# 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:** 3
**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, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/41 "2004-06-29T18:32:00Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Well, given that it was made in 1945, I wouldn’t expect to find it in letterbox. \*. Not sure what you mean; it was made in widescreen format. ---
**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, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/42 "2004-06-29T18:35:04Z")
Hmm. I’m confused. Imdb says it was 1-1.37. But my Scorsese’s Journey DVD shows it letterboxed. I was disappointed when the VHS I tracked down was not. ---
**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, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/43 "2004-06-29T18:36:45Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Not sure what you mean; it was made in widescreen format. “Widescreen” format as we know it did not exist until the early 50s. _LHTH_ was shot in standard Academy ratio (1.37). ---
**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, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/44 "2004-06-29T18:38:55Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Hmm. I’m confused. Imdb says it was 1-1.37. But my Scorsese’s Journey DVD shows it letterboxed. I was disappointed when the VHS I tracked down was not. Haven’t seen the Scorsese, but I would compare the VHS with the letterboxing on the DVD–the latter was probably cropped and you actually have more of the original information on the video. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/45 "2004-06-29T18:59:09Z")
What, no _Maltese Falcon_ ?! Mary Astor’s character was as conniving as they come! I’ve actually just read the book and she’s even worse. Ida Lupino was pretty nasty in “They Drive By Night” too, but probably more insane than evil. Ever see “The Craft”? Fairuza Balk’s little witch was a real little - um - witch! (Apoligies to our Pagan Dopers) Oh, and seconds on Mildred in “Of Human Bondage”. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/46 "2004-06-29T19:10:33Z")
Tony Soprano’s mother Livia, definately. What a hate-filled miserable excuse for a human being. And his sister Janice isn’t much better. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/47 "2004-06-29T19:25:30Z")
Sister Bridget from _The Magdalene Sisters._ Brr! ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/48 "2004-06-29T22:15:43Z")
Shelley Winters as “Ma Barker.” Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers in “Rebecca.” Ann Sothern in an “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” She played a slattern who duped some ex-con[?] about money buried somewhere. He winds up at the bottom of a well, and she taunts him with what she’ll do with ALL the money. She gets her comeuppance, but good, by the end of the hour. Myrna Loy, back, way back, when she was playing Oriental temptresses[The Daughter of Fu Manchu?] Let me also join the chorus for Siobhan[Sian?] Philipps as Livia. These other names are but honorable mentions, and they should all bow down to kiss the hem of her garment. An action for which I’m sure they’d all be impaled by Livia, personally. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/49 "2004-06-29T22:33:09Z")
Saffron, from the “Our Mrs. Reynolds” episode of _Firefly_. Totally immoral and supremely self-centered. She never had the chance to get up to any really shocking evil, but knowing Joss Whedon, I’ll bet he was building her up to something pretty nasty. The quadriplegic mother from _The X-Files_, the episode with the inbred mutant family. Gah. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/50 "2004-06-29T22:44:33Z")
Hands down, for me at least, was Nancy Culp’s portrayal of Eve’s mother in _The Three Faces of Eve_. That woman was FLAT OUT EVIL. What made it all the more chilling was that this was based on a true story. Rita Hayworth as Gilda was pretty damn good, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/51 "2004-06-29T22:55:32Z")
Wow, I guess I’ve been missing out - I haven’t seen any of the movies mentioned here except _The Hand That Rocks The Cradle_ and _The Maltese Falcon_. However, I would like to nominate the “dead” girl in _The Ring_. Creating a video tape that kills people is one thing. Sparing people who pass it along to somebody else is another. She essentially forced the main character (whose name I can’t recall) to kill an innocent person by copying and passing along the tape, to save her son. Side note: Is it just me, or was _fear dot com_ a blatant ripoff of _The Ring_? ---
**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, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/52 "2004-06-29T22:55:46Z")
> [@quiltguy154](#): > > Ann Sothern in an “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” She played a slattern who duped some ex-con[?] about money buried somewhere. He winds up at the bottom of a well, and she taunts him with what she’ll do with ALL the money. She gets her comeuppance, but good, by the end of the hour. That was the episode entitled _Enough Rope for Two_. I saw the remade version back in the 80s. A wonderful exercise in situational irony and poetic justice. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/53 "2004-06-29T23:30:59Z")
