I wouldn’t say that I’m a movie buff, but once in awhile I like to watch a good movie. The only problem: they all end the same way. The good guys win.
Aside from “Arlington Road”(I highly recommend seeing that one), what are some good movies where the bad guys win?
R.J.D.
Arguably, The Empire Strikes Back.
I would have to say that Edward Norton’s character in Primal Fear won.
Ruthless People
The Usual Suspects
“What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet.
Chinatown
Seven
Body Heat
If you want bad guys winning, you really need to stick to the Film Noire category. Previous posters mentioned several movies - especially Body Heat and Chinatown - that fall into the category.
Look at the black and white films of the late thirties and early forties, especially the detective/cop genre. The Killers is quintessential film noire, as is Sunset Boulevard (hey, the hero of the film is dead in the beginning).
If Uke or Eve drop by, I’m sure they’ll have some suggestions.
How about any horror flick? Sure, maybe they did not win at the end but they took 8 teenagers with 'em! Or you argue that some really did not lose at the end… Friday the 13th parts 1 through 8.
I know… smart-ass answer.
“Wow! Spider-Man! Are you really friends with the X-men?”
"Not since Cyclops tried to use my viewmaster."
(Marvel Team Up #1)
“Glory.”
Every last one of the good guys winds up dead.
I’d nominate Natural Born Killers, but I think the bad guys were supposed to be the good guys in that movie … or something.
I am the user formerly known as puffington.
Event Horizon – really scary movie. And in the end you dont get that nice warm feeling that the good guys won and the bad guys lost…
knuckle-dragging hose mongerer.
SDMB Self-Righteous Clique
Thank you, phouka…and your suggestion of film noir is right on the money.
Let me recommend PITFALL (1948), with Dick Powell and Lizabeth Scott, and Raymond Burr playing the coolest, sleaziest private eye ever!
DOA (1950) is loads of fun…the hero, played by Edmond O’Brien, is already “dead” as the film opens, having ingested an antidote-proof lethal poison which leaves him with 48 hours to live.
DETOUR (1945) is infamous for its portrayal of sleazebags on a downward spiral.
ACE IN THE HOLE (1951), aka THE BIG CARNIVAL, has always been a personal favorite. Protagonist Kirk Douglas dies onscreen, lurching face-first into the camera, for the big finale!
Uke
Off the cuff, I’ll mention a few that haven’t been mentioned:
Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo.”
The Last Seduction, by John Dahl.
Spoorloos (english:The Vanishing), by George Sluizer. make sure you get the dutch version, not the american version.
I’ll second that one, Arnold. That is a CHILLING movie. Is it even available in the US then?
Coldfire
"You know how complex women are"
Sure enough, Coldfire, even available in video form at large chains like Blockbuster. Did you ever see the american version (Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Daniels?) The ending was totally altered to make it “happy.”
“I’m having an old friend for dinner.”
Knute Rockne: All American
Sorry-- I’m not a Notre Dame fan. 
Oh yeah, and Gone With the Wind!
(kidding…kidding…)
Well I just finished reading The Talented Mr. Ripley, and it could be argued that the “bad guy” won…
–
“it’s all real”
“I KNEW IT!!!”
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com
I can’t believe that nobody has mentioned The Grifters.
“He love people, all of them, washed and unwashed; he loves his wretched pack of sponging relatives. He shoots people, arrests people, but he doesn’t like it.”
Night of the Living Dead. The hero “wins”, but is gunned down at the end by clueless “good guys”.