When I was little I used to be scared of the scene where the Flying Monkeys' were flying into the screen, I had a hard time watching that scene when I was a little boy.
When they first meet Oz also used to scare me, I even thought that's what Judgment Day was gonna be like when I was a kid.
I found a lot of things in this film frightening as a kid (the Wicked Witch, the Flying Monkeys, the hourglass room, etc.), pretty much the same things that others will report. I would like to include a scene that few people mention:
When Dorothy and company are allowed into the Wizard's palace they must enter through that long hallway. For me, the anticipation was excruciating. Would the hallway ever end, or were they trapped in there forever? Was something going to jump out at them? What would they encounter if they ever reached the final point?
The first time I saw this, it seemed like that scene went on for at least a quarter of an hour. When I re-watched it as an adult I was surprised to learn that its duration is less than a minute.
I remember the witch's castle was scary.
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Anything with the wicked witch. For a woman who was purported to be a wonderful and sweet human being (no reason to doubt that), Margaret Hamilton was ridiculously perfect for this film. Scared the beejeezus out of me when I was a kid.
I saw Margaret Hamilton on TV a long time ago. She was speaking to an audience about the film. I think she said her agent told her about a part for her.
She asked who would she play. He told her, “The Wicked Witch, of course.”
She smiled when she said that. The woman had a sense of humor.
Scary as the witch was, those monkeys creeped me out more.
And purportedly one of the nicest people you would ever meet. She said she felt bad scaring generations of kids and having them think that she was like that person.
When the witch got on her broomstick and flew around her castle, while she let out that evil laugh. I’m sure I had nightmares about that scene.
shareThe flying monkeys and the scarecrow on fire.
shareThe tornado.
The scene where Miss Gulch turns into the Wicked Witch during the tornado.
The scene where the Witch first appears from the red smoke.
The scene when the Witch appears hiding behind the tree.
When we first see the Lion before the audience knows he is good.
The scene when they walk down the hallway to meet the Wizard.
The monkey attack.
Scene when they are trapped by the guards.
The Witch of the East’s feet curling up and disappearing under the house.
And…The scene that I still think is the scariest is when Auntie Em is in the crystal ball and Dorothy is trying to talk to her. Then the witch appears in the ball and starts mocking Dorothy.