The Hitchcock reference reminds me of a new Twilight Zone that starred Mare Winningham. She played a woman offered some fabulous sum if she’d just push a button. It would kill someone she didn’t even know… ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/54 "2004-06-29T23:40:03Z")
Most of my nominee’s have already been listed. Here’s one that hasn’t: Linda Fiorentino in _The Last Seduction_ as a cold-hearted, conniving, manipulative, femme fatale uber-bitch in this excellent modern day noir. She was robbed of an academy award nomination despite winning critical raves for her performance because the movie was broadcast on cable TV before it had a brief theatrical run. ---
**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, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/55 "2004-06-29T23:45:16Z")
> [@Hodge](#): > > Most of my nominee’s have already been listed. Here’s one that hasn’t: > > Linda Fiorentino in _The Last Seduction_ :coughcough:_fiveprevious posters_:coughcough ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/56 "2004-06-30T02:05:30Z")
I’ve never seen _Three Faces of Eve_; was her mother comparable to _Sybil’s_? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/57 "2004-06-30T02:48:49Z")
> [@Phase42](#): > > Wow, I guess I’ve been missing out - I haven’t seen any of the movies mentioned here except _The Hand That Rocks The Cradle_ and _The Maltese Falcon_. > > However, I would like to nominate the “dead” girl in _The Ring_. Creating a video tape that kills people is one thing. Sparing people who pass it along to somebody else is another. She essentially forced the main character (whose name I can’t recall) to kill an innocent person by copying and passing along the tape, to save her son. Rachel, IIRC. I don’t think the little girl in _The Ring_ was evil. A monster, yes, but not evil. The movie gives the distinct impression that the parents resorted to occult methods in order for the mother to bring a child to term after several miscarriages, with disastrous results. In the hospital video, she says she’s sorry for hurting her mother (driving her insane). She doesn’t seem to have control over the damage she causes, whether it be driving people close to her insane, making weird images on X-ray film, causing horses to drown themselves, whatever. I don’t think the videotape was a deliberate creation, either. If it was, the intent was not to kill. Even in death, she was unable to sleep, and she seemed to be trying to find peace by sending whatever it was that was tormenting her away into the universe. The person seeing the tape can avoid death by copying it and showing it to someone else, who can avoid death by…, of course, most folks didn’t know that, and Rachel found it out by accident, but there’s still a fairly easy out. Just pass the tape along with the stern warning that _the tape must be copied and shown to someone else, or you will die_. And, since the human population is forever expanding, there would always be someone who hand’t seen the tape. What I wonder is, does the tape actually have to be copied, or can you escape death by just showing your copy to someone? And can you create sort of a daisy chain where a group of people watches the tape, makes a copy, then gives it to someone who has already seen it, thus technically fulfilling the requirements of passing the tape along but without endangering someone who might think “This is just damn silly” and shelve their copy without copying/showing it to anyone? And if someone decided to try to stop the cycle by rounding up all the copies of the tape and destroying them, would the little girl just make a new tape? OK, hijack is over. I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/58 "2004-06-30T03:40:56Z")
Queen Bavmorda from _Willow_ Paulina Novacek from _Undercover Blues_ might fit the list. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/59 "2004-06-30T06:39:42Z")
Just thought of another - **Patty McCormack in “The Bad Seed”**. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667/60 "2004-06-30T06:58:59Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Just thought of another - **Patty McCormack in “The Bad Seed”**. [What was your inspiration?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5014383&postcount=6) As long as we’re beating up mothers, how about Bette Davis’ mother in _Now, Voyager_? In looking back over the list, does anyone else notice a significant number of the women on it, while perhaps evil, weren’t really very good at it? Some of that may be a result of the Production Code which required that the evil get punished. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-evil-female-characters-in-film-history/252667.md?page=4)