History UncannyValley / Film

** from the same company there's ''MarsNeedsMoms'' and holy Jesus are the humans terrifying.

** from the same company there's "Mars needs moms" and holy Jesus are the humans terrfying.

* YourMileageMayVary, but [[{{Halloween}} Michael Myers' mask]] creates this effect. If you're not paying attention, or viewing it in the dark, it looks human enough. At a passing glance, you might not even notice that it isn't his actual face. But when you get a good look at it, you notice something wrong. Very, very wrong. It looks like it was based on a human face, but one rendered soulless and inhuman by some unspeakable evil. It gives the impression that Myers ''used'' to be human, but is now some horrific parody of humanity. The effect is unsettling at first, but the longer you look at it, the more it stares back, like some terrible staring contest. [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel And the mask is never going to blink]].

** See the remake of ''House on Haunted Hill'' for this in action.

* Similarly, the Oompa Loompas in CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory (the 2006 version at least), they are all inhumanly small and all played by Deep Roy. Perhaps averted with the same characters in the 1971 film since orange skin and green eyelashes are far enough away from human to not fall into this category.

* In Schwarzenegger's movie ''The 6th Day'', Arnie buys his daughter an animatronic doll thing. The movie gave the impression that the doll was very popular in the future, but it looks creepy. It comes to its demise when it's destroyed and slowly says "I have a boo-boo." [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyyzboAXzFk This video was probably inspired by that doll]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UflYaxQMTa0 The doll itself here]].

* Darla Dimple from ''Cats Don't Dance'' looks normal (if [[TastesLikeDiabetes disgustingly cute]]) as [[http://www.cdd4ever.com/Backlot03/CDDMSheets/DarlaMS01.gif animated]], but [[http://www.cdd4ever.com/Backlot03/Maquettes/DarlaTurnaround.jpg as a physical maquette]], not so much.

* ''TheHulk'' 2003 movie had special effects with a great level of detail for the title character, had a problem with the unlayered look on the Hulk's skin. Human skin has levels of [[strike:transparency]] translucency (one of the reasons it's so hard to emulate) giving it diverse textures and colors. The Hulk did not have this, making him look like he was molded from clay. This was fixed in the 2008 ContinuityReboot where the Hulk's skin has a much more realistic sheen and depth.

* The puppets in ''[[TeamAmerica Team America: World Police]]'' were capable of incredibly subtle and detailed movements (in their faces, of course). The producers decided they were too realistic, and thus too creepy, and decided to purposely scale them back a bit. Most notably when they make fun of the fact that the puppets can't really walk. They also used a program to precisely match the puppets' mouth movements to the dialogue, but the effect was too terrifyingly realistic, so they toned it down to make the puppets seem more puppet-like.

* However in fairness most feature films either based on or inspired by classic television sitcoms made before the mid to late 1980's (Pleasantville, Fat Albert, a short lived sitcom called Hi Honey I'm Home was built around this trope) are intentionally made as parodies of this trope as due to the belief that most of these shows were far "Too Happy" and or unrealistic compared to many [[DysfunctionJunction dysfunctional family sitcoms]] of the 90s to present day.

* Mostly averted in the 2007 film adaptation of ''Film/{{Beowulf}}'' since everything is motion-captured in real-time, and the character design and graphics are similar to those from a modern video game. Most of the extras however (whom they didn't bother to do Mo-Cap with their faces) tend to fit squarely in the middle of the Valley.

* Something about the faces of Santa Claus and Merlin in the infamous ''Santa Claus'' movie (as seen on MST3K) isn't quite right. Yet the animatronic Santa in the toy shop window of that movie was both less realistic and clearly much creepier. And then there were the reindeer. Oh, the reindeer...
* The unnaturally toothy smile of one of the titular characters in [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424774/ ''Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D'']] (guess which one) is surprisingly disturbing. [[spoiler:Of course, this "uncanniness" is largely subverted as we discover that, despite his unnerving appearance and personality he is in fact a [[GoodIsNotNice good guy]].]]

