longbough

Some movie characters are just so "vile" they're unforgettable. Here are a handfull off the top of my head.

Noah Cross (John Houston) in Chinatown - Spoiler: we discover that he's the biological father of his own granddaughter having raped his own daughter (Faye Dunaway) at the age of 12. At the end he takes custody of his granddaughter ... makes me queasy. I can't even look at John Houston in film without cringing anymore.

Harvey Keitel's character in The Bad Lieutenant - he was just too convincingly unsavory ... Spoiler: which really amplified the impact of his convincing epiphany at the end

The kidnapper in The Vanishing (I'm talking about the original Dutch film not the Hollywood remake)

Max Cady (Robert DeNiro) in Cape Fear - I'm afraid I didn't see the original so I can't compare

spongy

Colm Feore was so great in "Storm of the Century", an ABC miniseries written by Stephen King, that when i saw his as Meg Ryan's Fiance in "City of Angels" I not only cringed, but actually made a fist.. quite a visceral reaction for me.

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Gilda

Mrs. Davenport in Antwone Fisher. Every time she appeared on screen I wanted to strangle the life out her. She gets me more than most because she seems so real, and was based in part on the real Antwone Fisher's foster mother.

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Willravel

-I liked Escobar Gallardo from the first season of Nip/Tuck. As ashamed as I am to admit it, I've become accustomed to the stupid drug dealer. The stupid gang banger. The stupid pimp. The diabolically inteligent dealer/gangster/pimp was something that we don't see often enough, and he managed to be incredibly cruel while maintaining a sick sense of ironic humor and two very smart doctors under his thumb. Spoiler: I look forward to his character's return in season 4. Just you wait, it's going to be something.

-The entire cast of Sin City. Nuff said.

-Le Chiffre, Casino Royale. If a screening comes to your town, don't pass this one up. It's incredible. Spoiler: The torture scene involving James Bond being at the mercy of Le Chiffre is something that will stay with me for the rest of my days.

-The Joker, as portreied by Jack Nicholson. Oh man, is that going to be hard to top. Dark and sinister, but with the humor that makes you laugh but feel badly about it later. There's a lot to be said for evil clowns.

-Alien, you know, from Alien. I don't know what kind of intelect that the alien posessed, but the term 'evil' always seemed applicable to the viceral incarnation of fear that hunted your nightmares. Ridley Scott is a genius.

-Livia Soprano, a.k.a. Tony Soprano's mother. YEESH, she was one very despicable character that somehow managed to elicit sympathy even to the end. Spoiler: When she arranged with Corrado to have Tony whacked, I wanted to punch my TV.

Elphaba

Louise Fletcher in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

Marlon Brandon in "Apocolypse Now".

Another vote for DeNiro in "Cape Fear".

Anthony Perkins in "Psycho".

Anthony Hopkins in "Hannibal".

SirLance

Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber, in Die Hard. Superbly done.

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Ch'i

100% with you on that one. Did you know that movie is the most watched Christmas movie ever?
Robert De Niro's wife in "Casino." : I'm not sure if she was evil, but she made me more angry than any movie character ever has.

The alien from "Alien.": That shot of it hanging in the docks while it was raining was brilliant. The subtety in that movie was amazing. It set the bar, which was then trampled on by newer horror movies.

Sir Ben Kingsley in "Sexy Beast." : "Nononono! No! No! Nono! No!"

The birds in "Birds" : Couple hundred thousand ill tempered birds can be quite a thing.

Charlatan

Kimberley Joyce in Pretty Persuasion. The film was populated with the most misanthropic characters ever assembled in one ensemble.

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shakran

No one's mentioned Hannibal Lechter yet?

ngdawg

Christopher Walken in Nick of Time. If you haven't seen this, get it. I'm convinced Walken started his comedy/dancing bits on SNL and elsewhere to try and wipe out the memory of this evil character.....

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Elphaba

Post #5: Still sends chills up my spine.

Uncle Pony

Tobin Bell as Jigsaw from Saw and Saw II.

ratbastid

-The entire cast of Sin City. Nuff said.

