10 Most Terrifying Villains In Non-Horror Movies

Roald Dahl’s work is filled with many hideous antagonists, including flesh-eating giants, tyrannical principals, and insidious aliens. However, it's unlikely any of Dahl’s creations have spawned more anxiety than Angelica Huston's Grand High Witch from The Witches.

Huston is so gleefully nasty in the role, she's sure to leave anybody feeling uneasy, even if she remained in her human disguise for the entire movie - though the character cranks up the fear factor when she finally unveils her true form.

After taking off her costume, the Grand High Witch is revealed to be a hook-nosed crone, with hairy warts, sagging flesh, elongated fingers, and lumpy skin. Just when it looks like the sorceress couldn't be more unsettling, she incinerates one of her fellow witches to ash.

Despite being best remembered for her hideous appearance, there are subtler aspects of the Grand High Witch worth mentioning. For example, early on, it's mentioned that witches enjoy trapping children in paintings. At one point, the Grand High Witch can be seen giddily tapping a painting of a child, causing it to squeak.

Although the idea of being turned into a mouse or lasered to death by a witch is alarming, being imprisoned inside a painting with no means of escape is a fate worse than death.