Movie Critic's Club's Top 10 Movie Villains

We love to root for the heroes. We eagerly wait for them to conquer the forces of evil, and give one more point to the good guys. But how could we root for these heroes if they didn't have a truly magnificent villain to compete with? Villains have fascinated since the beginning of time, from the biblical Devil all the way to early folk tale monsters like The Big Bad Wolf.

Films have presented humans with a new medium of showing evil, whether the characters are based on figures from mankind's past or whether they are completely original works of terror. Today, on Halloween, Movie Critic's Club looks at the best of these evildoers on the big screen. Enter, if you dare, the list of film's greatest warmongers, murderers, and psychopaths. Be prepared to scream in terror as you celebrate the one day of the year where the forces of evil come out on top.

Welcome to Movie Critic's Club's Top 10 Movie Villains.

10. Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) from Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)

"They cast a spell on you, you know, the Jews. When you work closely with them, like I do, you see this. They have this power. It's like a virus."

Nazi's are the epitome of evil in mankind's history. Nazi villain Amon Goeth- the brutal leader of a concentration camp in World War II Poland- remains one the most vicious humans ever seen. During his rule in Poland, Goeth viciously murders dozens of Jews for virtually no reason whatsoever. He feels nothing for them; even his Jewish housemaid, who he becomes fascinated by, is beat on a daily basis just for accusations of "seducing him". Goeth shoots Jews from his balcony, brings orders to dozens of murders, and personally led the devastating liquidation of the Jewish ghetto of Krakow. A monster based on a real-life historical figure, Ralph Fienne's chilling performance of what Spielberg termed as "sexual evil" remains one of the greatest historical performances of all time.


9. Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) from Fatal Attraction (Adrian Lyne, 1987)

"Well, what am I supposed to do? You won't answer my calls, you change your number. I mean, I'm not gonna be ignored, Dan!"

Every adulterous married man's worst nightmare: a stalker mistress who just won't leave him alone. Alex Forrest single-handedly lowered the cheating rate among husbands for a few months in the aftermath of Fatal Attraction. The term "bunny boiler" comes from this vengeful lady determined to get her man. There's no stopping this criminally insane editor, and Michael Douglas certainly tries. It takes several intense fist fights and house intrusions for her to finally slow down, before she truly crosses the line by kidnapping Michael Douglas's daughter from school in an effort to "spend more time with her." Alex still sends chills down men's spines. Beware of cheating. You've been warned.


8. Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) from Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)

"I wanted this to be professional, efficient, adult, cooperative. Not a lot to ask. Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way. So, he won't be joining us for the rest of his life... Have no illusions. We are in charge."

The fashionably cool thief Hans Gruber from Die Hard has inspired dozens of imitators. His legion of German henchman are deadly efficient, and people keep underestimating the lengths which Hans is willing to go. After his calculated takeover of the Nakatomi Plaza building, he coldly murders Mr. Takagi as an example, and quickly does the same to office nuisance Harry Ellis. He goes toe-to-toe with Detective John McClane, forcing the hero to think on his feet and almost defeating the no-nonsense cop. Hans Gruber's deeply passionate efforts, as well as his skillful manipulation of Detective McClane's wife Holly, makes him a great movie villain. Yippe-kay-ay.


7. Maleficent (Eleanor Audley) from Sleeping Beauty (prod. Walt Disney, 1959)

"No you shall deal with me, and all the powers of Hell!"

Singularly the scariest and greatest Disney Villain, Maleficent represents all the jealous rage in the world. Angered by her lack of an invitation to Princess Aurora's birth, Maleficent curses the young princess to touch a spindle on a spinning wheel and die on her 16th birthday. No matter how hard the kingdom tries, Aurora falls victim to Maleficent's cruel curse. Vindictive until the bitter end, the evil fairy turns into a deadly, fire-breathing dragon to combat the courageous Prince Phillip. No other Disney Villain has stuck with viewers more so than Maleficent. Her devastating insanity questions all that we know about what Disney is capable of creating. Maleficent has expanded to even greater evilness through the various expanded universes of Disney, taking the lead antagonistic roles in the video game franchise Kingdom Hearts as well as the Kingdom Keepers book series.


6. T-800 "The Terminator" (Arnold Schwarzenegger) from The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)

"I'll be back."

