Horror was so hopping in 2022 that Mashable compiled a top 20 of the genre’s best releases with ease. 2023 is off to a strong start for those who love spookiness, as M3GAN is killing it at the box office and with critics. With this enthralling flood of horror films and TV of late, there’s a tantalizing trend on the rise: the dancing horror heroine. Musical numbers have proved pivotal in some of horror’s most talked-about productions of the last few months, including Pearl, Wednesday, and now M3GAN. So, could a full-fledged horror musical be far behind?
Let’s look back at the deranged dance numbers that have chilled and thrilled us, and where their popularity could lead.
Mia Goth brought a scarecrow dance duet to life in Pearl.
Hot off the success of X, Mia Goth reunited with director Ti West for a prequel that unearthed the seedy origins of his psycho-biddy with Pearl. Playing the titular farm girl with big screen and stage dreams, Goth channels an urgent theatricality into her eponymous protagonist, assisted by Tyler Bates and Tim Williams’ swooning orchestral score.
In one enchanting yet unnerving scene that embraces Pearl’s desperation for realizing her filmic fantasies, she picks up an unlikely dance partner in the cornfield. Dreaming of romance, the aspiring performer lifts up a scarecrow whose face dwells in the uncanny valley between clearly fake and unsettlingly human. She dons a top hat and leads her inanimate partner around the clumsy dance floor of crushed stalks. The music swells as if they were Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. But there’s something undeniably off in this surreally eerie scene.
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West’s wide lens allows us to take in the full picture of the dance, and Goth’s Pearl lacks grace, lumbering about in her overalls and boots, oblivious to her own awkwardness. The captivating cinematography, the lush gold of the field’s vegetation, and the score embrace her fantasy. But the cold reality that she’s just not a good dancer chills us, setting up a grim denouement we might predict even if we hadn’t seen X. The maudlin expression of the scarecrow serves as another harbinger. Then, finally, even Pearl is spooked as her inert dance partner abruptly blinks at her, becoming for an instant the human man she dares to dream about. Unnerved, she bellows, “I’m married.” And a chill works its way up our spines, even as the spell breaks.
Jenna Ortega astounds with Wednesday’s already-iconic dance.
We’ve been singing the praises of this sensational sequence since Tim Burton’s Addams Family spinoff hit Netflix. The moment Jenna Ortega’s unblinking stare met with a shoulder shimmy, we were hooked. The internet soon followed, with TikTokkers frantically rushing to learn the chaotic choreography — which Ortega made up herself.
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With a bit of Thriller here, some Bob Fosse there, and a soupçon of Siouxsie Sioux, this scene is a heady witch’s brew topped off in black taffeta. Ortega’s dance allows us to relish in her creativity, dig into the Easter Eggs, and — best of all — get to know a Wednesday who lets her hair down.
Teen comedies have long featured a dance sequence that urges us to imagine a fantasy of high school, where even the weirdo can steal the spotlight at prom. Incredibly, for much of her dance, Wednesday’s Nevermore peers barely seem to notice her sick moves. As she goo goo mucks it up, her date smiles giddily. But as she flings her arms and snaps her fingers, it feels like this dance is truly for her. It’s liberation in a creepy cool physicality, urging us all to embrace our own inner weirdo. But she isn’t the only ooky and kooky girl who’s gotten the internet frothing over her unique blend of menace and prancing.
M3GAN slays, metaphorically and literally.
Last but not least is M3GAN. The newly minted horror hit centers on a robot doll whose devotion to her primary user is so deep that she’ll kill over it. Horror fans have been raving about this American Girl doll from hell since the first teaser dropped. And it all began because of the inexplicable yet awesome snippet of this killer doll breaking into an epic dance, before grabbing a weapon to chase some poor bastard to his doom.
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Far from a random bit of weirdness, M3GAN’s dance scene adds a sharply comedic edge to this queer horror gem. The dance is set up early on, as the ultra-femme doll learns it alongside her child bestie, Cady (Violet McGraw). But when it’s revisited later, it’s a frightful flourish to warn a human would-be overlord that she’s a puppet with no strings attached. Forget the rules of robotics. Forget mankind’s dominance over machines. M3GAN is coming for us, and she’ll look good while doing it.
It’s no wonder the scene has not only become an instant meme but also a major part of the movie’s marketing, with M3GAN dance troupes popping up on morning talk shows and at movie screenings and pro football games, as well as jaunting about New York City. With a M3GAN sequel reportedly in development, it seems safe to assume writer Akela Cooper and director Gerard Johnstone would be game for a reprisal of dance and songs. (Oh yeah, M3GAN sings too. And it’s somehow hilarious and harrowing.) But we’re daring to dream even bigger.
An encore for the horror musical.
It’s not a new concept to blend terror and tunes. Michael Jackson did it with Thriller. Broadway brought us such marvels as Sweeney Todd and Little Shop of Horrors, both of which have splashy movie adaptations. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a cult institution, while Repo! The Genetic Opera has its own freaky following. More recently, critics have cheered genre mash-ups like The Lure, a Polish musical about man-eating mermaids, and the holiday/teen movie/musical/zombie horror of Anna and the Apocalypse.
All of these aren’t horror movies with some music and dancing. They are fully committed to scaring and enchanting with music, lyrics, murder, and gore. And we want — nay, deserve — more!
Perhaps West’s next movie with Goth, MaXXXine, could venture even deeper into Pearl‘s surreal space. Maybe Wednesday Season 2 could pull a Buffy The Vampire Slayer and do a musical episode. With high-concept horror making waves, there’s no better time for a studio to take a big swing with a big, bonkers horror musical. They could adapt a pre-existing stage musical, like the infamous Carrie. They could translate an award-winning short, like the taxidermy-centric Stuffed, which earned a special honor from SXSW’s 2020 jury (a jury that notably included Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and this reporter). But the safest bet might be to evolve the robo-slasher with a love for pop music into a musical star unlike anything the world has ever seen before.
Imagine: M3GAN 2: The Musical.
It could be about a resurrected M3GAN chasing revenge. It could go Terminator 2, with a face-off of new and classic models of the AI icon. The plot is truly irrelevant. Just give us the ol’ razzle dazzle.
Audiences love M3GAN and want more of her — more of her stirring singing, more of her maniacal dancing. Make a jukebox musical laced with creepy covers of Lizzo and Taylor Swift. Make it an original musical with jams from award-winning lyricists who’d relish the challenge of walking in Stephen Sondheim and Howard Ashman’s footsteps. Just make it.
The stage is set for dancing queens and scream queens to share the spotlight and splatter blood. Now it’s up to Hollywood to put on a show that’s to die for.
