10 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Films That Were Much Too Depressing For The Masses

6. Return To Oz (1985)

Return to Oz is not only a sequel to The Wizard of Oz, but a much darker re-imagining of the technicolor Oz universe proposed by director Victor Fleming back in 1939. In Walter Murch's 1985 follow-up, Dorothy (Fairuza Balk) is a sorrowful child haunted by her memories of the magical land. Narrowly avoiding the electrotherapy proposed by her parents to cure her of her melancholy, Dorothy again escapes to Oz. Upon discovering a shattered yellow brick road, the child rightly assumes all has not been well since her last trip. It's not that your favourite Wizard of Oz characters don't make an appearance in Return of Oz, it's just the shape they're in that's a little worrying. The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion have been turned to stone, along with everyone else in the ruined Emerald City, while the Scarecrow has been taken prisoner and turned into an ornament for the lead villain's pleasure. Murch introduces new characters though, including giant brass bauble Tik-Tok, Jack Skellington's creepier brother, Jack Pumpkinhead, and monstrous immortal rock-fairy the Nome King, who lays waste to Emerald City before the film even begins. Despite making not even half of its budget back at the box office on release, Return to Oz has been hailed as a more faithful adaptation of the Oz books than the popular 1939 musical. But who cares about faithful when the result is turning the Scarecrow into some terrifying living ragdoll and the general atmosphere into one of dread and unease?