There have been many film versions of Roald Dahl books made over the years - growing up, we all enjoyed the likes of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda. Classics, one and all - but it's fair to say none of them haunted our nightmares quite like The Witches.
The 1990 hit has been voted the scariest children's film ever in a poll by ranker.com and it's not hard to see why - looking back, it was pretty terrifying.
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If you've not seen the movie - and first of all, why not? - you're probably wondering just what could be so scary about a kids' movie.
Well, let's kick things off by talking about the girl in the painting. 'Yeah yeah,' I hear you say. 'A painting - that's not so scary.' Well, no, not until you realise the girl in question was abducted by witches and put in a painting to live out her whole life, completely alone UNTIL SHE DIES.
Then there's the main character, Luke. His first run-in with a witch, in his tree house, sees him being offered chocolate before having a live snake chucked at him - if you weren't already terrified by the idea of strangers being creepy, this was definitely enough to stay with you for life.
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Of course, the whole film is about witches who kill children - yes, this is aimed at kids. Weird.
Later in the film, they - oh, sorry, spoiler alert - turn Luke into a mouse (which on its own is an incredibly unsettling scene) in order to kill him more easily.
Even Luke's parents die - they're killed in a car crash before the events of the movie, leaving him an orphan with a diabetic and poorly grandmother.
But the most terrifying moment of is surely when Anjelica Huston's Grand High Witch removes her wig and mask, revealing herself to be a dramatically hideous creature. Also, albeit less harrowing, is it not a tiny bit weird that after removing her mask, her make-up and jewellery remain intact? It's not just monsters that keep me up at night; sometimes it's these baffling things too.
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The Grand High Witch is well up for more than just killing kids, incidentally - she also murders one of her own coven, showing that absolutely no one is safe from her wrath.
Oh, also Luke's grandma is a finger down following a run-in with the witches when she was a little girl - how did this happen? Was it cut off? Was it bitten off? Who knows?
The Witches was an amazing film, but let's be honest it was scary AF.
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros.Topics: TV and Film, UK Entertainment