With superhuman strength, brilliant logic, an outward appearance of being a simple human, and the ability to mask his own voice for someone else's, The Terminator is the perfect killing machine. For these reasons and more, villainous computer Skynet sends one of their T-800 models to past to kill Sarah Connor- the mother of visionary human resistance leader John Connor. He can't be stopped, he can't be killed, he can't be bargained with. His only purpose and mission in life is to kill. Sarah Connor and her future protector Kyle Reese can barely stop him themselves. Several sequels and spin-offs turned the T-800 into a hero and protector of John Connor, but no other Terminator remains as terrifying as the original T-800.


5. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) from You Only Live Twice (prod. Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, 1967)

"I shall look forward to personally exterminating you, Mr. Bond."

It took four movies for evil organization SPECTRE's leader to show his face. And what a terrifying face he has. With a scar on his eye, and an iconic Persian white cat cradled in his arms, Ernst Stavro Blofeld is the baddest of all the Bond villains. He tries to end the space program, but when he fails, he makes killing Bond his personal mission in life. He's one of the few villains who underestimates James Bond, and although he thinks he can beat him, knows how dangerous a foe James Bond has become.

Blofeld's most evil act comes not from You Only Live Twice, but rather On Her Majesty's Secret Service. In that film, after Bond foils yet another one of his plots, Blofeld plots the ultimate vengeance against 007. On the way home from his wedding, James Bond stops the car for a brief moment to check something out. But, during the stop, another car comes speeding past his vehicle. In this speeding car is none other than Blofled and his henchman Irma Blunt, who riddles the car with bullets. Bond is untouched, but his wife, Tracy, is dead, a bullet right through her head. Blofeld is the one enemy who actually defeats James Bond, and ensures that the British secret agent will never have a normal life. And for this, Blofeld joins the ranks of pure evil.


4. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) from Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

"We all go a little mad sometimes."

One of cinema's most shocking villains, Norman Bates demonstrates all that can go wrong by being a little to close to your mother. Hitchcock shows how easily we can be misled as movie goers. We honestly believe that Norman is a good boy, misguided but still ultimately kind and lonely. We sympathize with him, all the way up to the shattering revelation of his true mindset. With the screeching violins in the background, and the quick cuts to a shadowed "mother" and the screaming Marion Crane, the infamous shower scene still terrifies women to this day, and changes what we know about the movie villain.

Psychologically challenged and hopelessly obsessed, Norman tries so hard to move past his mother. But, as the psychologist explains, he both wants and hates the part of him that is his "mother". Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant marketing campaign, which forced moviegoers to keep both silent and punctual, added to the terror that was Norman Bates. Anthony Perkins may have been snubbed an Oscar nomination, but his performance has gone down in history as one of the craziest.


3. Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) from The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

Named the greatest film villain of all time by the American Film Institute, it's hard to argue that Dr. Hannibal Lecter isn't one of the best. Anthony Hopkins is both chilling and haunting as the brilliant psychiatrist Hannibal, and has amazing chemistry with leading heroine Clarice Starling. People love quoting his creepy lines, from his fava beans dinner all the way up to his final, parting promise of having "an old friend for dinner."

What makes Hannibal such a great villain is his sheer memorability. In the 118 minutes of The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins only physically appears in 16 minutes of the final cut. He's in a cage for most of the film, causing people to associate the character as a monster who has to be caged. Hannibal's escape is one the single greatest sequences in movie history, and the famous face mask is an iconic film prop. Hopkins even won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1991 for his role. "Hannibal the Cannibal", as news tabloids affectionally called him, has terrified audiences for two decades, and promises to do so in the next decade and beyond.


2. The Joker (Heath Ledger) from The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

"Why so serious?"

Some of you may ask, "how could a character from a movie made only four years ago rank so high on the greatest film villains ever?" Well, you've answered your own question. It's the fact that Heath Ledger is still so memorable after only four years that he ranks so high on this list. The Joker is pure evil, pure and absolute madness. He epitomizes all that is wrong in the world, and represents our darkest fears of the unknown, the random, and the anarchy of life itself.

Heath Ledger's highly entertaining performance, which surpasses all other Joker incarnations before him (yes, Jack Nicholson included), will go down as one of film's best. His delightfully maddening demeanor makes for a fantastic villain. He tortures Batman in almost every way imaginable, right down to making him choose between saving the love of his life or the one man who can save Gotham City from total corruption. The Joker's sheer randomness makes him impossible to predict, and as such forces the heroes to work harder than ever before, and rightfully takes his place among the greatest film villains of all time.


1. Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones) from Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (created by George Lucas, 1980)

"No. I am your father."