You're kidding! The ENTIRE cast? Marv? Dwight? Hartigan!?

Now, Kevin, The Yellow Bastard, and Archbishop Roark are just fucking EVIL. And that doesn't begin to get into characters from the books that don't appear in the movie.

maleficent

Anne Wilkes (Kathy Bates) in Misery
Dr. Szell (laurence olivier) in marathon man -- Is it safe????
mrs Danvers(Judith anderson) in Rebecca
Travis Bickle (robert deniro) in Taxi Driver
alonzo (Denzel washington)-in training day
Max cady (robert mitchum) in cape fear
Gordon Gecko ( michael douglas) in wall street
Mrs Islin (angela lansbury) in the manchurian candidate
Gregore anton (charles boyer) in gaslight (perhaps a honorable mention to angela lansburyin that movie as well - as the manipulative maid)

late addition:
Nurse Ratchet (Louise Fletcher) in One flew over the cuckoos nest

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Nikilidstrom

Two evil charaters that will always stick with their actors no matter what other role they play are Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs, and Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket.

I cannot watch Ted Levine or D'Onofrio in any other show without seeing those characters.

And I know Pyle wasn't technically evil, but watching him transform over the first half of the film from a harmless simpleton to a hate filled timebomb waiting to explode was chilling. And it doesn't help that D'Onofrio has played several lowlifes in his career.

maleficent

DeNiro is a pansy ass compare to the evil that was robert mitchum.. watch the original - the daughter is way less slutty but the movie is much better... much much better.. polly bergen as the mom and gregory peck as the dad.. and telly savales with hair... it's worth seeing...

Mitchum was an absolute sociopath in the movie... and working with the movie censors that he had back then... he was a lot scarier... and a lot more menacing than deNiro
Tim Curry as Pennywise the clown in Stephen King's It was pretty darn evil


Speaking of Robert Mitchum... the preacher character he played in Night of the Hunter...

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snowy

Totally, totally agree...Private Pyle and D'Onofrio's performance in FMJ was immediately what came to my mind when I saw this thread. D'Onofrio is such an amazing actor, and he's fuckin' scary sometimes--even on Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

But Buffalo Bill gave me nightmares, and he's the only villain in a movie who has ever done that.

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Lady Sage

Absolutely Hannibal
Alan Rickman has had a few... Die Hard and his version of the Sheriff of Nottingham

Several of the villians from the Hellraiser series.

jth

Darth Vader man... especially from Empire Strikes Back

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Bill O'Rights

The Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

What?
Well he was scary!

Hey, Mal!
Y'know...I've noticed something.
We watch a lot of the same classic movies.

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maleficent

it's surely not because we're old is it?


oooh the scariest of alll Man in the movie Bambi... or Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty...

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snowy

Alan Rickman is a great villain, but he's too sexy to be scary.

Especially as Professor Severus Snape (obligatory picture):


I dedicate this post to Atropos and my Miss ShaniFaye.

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fresnelly

This thread got me to thinking about villains whose malevolence is more than necessary.

I'm watching the first season of Deadwood right now and Swearington (sp?) is over the top phychotic. It's almost like has a quota of murders to meet per episode. That's one cold bastard.

I had to look him up so maybe he doesn't count, but Ben Gazzara as Patrick Swayze's nemisis in Roadhouse is another one of these guys. He has umpteen number of people killed, just to keep control of the drug action at one podunk bar in a small town? If only he had diversified, he wouldn't have gotten his butt whooped by the best bouncer that ever bounced.

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Leto

Deadwood rules. I'm on episode 5 of Season 2 at the moment. Swearingon does tend to a) endear himself over time, or b) desensitize you, the viewer over time (cocksucker!)

For me the villain that always has me gripped in the wonderment of callous disregard was James Remar's portrayal of Albert Ganz in 48 Hours. His, at the time, unthinking spray of gunfire into a crowded subway station, or string of dead bodies, just beggard the imagination in 1982.

I am also entranced by Gary Oldmans portrayal of Dracula in 1992. Shiver.

Bill O'Rights

Phhhtt
Old, my ass!
Older. Well seasoned. experienced.

