17 Movie Villains Who Completely Ruined Your Childhood
11. The Wheelers - Return To Oz
In the unofficial follow-up to The Wizard Of Oz, Dorothy, predictably, returns to Oz. Her previous sojourn into the emerald city was kicked off with lots of singing and dancing (and a suicide urban legend) and everything was tip top, even after the witch appeared. In this dystopian version of Frank Baums Oz, theres none of that: gone is the bright techni-coloured dream world, with streets lined by gleeful Munchkins, as that realm has been pillaged, and now taken over by a reign of unimaginable terror. This time, as Dorothy makes her way into the city, shes greeted by the sight of every citizen turned to stone and the repeated graffitied mantra Beware the wheelers sprayed across the ruins. We should probably have known to expect something bad. And then the distinctive, creepy squeak of wheels announced their first appearance, and every child watching quickly realised that whoever dreamt up this flock of evil rollerbladers was childless, and deeply, deeply disturbed. Their gurning death masks and perverse skating habits are the stuffs that night sweats are made of, twinned with their inability to stop laughing despite the fact no-one says anything amusing in Oz. And additionally, the shriek of their ungreased wheels is far more grating than fingernails down any blackboard.
Gem is a freelance writer, musician and librarian.
Her hobbies include: recreating movie death scenes from LEGO, concocting new types of bird suet cakes, walking on fresh snow and playing the glockenspiel - all at the same time.