The ultimate movie villain, Darth Vader should at no surprise top the list of the greatest movie villain of all time. The Dark Side of the Force is strong with this one. During his sophomore appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, Vader single-handedly kills two of his leading generals, tortures and freezes Han Solo, cuts Luke Skywalker's hand off, and plots to turn his only son into an evil henchman of The Emperor. Top that, other movie villains.

George Lucas created Darth Vader to be epitome of villainy. The classic good vs. evil tale of Star Wars allows room for Darth Vader to truly conquer all aspects of being a bad guy. And, just when we thought we knew him so well, Vader throws a plot twist by saying that he's the father of Luke Skywalker. At subsequent viewings of the film, we see a whole other angle to Darth Vader. We realize that he's not merely a villain, but an anti-hero we can't help but sympathize and fall in love with. A favorite amongst most moviegoers of all ages, no one can top the Dark Lord of the Sith: Darth Vader.


Thank you for joining us today on Movie Critic's Club's Top 10 Movie Villains. Happy Halloween!

Here are some villainous runner-ups:

Phyliss Dietrichson, Double Indemnity
Mrs. Iselin, The Manchurian Candidate
Scar, The Lion King
The Shark, Jaws
Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

*NOTE: I am crediting the following characters and their respective films with both the actor who portrayed them and the member of the crew most responsible for that character’s development in the accredited film. In most cases this crewmember is the director; however, for Sleeping Beauty, You Only Live Twice, and Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back, I have listed either the producers or the creators of the character, as I feel that they have had the most creative impact on the development of the villain. 

Monsters in Cinema

With Halloween next week, the Horror Season in full swing, and Universal Studios still on the cusp of their 100th Anniversary celebrations, Movie Critic's Club is looking at monsters in the movies. These infamous characters ("Universal Monsters" as they have so admirably been dubbed) are not the modern blend of bloody and cheap thrills that recent monster flicks like Piranha 3D contain, but rather cold villains that still manage to scare audiences to this day. Happy Halloween, and welcome to the Monsters in Cinema.


In the early days of Universal Studios, horror-defining films Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Hunchback of Notre Dame gave way for the studio to finance more movies in the horror genre. After the success of The Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney as the mysterious and tortured Phantom, Universal Studios jumped on the fast track for breaking the line on horror films.

Universal Studios continued their reign of horror films into the Great Depression and beyond, hardly slowing down even in the wake of horrible economic conditions. The 1930's-1950's featured large amounts of legendary monsters that were escalated by high success rates and several sequels. These monsters include:

• Dracula- The first in the long line of Universal Monsters, Bela Lugosi's now iconic performance of the demonic vampire impressed moviegoers even before the Twilight phase. He's still known for tempting his "children of the night" and sucking the blood from screaming women all over the globe. A Shakespearean-like villain, Dracula has since appeared in a few sequels and stands as #33 in the American Film Institute's list of the Top 50 Movie Villains of all time. 

• Frankenstein- The greatest amount of sequels comes from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein film franchise, spearheaded by star Boris Karloff (who many of you will memorably know best as the Grinch from the animated classic Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas). The sequels were usually good, too, with Bride of Frankenstein still a standout among the horror genre. "IT'S ALIVE!" 

• The Mummy- Before the 90's turned it into a decent action franchise, Universal's The Mummy prompted fear in the dead Egyptian pharaoh. The Mummy was again portrayed by horror icon Boris Karloff.
• The Invisible Man- The Invisible Man was an intelligent film about science gone wrong. Insanity is the theme of this monster flick, and even though it does try and simply entertain the audience with a lot of scares, it still presents an interesting message on the morals of science.
• The Wolf Man- With the son of the Phantom himself, Lon Chaney, Jr., in front of the screen, this howling terror made viewers afraid of a full moon. Fun Fact: Unlike other horror actors like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr. continued to portray the Wolf Man through all of the character's films, unprecedented in the time of recasting cheaper actors for sequels. 
• The Creature from the Black Lagoon- The 1950's started to show Universal Studios slowing down in their output of monster movies. However, with the release of The Creature of the Black Lagoon in 1954, audiences showed the studio that they were still very interested in Universal Monster films. The audience surge promoted several re-releases in the theaters and the monsters appearances on TV stations across the nation.

Though the days of Frankenstein and Dracula eventually started to die down, and Universal Studios began to establish itself as a more "serious" film studio, there are still remnants of the Golden Age of Horror to this day. People cannot escape movie theaters in October without seeing ads for at least one new scary monster film. Children still dress up for Halloween as werewolves, vampires, and mummies. 