* ''Jacob's Ladder''. Director Adrian Lyne uses a BodyHorror technique in which an actor is recorded waving his head around at a low frame rate, resulting in horrific fast motion when played back.
* Deliberately invoked by the victims of the {{serial killer}} in ''The Cell'': He drowns, then bleaches his female victims to resemble dolls, and when the therapist [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind journeys into his mind]] they're captive but "alive." Naturally, one of them has a ''[[SubculturesInJapan kigurumi]]'' mask.

* A more subtle example would be Grima Wormtongue, whose corpse-like makeup was meant to make him look fairly creepy. The part that really did it was that actor Brad Dourif shaved his eyebrows. Off-set and without makeup, people kept telling him there was something just not right about him.

* The costume designers of of ''Killers From Space'' were probably aware of the Valley when designing the titular villains, but that film's instance of this trope [[NightmareFail has aliens looking stupid and hilarious rather than creepy]]. As Mike Nelson of ''The Film Crew'' commented, "He looks a little like [[ToyStory Buzz Lightyear]]!"

* Invoked deliberately in the ''SilentHill'' movie. The nurses, especially, start out looking like ordinary mannequins. Then they start moving in that odd, jerky manner that instantly communicates that they are dangerous.

* In WhoFramedRogerRabbit, the Uncanny Valley is invoked in Judge Doom as foreshadowing.

* Just like the ''{{Son of the Mask}}'' example above, there's a brief moment in {{Moonwalker}} where, right at the end, Micheal...turns into a robot, then a spaceship, to fight the bad guys ([[BigLippedAlligatorMoment somehow]]). If you look closely (or are unlucky enough to pause it on the shot) you can tell Micheal's been swapped out for the model and it's ''really frigging creepy'', like the [[Film/{{Coraline}} Other Mother]] swooped in and replaced him with a doll.
* There's also the 2010 movie ''The Town''. Its poster features the bank robber characters dressed up in their disguises. However, they're not wearing ski masks...they're wearing [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/The_Town_Poster.jpg nun outfits complete with leathery masks of old, wrinkled faces.]]
* The effects used to make Mr Fantastic (as played by Ioan Gruffud) stretch in both ''FantasticFour'' films are almost cartoonish, but can appear quite unsettling, even though they are sometimes played for laughs. It's just nowhere as effective as in the comics. It's also hard to accept The Thing as an actual being, and the uncanny valley creeps in when everyone treats him as a horribly mutated Ben Grimm, when it feels more like Michael Chiklis trapped in an uncomfortable costume. A more creepy example of Uncanny Valley in the films would be Dr Doom in the early stages of his transformation, particularly the scar that has been "stitched" with metal staples, showing metallic tissue underneath.

* ''HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'': The scene where the [[ArtifactOfDoom Horcrux]] is destroyed has visions of Harry and Hermione appear to Ron, both of whom appear with white, almost featureless, sort of glowing skin.
** Though here is deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoked]].
** The people who produced the film adaptation of ''HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' say, in the DVD extras, that the reason they changed Voldemort's eyes from red (as they were in the book), to looking quite like your everyday eyes, is that "if you don't leave in a huge part of the human in him, he's not going to scare you." At first, this troper didn't like the change when he saw the movie in theaters, but when he heard that explanation, he realized they had a real point.

* Jeff Bridges' [=CGIed=] face in TronLegacy fell into this category for a lot of viewers.
** The biggest problem with this is at the begnnning of the movie, we see a flashback of Flynn while he was young which used Clu's CG facial model and it's exactly the same. This troper compared the model to Bridges in the original movie and has realized the problem is in the eyes and eyebrows. Clu (And flashback Flynn) have a solid immovable brow and their eyes almost never widen the way Jeff Bridges do and did in the original film. The lack of emoting is the biggest problem with the CG model. That's fine for Clu, but makes no sense for the younger version of Flynn!

