot but still virtually helpless to save its doomed fate. While it may seem as if the disgusting designs would eventually wear off as the film goes on, it somehow finds ways to one-up itself consistently throughout the dreadful experience. Thankfully, the people behind Cats decided to edit out every cat butthole, so you can find some solace in the fact that it could have been so, so much worse.

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NEXT: CGI-Free Films With Amazing Special Effects