Universal Studios still outputs a great Universal Monster movie at least once a decade. They briefly left their Monsters during the 1960's when they contracted Alfred Hitchcock to produce horror films like Psycho and The Birds. But, they came back with a vengeance in 1975 when they financed Steven Spielberg's legendary shark movie Jaws. Spielberg crafted a classic horror film that became the first "true" blockbuster and a model for all subsequent thrillers. People still hum the theme song whenever they bravely step foot in the ocean. 

The 1980's saw John Carpenter's The Thing, the 1990's had Spielberg back for Jurassic Park, and the 2000's featured Peter Jackson's modern day facelift of King Kong. The bottom line is that Universal Monsters may not be seeing a new Frankenstein or Wolf Man movie every couple months, but the Universal Monsters still continue to leave an impact on the film industry to this day. 

Enjoy your favorite monsters in the movies, and come back next week as we celebrate Movie Critic's Club's Top 10 Movie Villains.  

Flashback Friday: Singin' in the Rain (Donen and Kelly, 1952)

They just don't make 'em like they used to. The long, continuous shots of real dancing. A 15-minute ballet sequence that serves (at first glance) no purpose. The hilarious, fast-paced punchlines. All is well in this film- this truly is a feel-good movie. And it's what makes it one of the greatest musicals of all time. Today on Flashback Friday, we're Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952). 

The movie musical was booming in the late 1940's and early 1950's. One of the most successful producers of this specialized genre, Arthur Freed (who produced such mega-hits as The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, and An American in Paris), worked closely with screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green to create a story that could feature songs from older MGM musicals. The result was an inside look behind the glitz and glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age of silent films.

Gene Kelly, who also co-directed and ingeniously provided the choreography of the film, stars as silent movie star Don Lockwood. He and his best friend, Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) , rise to the top of Monumental Pictures, with the unwanted help of Lockwood's main co-star Lina Lamont (played by Academy Award-nominated actress Jean Hagen).

After the successful premiere of his latest film, a series of circumstances places Lockwood right next to Debbie Reynold's dancing actress Kathy Selden. The two, after a brief fight, begin to care for one another, and Don helps his newfound love develop her film career. But, Don Lockwood still has to contend with Lina Lamont, a babbling, no-talent idiot with a secret agenda of her own.

Power-team (but secret rivals) Lockwood and Lamont suffer a major setback in their latest production of The Dueling Cavalier with the release of Warner Brother's The Jazz Singer- the first "talkie" that featured sound in a movie. After The Jazz Singer's phenomenal success, all the major picture studios decide to end all silent pictures in favor of building up their "talkie" films (based on real-life events, though Monumental Pictures is a fake film studio). Don Lockwood, along with his friends, works with the studio to create a full-sound musical to help their re-named and overhauled film The Dancing Cavalier reach success. But, with Lina Lamont secretly plotting against them, and the studio's recent troubles with sound equipment, all of the trio's hard work may be in vain. 

Singin' in the Rain serves as the modern model for the "perfect" musical- a fairly simple plot mixed with heavy dancing and singing scenes. Every character, while in today's standards are relatively plain and one-dimensional, still manages to entertain the audience. Gene Hagen's Brooklyn-accented Lina is such a nuisance throughout the movie that she remains one of the most memorable villains in film history, though she poses no direct threat to the heroes (minus a few clashes with Kathy). Plus, who can't help but at least smile when she says, "What do they think I am, dumb or something? Why, I make more money than Calvin Coolidge! Put together!"

The famous "Singin' in the Rain" dance number has become one of the most timeless scenes in movie history, with people all around the world still splashing in the puddles to the tune of the song. The songs themselves are miracles in their own right; every one is a former musical hit of MGM from the 1920's. Now, songs like "Good Morning" and "Make 'em Laugh"are remembered for their parts in this particular movie.

And what about the infamous 15-minute "Broadway Melody" sequence? At first viewing, its inclusion is random and completely pointless. Audiences spend the whole scene waiting for it to relate to something, but it never does. So what's the point? Truth is- it's a giant gimmick. Initial advertisements for the film told audiences that Singin' in the Rain featured the first ever 15-minute dance sequence, "The Broadway Melody". Also, it was a chance to include famous ballerina Cyd Charisse in the opening credits and trailers. Still don't get the point? Marketing, marketing, marketing.