The chronography's got nothing to do with it. Most of the movies we watch were filmed way before either of us were born.

It's taste, baby!
You and me...we got taste.

I'll prove it...
Cary Grant..or Brad Pitt?

Yeah...I thought so.

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"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

ShaniFaye

Another vote for Alan Rickman!!! thanks for the picture snowy!!!

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Willravel

Forgot to mention Charles Foster Kane, from Citizen Kane. His use of yellow journalism is dispicable in an amazing way, and his grabing for power at any price and unwillingness to let himself become close to anyone is astounding. His character manages to muster both disgust and pity from me, and the movie gets me every time.

The_Jazz

Have I just missed the mention of the Wicked Witch of the West? The first time I saw "The Wizard of Oz", I had nightmares for a week about her. Seriously, she my baseline against which all other villans are measured. She's been surpased, but she's still the trend-setter.

Unfortunately this is a real-life person, but if you've seen the documentary "Murderball", the Canandian coach is a bigger-than-life asshole. It's hard to believe that a person could be so self-absorbed. It's even sadder that he has a kid, although at the end there seemed to be some progress.

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aberkok

Why the six-fingered man, of course...

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ShaniFaye

Well if we're gonna go with Oldman, we need to also go with Cruise as Lestat....he was perfect IMO


Vincent Price...in, well....just about anything he played a villian in but a few that come to mind are Tingler, Haunted Palace (dual role as warlock and descendent) and House of Wax

Elizabeth Montgomery The Legend of Lizzie Borden

NOW who's old

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Charlatan

Mal... spot on. Mitchum is the man. Hands down.

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kurty[B]

My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!

Elphaba

My first avatar was WWW, but she was freaking me out. I've switched to the original for the "shiver" factor she gave us as kids.

Leto

ya, but Oldman? wow, creepy.

and um, my fav cheeseball actor, Vincent Price as the Abominable Dr Phibes.... how could I forget???

(Shani, I can meet your age, and raise you a couple of years! - although I always had a thing for Elizabeth Montgomery & Karen Black.... who seemed to be a brunette doppelganger to Liz...)

longbough

Burt Lancaster in Sweet Smell of Success - "You're a cookie full of arsenic ... I'd hate to take a bite out of you."

Sidney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon - Spoiler: betrays his own "adopted" son ...

Peter Lorre in M. Talk about creepy.

Wez (Vernon Wells) in The Road Warrior.

The main character (I forgot his name) in Match Point. - such a bad, bad man!

maleficent

the mother in Sybil...

Alex (glenn close) Fatal Attraction (thoughmichael douglas is kind of a slime bag too to step out on Anne Archer

Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) Schindler's List

Jack Nicholson- the shining
Cody Jarrett (Jimmy Cagney) White Heat -- Made it, Ma! Top of the world!
(a fantastic performance as a psychopath...)


Trash movie...
Peyton whatever her name was(Rebecca De Morney) The hand that rocks the cradle...

I just saw the book, and am adding one more...

Aaron stampler (edward norton) in primal fear...

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Min

My vote is for Bricktop (and his gang) from Snatch. They were so real. Most of the above mentioned characters felt too over-the-top to make me tremble. This guy (and is lackies) were some bad mothers not to cross.

I would add my second to the mother in Sybil. I saw it at an impressionable age and it gave me nightmares. Few things do.

ShaniFaye

Jason Isaacs as Col. William Tavington in The Patriot.....that role has ruined him for me in any other movie I just want to hurt him badly anytime I see him on the screen, and for that reason he also makes a really good Lucius Malfoy

I 3rd the mother in Sybil

Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty...do cartoons count? if so then add Cruella de Vil

Betty Davis, Whatever happened to Baby Jane

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

snowy

Another man who is just too sexy to scare me...lol

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ShaniFaye

lol and see to me I cant see him as sexy because he pissed me off so badly heheheh

Its kinda like trying to watch Gary Cole....I LOVE Gary Cole, but after he played Jeffrey MacDonald in the tv movie Fatal Vision, and did such a good job, I have a hard time watching him do anything else (ESPECIALLY playing Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch movies)

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!