20 90s Movie Scenes That Traumatized Us All

Roald Dahl strikes again. This adaptation of The Witches, perhaps his scariest book, might've underperformed at the box office, but for those kids who did get round to seeing it, it's likely to have been one of the darkest and most haunting films they'd yet watched. 

Once again, unlike many of today's similar movies - including 2020's ill-judged adaptation of the same novel, which was completely sanitised and devoid of scares - this is an older family film that treated its young audience with respect and wasn't afraid to rattle them up. In fact, many adults will be unsettled by this underrated gem, and quite a few moments could've made this list, but at the end of the day, the unmasking has to take it. 

A woman literally peeling her own face off to reveal a terrifying, demonic creature underneath is the sort of thing you'd normally expect to see in a full-blown horror flick for adults. Seriously, that unmasked Grand High Witch (Anjelica Huston) is surely one of the most disturbing images ever seen in a family film, and Huston's legendarily wicked performance makes it all even more horrifying. 

Interestingly, the incredible make-up job - for which Huston had to spend eight hours in the make-up chair a day - was overseen by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. This was the last feature film Henson worked on prior to his tragically early passing, so The Witches provided one last tribute to his unparalleled gifts.