* The baby on the ceiling in {{Trainspotting}} during Ewan Macgregor's withdrawal scene.
* MarsAttacks had two martians disguise as a woman. It was deeply in the uncanny valley, but it didn't bother the guy who was hitting on her. [[spoiler: until the martians bit off his finger]].

* In ''JackFrost'' (no, not the film about the killer snowman), Michael Keaton is reincarnated as [[http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6673/jackfrostl.jpg this horrifying thing]]. The way it looked and moved was NightmareFuel to many viewers; RogerEbert called it "the most repulsive single creature in the history of special effects."
* The pre-serumed Steve Rogers in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Hi8B1jOBo&feature=player_embedded Captain America trailer]] is distinctly...off. Given that the CGI's done' by the same people that did [[http://www.thedorkreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/curious-case-of-benjamin-button-1.jpg The Curious Case of Benjamin Button]], it's not much of a surprise.

* E.B. in the film {{Hop}}. His fur and facial features is realistic enough to pass for that of a real rabbit. Yet the proportion of his head and body size just doesn't look right, and healthy rabbits aren't supposed to be that skinny. It just doesn't add up.

* Any time a human character is revelaed to actually be a robot, they cross into Uncanny Valley. When my nephew was around five years old, he freaked out watching the beginning of "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" when it was revealed that Miss Kensington was actually a fembot. He refused to watch any more Austin Powers after that, which turned out to be a good choice. There is a certain betrayal when a character you thought was human is actually robot. Kind of like catching a cheating spouse in the act.
* ''ResidentEvil: Degeneration''. The character animations were stiff, and the lip synching was not of the best quality.
* The new trailer for the upcoming TinTin film is...well, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLUis9pzrT8 eeeeeeeurgh]]
* ''TheSmurfs'' in their 3d movie are particularly creepy. It makes you sympathetic with Gargamel, kill them all!

* I might be alone in this, but something about Amanda Seyfried in the trailer for In Time looks...off. Maybe it's the hairstyle with her eyes, but something looks wrong.

* I might be alone in this, but something about Amanda Seyfried in the trailer for In Time looks...off. Maybe it's the hairstyle with her eyes, but something looks wrong.

* In [[DaftPunk Daft Punk's]] Electroma, the main character robots have latex poured over their helmets in order to look more human. They end up just looking terrifying, with [[NightmareFuel their still faces and staring eyes. Gah!]] Fortunately this is invoked, because the other robots in the town they're in are also horrified and drive them out. And then the movie [[TearJerker gets sad]].

* YourMileageMayVary on this, but the Na'vi in ''{{Film/Avatar}}'' had an odd, shiny skin tone, some of their movement physics was off, and their faces were just ''wrong''. It only gets worse when you see people photoshopping themselves as one on DeviantArt.
** [[ColonelBadass Quaritch]] has an Avatar? That's a pretty cool ide-[[http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/016/2/8/Quaritch__s_Avatar_by_SalazarinaSlytherin.jpg OH DEAR GOD NO.]]
** Indeed it's the facial proportions. It's relatively subtle at first, but the eyes are 2 to 2.5 times larger than normal and more widely spaced...because the nose is about twice as wide and flattened considerably. The mouth is normal-sized, which serves to emphasize the other changes. The ears are not just hollowed and pointed, they're a full inch and a half higher on the head.
*** It looked even weirder when they put Sigourney Weaver's exact face on her avatar body, making it look disproportionate compared to the Na'vi faces, which look disproportionate compared to humans.
** ''Avatar'' is often invoked as the "exception to the rule" of the CGI Uncanny Valley effect alienating (or disturbing) viewers (to the tune of $1 billion-plus box office). Mind you, many of them might have been too distracted by the 3-D to notice.

* Chucky of ''[[Film/{{ptitle8ixcd8ua}} Child's Play]]'' in the first movie. As the movie progresses, Chucky starts gaining more and more human traits such as a receding hairline and skin imperfections.

* Also used for effect in the draft examination sequence of ''AcrossTheUniverse''. The strange, plastic, square-jawed and Ken-doll-haired [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX6dHWyqwNo beings]] that looked like the unholy offspring of the Burger King for the creepiness involved. That's Julie Taymor for you.

