Top 10 Movie Villains
I've always enjoyed great movies and I've always thought that the some of the best movies are those that have the best villains. What I consider a "best villain" might be different from what you consider equal to claiming that title. However, for me, I see a great movie villain as being realistic enough to believe, but fantastic enough to be in a movie. A great performance, plus great direction and screenwriting still do not a great villain make... it's that something that makes you shudder during their confrontations with the protagonist. So here they are, in no particular order.
Top 10 Movie Villains
1. Mr. Glass (Samuel L Jackson) in "Unbreakable." Yeah, Sam Jackson is cool. Add to that a complex, quirky character with an insanely horrible affliction and a cleverly concealed motivation and you've got one of the Top 10 movie villains of all time.
2. Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in "The Silence of the Lambs" - I mean, really. Do I need to say anything more? His name is a household word. That's an effective movie villain.
3. Magneto (Ian McKellan) in the "X-Men" series - His regal presence and bearing convey an authority and a sense of dangerous intelligence that is frightening... because it equals and/or surpasses that of the good guys and because we can't be entirely sure that he's one of the "bad guys."
4. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) in "Psycho" - Alfred Hitchcock and Perkins' creation is intensely complex and that complexity is the most frightening thing about him. The presence of this movie villain and his "mother" are enough to keep you awake for days after watching it.
5. Darth Vader (David Prowse; James Earl Jones) in the "Star Wars" films - Once again, a villain who has become a household name? A movie villain classic.
6. King Kong (various incarnations) - Time and again, we see a 5-story tall ape becomse a relatable character that we find ourselves - in some weird way - caring about.
7. Calvera (Eli Wallach) in "The Magnificent Seven" - You just don't get cooler than a Mexican bandito who's cocky enough to take on Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn.
8. Phyllis Deitrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) in "Double Indemnity" - This femme fatale helped pave the way for countless others and became a noir classic. Her seduction and puppeteering of Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) was without peer and started an avalanche of femme fatale wanna'be's.
9. Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" - The classic comic portrayal of a High School Dean bent on capturing Senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) in the act of skipping school was beyond hilarious... he was underappreciated and was at least half the reason the movie has become such a success and classic.
10. The Two Crazy Kids from "Elephant" - Yeah, they creep me out. I work with teenagers full-time and have seen everything under the sun... and these kids still creep me out. Yeeeech.