I delight in making lists, and I delight even more in ranking things. So what better way to combine these two delights than to create Top Ten Tuesdays?
Today’s Top 10 list:
My 10 Favorite Movie Villains Of All Time
(Disclaimer: These are not necessarily the best movie villains using any objective criteria, these are simply my personal favorites using incredibly biased criteria.)
She slept with a married man, then boiled his daughter’s bunny when he spurned her. Do you know what kind of evil it takes to a boil a kid’s bunny? The harming of innocent pets (especially ones with floppy ears) takes evil to a whole new level.
I’m sure this one will be controversial, but to me, Mrs. White is the epitome of ‘crazy bitch’. And she’s religious to boot, which really ups the creep factor. “They’re all gonna laugh at choo! They’re all gonna laugh at choo!” With that kind of shrieking, it’s no wonder Carrie flung knives at her telekinetically.
The shark doesn’t have a single line in the movie, but the mere sight of its fin strikes terror in your heart. Now that’s what I call Movie Star Quality.
Who could be scarier than a psychotic, murderous, sledgehammer-wielding nurse who can’t bring herself to say the word ‘fuck’? Nobody, you stupid cockadoodie brat.
Twitchy, with a face that looks like it’s melting… it was hard to watch Ledger’s interpretation of The Joker without getting chills. But it’s a gleeful kind of horror, because, well, “Why so serious?”
5. Jack Torrance – The Shining
Jack Nicholson plays a boozy, grizzly writer who spirals into madness. Then he tries to REDRUM his wife and son. He must be DEPPOTS!
The original vampire love story. Vlad the Impaler and Mina Murray are the original Edward and Bella, but they’re so much more interesting because Vlad’s kind of fugly and Mina’s engaged to someone else.
3. Regan MacNeil – The Exorcist
She’s a 12-year-old girl possessed by a demon. What’s a mother to do? You can’t kill her. You can’t send her to her room (she’s already there, tied to the bed). There’s no point in grounding her because she has no friends (nobody wants to play with a possessed kid). She curses like a sailor and vomits on people. All a mother can do is love her… and she definitely has a face only a mother could love.
2. John Doe – Se7en
He commits a series of murders based on the Seven Deadly Sins (quick, name them all without Googling!). This story is brilliantly plotted, and the fact that we never learn John Doe’s true identity keeps the movie in your head for days after you’ve watched it.
I’m sure you saw this one coming. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a villain who’s smarter than all the other characters put together. My favorite line is from Hannibal, the second film. Says Lecter to Inspector Pazzi, “On a similar note I must confess to you, I’m giving very serious thought… to eating your wife.”
And an honorable mention goes to…
Jame Gumb, a.k.a. Buffalo Bill – Silence of the Lambs
Not that he could ever upstage Lecter, but this dude made clothes out of real human skin. Skin! “It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.” Yeah, don’t do the lotion. Let your skin peel and crack and dry out so he can’t wear you!
Who are your favorite movie villains?
Lex Luthor (Superman) Comically annoying yet still badass.
Barney Cousins (The Vanishing) This guy always creeped me out, and it doesn't help that I'm claustrophic either! (You have to have seen the movie!)
Fantastic list! John Doe would be my top pick.
I'd add early Freddy Krueger…I was afraid to go to sleep for a while there….
BARNEY COUSINS! Played by Jeff Bridges. Brilliant choice, Mel!
Also agree about Freddy Kreuger — he was always scarier to me than Jason Voorhees.
I wonder if we made this list 100 villains long, what we'd come up with.
Wow, great list!
John Doe from Se7en was a crazy as shit villain and I would not have thought of Jaws.
Here is my top 5 villains missed
5. The Borg – easily the best Star Trek villains of all time – resistance is futile
4. Agent Smith – The Matrix
3. Col. Hans Landa – Inglorious Bastards – dude was awesome!!! Not many villains speak 4 languages.
2. Max Cady – Cape Fear – crazy muscled tattooed freak
1. Darth Vader – Empire Strikes Back – Need I say more.
I can't wait to see what you do for next weeks top ten list.