** The T-1000 fits this trope for most of his screentime in T2. On the commentary, co-writer Bill Wisher points out that throughout the film, Robert Patrick, who plays the T-1000, moves like a human being but just a ''tad'' smoother. In the scene where he talks to John's foster parents and again when he arrives at the mental hospital to ask the night nurse to see Sarah Connor, he behaves like a normal person(even smiling in a natural way in the former scene), but still puts out a subtly menacing vibe. Being a more advanced terminator and remaining more true to James Cameron's original idea of the terminator as an under-the-radar infiltrator(he disguises himself as a ''cop'' for crying out loud), it's expected that he could more accurately mimic a human posture, mannerisms and demeanor, but still do so in such a way that there was still something "off" and spooky about him.

** The T-1000 fits this trope for most of his screentime in T2. On the commentary, co-writer Bill Wisher points out that throughout the film, Robert Patrick, who plays the T-1000, moves like a human being but just a tad smoother. In the scene where he talks to John's foster parents and again when he arrives at the mental hospital to ask the night nurse to see Sarah Connor, he behaves like a normal person(even smiling in a natural way in the former scene), but still puts out a subtly menacing vibe. Being a more advanced terminator and remaining more true to James Cameron's original idea of the terminator as an under-the-radar infiltrator(he disguises himself as a ''cop'' for crying out loud), it's expected that he could more accurately mimic a human posture, mannerisms and demeanor, but still do so in such a way that there was still something "off" and spooky about him.

* You know the clone pilots in the ''StarWars'' prequels? Take a closer look at their faces. They're ''[[CloningBlues clones]]''. [[FridgeBrilliance A million identical faces is supposed to be disturbing.]]

* Just like the ''{{Son of the Mask}}'' example above, there's a brief moment in {{Moonwalker}} where, right at the end, Micheal...turns into a robot, then a spaceship, to fight the bad guys ([[BigLippedAlligatorMoment somehow]]). If you look closely (or are unlucky enough to pause it on the shot) you can tell Micheal's been swapped out for the model and it's ''really frigging creepy'', like the [[{{Coraline}} Other Mother]] swooped in and replaced him with a doll.

* In [[DaftPunk Daft Punk's]] Electroma, the main character robots have latex poured over their helmets in order to look more human. They end up just looking terrifying, with [[NightmareFuel their still faces and staring eyes. Gah!]] Fortunately this is invoked, because the other robots in the town they're in are also horrified and drive them out. And then the movie [[Understatement gets]] [[TearJerker sad]].

* ''TheSmurfs'' in their 3d movie are particularly creepy. It makes you sympathetic with Gargamel, kill them all!

* ''{{Surrogates}}'' used this to its advantage, using airbrushing to juxtapose the pristine robots with the more gritty looking humans.

* The new trailer for the upcoming TinTin film is...well, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLUis9pzrT8 eeeeeeeurgh]]

* Similarly, the Oompa Loompas in CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory (the 2006 version at least), they are all inhumanly small and all played by deep roy. Perhaps averted with the same characters in the 1971 film since orange skin and green eyelashes are far enough away from human to not fall into this category.

** [[http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2678/4402378381_246c62dbab.jpg The Caterpillar]]. AlanRickman's face? [[YourMileageMayVary Very nice to look at]]. AlanRickman's face ''on a caterpillar''?! NoJustNo. Sorry, but an insect's face should ''not'' emote like a human's.

* Any time a human character is revelaed to actually be a robot, they cross into Uncanny Valley. When my nephew was around five years old, he freaked out watching the beginning of "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" when it was revealed that Miss Kensington was actually a fembot. He refused to watch any more Austin Powers after that, which turned out to be a good choice. There is a certain betrayal when a character you thought was human is actually robot. Kind of like catching a cheating spouse in the act.

Have you seen any trailers that have these?

* Porn stars can have this effect on someone who is either not attracted to porn stars, or not into the particular gender that porn focuses on.