Devoured by film scholars in recent years for its subtle yet touching depiction of the movie industry, Singin' in the Rain has passed initial speculations and has grown up to become one of the most studied films in movie history. It broke the top ten in AFI's 100 Greatest Films of All Time at #5, and topped the institution's list of the Greatest Movie Musicals of All Time.

Singin' in the Rain makes viewers feel good from beginning to end. We laugh at all of Cosmo's jokes, cry at the romantic scenes between Don and Kathy, and tap along to the tunes. One of the most fun, innocent, and heartwarming films ever made, Singin' in the Rain remains a highly successful musical that has more to say than most people think.

In the immortal words of Gene Kelly, "I'm singin' in the rain. Just singin' in the rain. What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again!" So are we, Mr. Gene Kelly. So are we.

Looper (Johnson, 2012)

A man, world-weary and scared of the future, travels back in time to kill a child who will one day grow up to take over the gangster world and cause all kinds of havoc. Someone else, aware of the future and not willing to change its outcome, tries to stop the other man from destroying the timeline. Twenty-five years ago, a person would say that this movie was Terminator. Now, the current generation will call this film Looper. Either way, the plot still makes for fantastic storytelling. 

Rian Johnson creates a unique visual world in his sci-fi thriller Looper (2012), with a weary future that does not seem too far out of believability in today's constantly evolving technological landscape. In the year 2074, gangsters will control black-market time machines. When their goons capture these gangster's rivals, the new solution is to send their enemies back into the past- where men in the past stand in waiting with a shotgun. 

These "loopers" collect large sums of money- until the gangsters decide to "close the loop" and send the looper's future selves back to the past. The loopers of the past effectively kill themselves- a sign that they have thirty years to live the rest of their lives before the gangsters in the future return to send them back to their deaths in a never-ending loop. 

This part of the film only serves as the backstory to a dramatized tale about one such looper named Joe, played in heavy make-up by Joseph Gordon Levitt. Living in a bleak, urban setting, Joe is a successful looper who has a friend in the looper's future-born handler (Jeff Daniels) and rivals with another looper determined to prove himself (Noah Segan). He has made a good living learning French to impress a waiter, and continues to stash money away for the future. 

When Joe gets assigned his next kill, he returns to his given field to find a man (Bruce Willis) without the normal face cover. Joe hesitates to kill this man, and as such, the man from the future avoids the gun shot and manages to subdue Joe. But this is no ordinary man. He is also Joe- the future Joe, sent from the future to "close the loop". But he has now escaped, and now young Joe is on the run from his own employers for allowing a man from the future to run free. Bruce Willis' older Joe is now hunting a child who will one day grow up to be the man who ruins Joe's future. Joseph Gordon Levitt's Joe takes refuge at a farm owned by the protective mother (Emily Blunt) of a young boy. Now, young Joe must find a way to stop old Joe and retake his life without risking losing his job and still having to face "closing the loop" later. 

Confused yet? 

Looper succeeds as a movie because it makes viewers think about their own lives. It offers an interesting conundrum: Can people risk changing the past if what they do affects the future so heavily that the new future is not even the same as before? 

The convoluted plot makes more sense during the actual film. It establishes both the past world of the loopers and the future world of Bruce Willis well, though it remains a little too bleak at certain times. Sometimes its hard to follow the many facets of time travel that show up throughout the film, but as a rule most of the questions will be answered by the end (note: most of the questions). 

Bruce Willis gives his typically grisly performance as the ticked off man trying to save his future. Joseph Gordon Levitt's make-up is a little distracting at the beginning, but viewers will eventually get used to the unnaturally thick eyebrows and blue eyes that will one day be the trademark face of Bruce Willis. 

If Looper has any major faults, it's that its originality is not so original. Many people and critics will probably hail this movie has a "creative masterpiece", but Looper serves better as a sentimental allusion to other movies in the field. 

The attempt to kill a kid before he grows up to be a threat to those in power? The Terminator franchise. A romance that can never be due to the woman's commitment to another person? Casablanca. Avoiding talking about the future in order to protect the past? Back to the Future. 

Looper is creative, and, in a sense, original. The most "original" film of the year? Not really. A decent action film with a pulse-pouding thrills and intense action sequences? For the most part. A plot, though a little borrowed, that still manages to keep viewers on the edge of their seats and constantly thinking about the choices they make? Most definitely.

Three and a half out of five stars.