Worst2First: My Top Ten Villains in Film

Worst2First:
My Top Ten Villains in Film

Sometimes, it's good to be bad.
There's a basic rule in film that we root for the good guy, and hate the bad guy.  In most instances, this is the case.  However, there's certain films where the villain is so well done, so well acted, that you can't help but root for them and they become your favorite character.
Here are my personal top ten favorite villains in film, worst2first.  As always, there will be no spoilers.

#10

Gordon Gekko

"Wall Street"

Greed is good.  Greed is right.  Greed works.  Despite other villains on this list, Gordon Gekko never tried to take over the world by violence or malice, but rather chose to rule with the iron fist of greed.  In the Oliver Stone film "Wall Street," Michael Douglas gives his Oscar-winning performance as a man who has absolutely no morals or conscience, who will stop at nothing to make another million dollars including bribing, breaking the law, and using inside information.  Despite all his bad intentions, he's become synonymous with Wall Street and money as a whole, and is easily Douglas's career-defining character.

#9

Hans Landa

"Inglorious Basterds"

Michael Caine called Christoph Waltz's Jew Hunter Hans Landa "the best performance of a villain I've seen in years."  It's no wonder Waltz earned himself an Oscar statue for his performance - he's absolute perfection in Quentin Tarantino's World War II film "Inglorious Basterds."  He is truly a psychopath, yet also disarmingly charming and sophisticated, well-versed in intellectualism and eerily funny in a very dark way.  Waltz's performance will not soon be forgotten, and neither will the character he helped create.

#8

Alex DeLarge

"A Clockwork Orange"

When it comes to simply unnerving performances, Malcolm McDowell's Alex DeLarge is high on anyone's list.  In Stanley Kubrick's classic "A Clockwork Orange," McDowell's DeLarge is the epitome of a psychopath, a man with absolutely no conscience or care about right or wrong - he terrorizes the screen in such a way that's strangely entertaining in the darkest of ways.  Plus you'll never hear "Singin' in the Rain" quite the same - fun fact: when McDowell met Gene Kelly at a party, Kelly walked away in disgust at the way his signature tune had been tainted due to McDowell's character.

#7

Annie Wilkes

"Misery"

Any celebrity will tell you their biggest fear is a psychotic fan, and Kathy Bates epitomizes this fan gone crazy in "Misery."  Based off the novel by Stephen King, Bates takes on the character of Annie Wilkes in a way that's absolutely frightening and totally unexpected - and also earned the actress an Oscar.  She can go from nice and sweet to insane and unmerciful at the flip of a coin, and I challenge you to not flinch at the scene where she prevents her helpless captive from escaping.

#6

Anton

"No Country for Old Men"

"Call it, friendo."  Javier Bardem delivers his Oscar-winning performance in "No Country for Old Men" as Anton, a bounty hunter who harbors an insatiable lust for murder as he uses a weapon most people would never think of to achieve his goals.  He's completely unemotional, stoic, and an absolute psycho.  Using a bolt pistol as his weapon of choice, he often flips a coin on his victims to decide whether to spare their lives or not.  Even though he's not the main character in this Coen brothers film, it's his performance that lingers in your mind long after the film ends.

#5

HAL 9000

"2001: A Space Odyssey"

Stanley Kubrick returns to this list thanks to his introduction of artificial intelligence in HAL 9000 from his classic space opera "2001: A Space Odyssey."  As the only non-human villain on this list, HAL is a computer who's seen as a simple red television camera eye that helps add to the unnerving performance by voice actor Douglas Rain.  HAL isn't emotional or irrational, but rather logical and indifferent, its voice never showing inflection, and serves as an unnerving antagonist in this classic film.

#4

Nurse Ratched

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

Louise Fletcher won the Oscar for her unsettling performance as Nurse Ratched in the classic film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," and it's no surprise why.  Her villany is depicted in her ability to rule the mental hospital with an iron fist, exploiting her authority as she terrorizes the patients who are under her.  She dishes out very harsh punishments for those who disobey her, including lobotomy, and she never showcases any remorse or pity for any of it.

#3

Hannibal Lecter

"The Silence of the Lambs"

Despite only appearing in the film for less than twenty minutes, Anthony Hopkins managed to snag a Best Actor Oscar for his now-icnonic portrayal as serial killer cannibal Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs."  Despite spending most of his time in a prison behind glass, Hopkins' Lecter shows he can still cause serious mental harm especially on Jodie Foster's Clarise, be it with his stoic, soft words or the use of his tongue.

#2

The Joker

"The Dark Knight"

The Joker has been portrayed in several different ways in the "Batman" films and television series, but it's Heath Ledger's performance that stands out among them all.  His take on this iconic character in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" is still hailed as one of cinema's best performances, and earned the late actor a posthumous Oscar.  This Joker isn't about cheesy laughs, but pure insanity as even viewers will start believing in his cause - and it's Ledger's performance that eclipses Christian Bale's hero, giving us a purely evil, insane villain who just wants to watch the world  burn.

#1

Darth Vader

"Star Wars"

Despite having his name tarnished a bit with the prequels, there's no greater villain in cinema than Darth Vader, the main bad guy in George Lucas's "Star Wars" films.  Vader serves as a blend of pure evil and pure tragedy, as his pure presence sends shivers in the hearts of viewers.  With James Earl Jones voicing the iconic villain, Vader is an imposing presence in cinema, a calloused and flawed villain who is more than the sum of his parts, who is all the more frightening due to the mask that he wears that shield us from seeing any human emotions - and not to mention that deep breathing.  Plus, I don't think there's another villain who's so well known you hear a song and immediately think of him.