The intensity of certain scenes in each of these films guarantees the basis for a lifetime of self-reliance, strange sexual quirks, or crippling nightmares. Rent one tonight--help twist a child's life in the right direction.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)-Roald Dahl's classic film. Bad things happen to bad kids, plus a terrifying, unforgettable boat ride through footage of writhing snakes and butchered chickens.

The Witches (1990)-Unsettling side story involving a little girl trapped in a painting, plus distinctly un-whimsical scenes of witches as child predators. Thank you, Mr. Dahl!

Matilda (1996)-Another remarkably subversive Dahl story where nearly every adult is either menacing, incompetent, or both. Highlights: an ogreish principal who calls children "wretched piss-ants," and a great cameo by Paul Rubens as an FBI agent.

Mousehunt (1997)-A corpse flips end over end through the air into a manhole. A little girl is dragged screaming from the city pound, a mouse awaits death by nailgun, and a man boasts, "we did it like animals in nature films." Plus LOTS of violent slapstick.

Babe: Pig in the City (1998)-An astonishingly dark and entertaining kid's film from the director of The Road Warrior! In a sequence I still find physically upsetting, a dog slowly drowns, thrashing while other animals watch impassively. Bonuses include amazing swipes at the Drug War (!) and the police.