# Most evil female characters in film history **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 29, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667 "2004-06-29T03:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/21 "2004-06-29T12:30:22Z")
Mallory from Natural Born Killers The mom from Flowers in the Attic–terrible movie but what a bitch! Mrs. Hannigan in Annie 😛 I think **SolGrundy** nailed an important part of the evil female character. There’s almost always \*betrayal \* involved, betrayal of the victim, of course, but also a subtextual betrayal of their “female role”. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/22 "2004-06-29T12:32:06Z")
Mrs. Islin, Livia Augusta, and Nurse Rached. I’m going to have bad dreams tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/23 "2004-06-29T13:37:16Z")
Lilly Dillon (Anjelica Huston) in _The Grifters_. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/24 "2004-06-29T13:51:31Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Piper Laurie and Amy Irving in _Carrie_ Amy Irving? Did you mean Nancy Allen? Amy Irving played the girl who got her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom. Yeah, she was in on the prank in the beginning, but she felt really bad about it and tried to atone. Nancy Allen played the superbitch who dumped the blood on Carrie. ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/25 "2004-06-29T13:57:50Z")
Ursa Klebb in “From Russia, with love” ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/26 "2004-06-29T14:02:17Z")
Any fan of the femme fatale MUST hunt down, by any means necessary, _Leave Her to Heaven._ I second many of the nominations above–notably Mother Gin Sling, Leslie Crosbie, Regina Giddens–but none of the character mentioned so far has chilled me to the marrow like Gene Tierney’s portrayal of Ellen Berent in _Leave Her to Heaven._ Just to start with, she–drowns her husband’s crippled kid brother –because she didn’t want anyone competing for his love. The movie’s an interesting experience in its own right as well: classic noir story, CLASSIC femme fatale, but filmed in the style of a big budget western: all glorious technicolor widescreen. This nasty little story–nastier and nastier–plays out against some of the most beautiful scenery (including Tierney at her most gloriously beautiful) ever captured on film. Not available in letterbox, but worthwhile however you can get it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/27 "2004-06-29T14:04:55Z")
Norma Desmond and Baby Jane Hudson were _not_ evil—they were sad and insane and pathetic! I vote for the Mother of Them All, Theda Bara’s man-killing Vampire in _A Fool There Was_ (1915). ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/28 "2004-06-29T14:15:23Z")
Theda had occurred to me too, Eve, but I wanted to focus just on Gene in my last post. Some other good ones that haven’t been mentioned yet: Jane Greer’s Kathie Moffatt in _Out of the Past_; Beryl Mercer’s Ma in The _Public Enemy_; Miss Barbara Stanwyck’s Martha Ivers in _The Strange Love of Martha Ivers_; Ann Savage’s Vera in _Detour_; Mary Tyler Moore’s Beth Jarrett in _Ordinary People._ ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/29 "2004-06-29T14:16:21Z")
> [@hardygrrl](#): > > Bridget Gregory/Wendy Kroy in **The Last Seduction**. Linda Fiorentino was amazing in that role - ruthless and brilliant. I second this one! She was the ultimate evil, no conscience, bitch. Great Movie! E3 ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/30 "2004-06-29T14:44:11Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > The mom from Flowers in the Attic–terrible movie but what a bitch! Don’t forget the grandmother. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/31 "2004-06-29T15:07:36Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Beryl Mercer’s Ma in The _Public Enemy_\* Huh? She was clueless, yes, but _evil?_ ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/32 "2004-06-29T15:18:54Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Huh? She was clueless, yes, but _evil?_ Am I misremembering Ma? Which of Cagney’s Ma’s played him off against his brother, and fed his criminal ambitions? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/33 "2004-06-29T15:25:49Z")
> [@Rabid Child](#): > > Don’t forget the grandmother. Mother was played by Victoria Tenant, and grandmother was played by Louise Fletcher, of Nurse Rached fame & Oscar. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/34 "2004-06-29T15:27:11Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > Betty Davis - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? This was my vote as well. “But you \*ARE \* in that chair, Blanche!” ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/35 "2004-06-29T15:34:17Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > This was my vote as well. > > “But you \*ARE \* in that chair, Blanche!” Yes but–the twist was that Jane turned out to be Blanche’s victim. So she wasn’t so bad after all. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/36 "2004-06-29T15:36:14Z")
Young Frankenstein - Frau Blücher _Neeeeeiiiiigghhhhhh_ ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/37 "2004-06-29T16:02:24Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Am I misremembering Ma? Which of Cagney’s Ma’s played him off against his brother, and fed his criminal ambitions? Ah! You’re thinking of Jimmy Cagney’s Ma from _White Heat_, not _Public Enemy_. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/38 "2004-06-29T16:06:52Z")
Thanks. Couldn’t remember which one, so I skimmed IMDb for Cagney movies with “Ma” in the cast; presumed the wrong one. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/39 "2004-06-29T18:07:17Z")
Livia Drusilla, without a doubt. The first name that popped into my head when I read the thread title. One character’s wry comment on Livia says it all: “They say a snake bit her once. And died.” I would have to second Mrs. Iselin, though. I’ve hated Angela Landsbury ever since. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/40 "2004-06-29T18:21:21Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Not available in letterbox, but worthwhile however you can get it. Well, given that it was made in 1945, I wouldn’t expect to find it in letterbox. Good choice, though (as are the picks for Stanwyck, Lansbury, Fiorentino, and Mieko Harada). Others: Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) in _Rebecca_, Nicole Horner (Simone Signoret) in _Diabolique_, and Minnie Castavet (Ruth Gordon) in _Rosemary’s Baby_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667.md?page=3)