Movie Villains: Best, Most Disturbing, ETC.

Langsta

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I just got done watching Blue Velvet, and anyone who's seen Blue Velvet can probably understand just why I created this thread. Dennis Hopper gives one of the most disturbing performances ever, and that's all I can really say if you haven't seen the movie.

I'm not sure if I would include non-antagonist types like Alex DeLarge or Hannibal Lecter or whatnot ... I'll leave that up to you guys I guess.

Who are your favorite villains? Who are your least favorite? Which ones have made the biggest impact on you?
 
I've been really getting into the Hammer Horror Dracula movies starring Christopher Lee, lately and the performance Lee gives as Dracula (even in the movies where he's barely given anything to do) is mesmerising and certainly among the best and most villainous acting I've ever seen.
 
I've been really getting into the Hammer Horror Dracula movies starring Christopher Lee, lately and the performance Lee gives as Dracula (even in the movies where he's barely given anything to do) is mesmerising and certainly among the best and most villainous acting I've ever seen.

It's interesting that aside from the Hammer films, Lee also portrayed a white-haired, moustached Dracula in Jesus Franco's unrelated COUNT DRACULA. I haven't seen it so I wonder how his performance in that movie differs from his performance in the Hammer films.
 
A lot of the best "villains" are pretty much just particularly deranged anti-heroes, like Lecter, D-Fens, Travis Bickle, Betelgeuse, etc. I don't really count them for this. I also won't count villainous forces without individual definition like the aliens from Signs or War of the Worlds, even though they're some of the best. The ones I'm thinking of for here are characters who are actually evil and you hope to see lose, but are still extremely cool and exciting and tempting to emulate along the way. The ones you really love to hate, in contrast to the ones who you just despise and want to go away, like Nurse Ratchet. I think my three favourite cinema villains overall would be Jack Nicholson Joker, Captain Hook in Hook, and Magneto. But I'd also like to rule out ones that started as literary characters, so here're my picks:

Scar from The Lion King. He's got all the best stuff about classic Shakespearian and Bond villains, and while wanting to take over a country or kingdom or the world or whatever is really common, Scar is one of the few villains that actually makes that want extremely believable, appealing and personal. He also has the best villain song of pretty much anyone.

Palpatine is spot-on as a villain, but he's even better as a concept. The secret festering thing at the center of all the other villainy, something ancient and far gone and on a different level from everything you've seen so far. See also the Xenomorph Queen.

Despite being one of the most common motives, Syndrome from The Incredibles is the definitive revenge-based villain to me. We actually get to see him in a few moments of triumph, and they're perfect. His dialogue gets all the right intentions and emotions across and his methods and gadgets are as cool as 'why' he became a villain.

I still think Scream is the best slasher flick ever and the Ghostface Killer a total icon, the face of random, chaotic fear in the '90s. All the meta-motives involved(including in the very capable sequels) are brilliant.

The villain in The Usual Suspects. Great to begin with for a lot of the same reasons as Palpatine, but trying to really imagine what goes on in his head is what makes him shockingly unique and disturbing.
 
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The villain in The Usual Suspects. Great to begin with for a lot of the same reasons as Palpatine, but trying to really imagine what goes on in his head is what makes him shockingly unique and disturbing.

Please. Anyone who doesn't know the twist of the Usual Suspects yet deserves to have it spoiled.

That's right, all you hypothetical Usual Suspects virgins out there...

34747.jpg


Chad Paparazzi did it.
 
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Pope in Animal Kingdom is the film villain of the year for me so far.
 
Pope in Animal Kingdom is the film villain of the year for me so far.

Pfft. It's from Australia, it can't be good.

Australia already met its lifetime awesome film and awesome character quotas with Mad Max and Crocodile Dundee.
 
Please. Anyone who doesn't know the twist of the Usual Suspects yet deserves to have it spoiled.
Reminds me of this, at 50seconds

[video=youtube;YkB4Amf8Ex4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkB4Amf8Ex4[/video]
 
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