Checklist: 20 Terrifying Star Wars Moments

Oh sure, it's easy to sit back and watch the Geonosian arena scene of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones with a certain sense of detachment, a smug know-it-all assurance in the back of your mind that everything you're watching is synthetic. You've seen all the web-docs and the "making of" specials. Some part of you knows that, despite how vivid and solid the creatures appear, that they're apparitions of data painted in rendered light.

But tell that to an eight-year-old. The original Star Wars generation had the wampa or the rancor as nightmare candidates. The prequel generation has a much richer menagerie to choose from, but the acklay deserves special mention. The critters from the classics did not pounce and pound with the vigor displayed by this bright green terror. Its pick-like claws rending holes in the hard-packed soil, its blind rage knocking over a solid rock pillar, and its chilling high-pitched howl earn the acklay the prime position of the monster from the new trilogy most likely to make kids cry.