# Top 5 Movie Villains of all Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291 "2014-12-27T19:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/41 "2014-12-29T01:20:37Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Who are your favorites? > > 1)Andrew Robinson (Scorpio) from Dirty Harry has to be at the top. His performance was so convincing, so disturbing, that it effectively derailed his career. > > 2)Robert Mitchum in either Cape Fear or The Night of the Hunter > > 3)Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York…would have been even better if a more charismatic and dangerous actor played the DeCaprio role. > > 4)Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men > > 5)Eli Wallach as Tuco in The Good The Bad and the Ugly…he stole that film. > > Honorable Mention female villains…Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz; Olivia de Haviland in Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte and Divine in Pink Flamingos. That is a pretty damned impressive list - good work. I won’t mess with it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/42 "2014-12-29T01:31:20Z")
Probably not quite as well known as some already mentioned, [Sharky’s Machine (1981)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083064/?ref_=nv_sr_1) had two villains worth mentioning (and worth seeing the movie for) in the persons of: Victor Scorelli (Vittorio Gassman) Billy Score (Henry Silva) One is skin crawlingly vile and disgusting and the other is like those things that just keep coming at the hero until the hero manages to dispatch him in a [convincing fashion.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dteuWuUtTpQ) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/43 "2014-12-29T02:09:22Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > I thought Hyman Roth wanted revenge for the execution of Moe Green? “That was just business.” While it could be Moe Green was the motive, remember that Moe Green was already working Fredo. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/44 "2014-12-29T03:10:06Z")
From me I have five men and a woman. Laurence Olivier – Marathon Man (so evil) Walter Brennan – My Darling Clementine (so hateable) Eduardo Ciannelli – Gunga Din (evil, hateable, charismatic) Walter Matthau – Charade (Spoiler alert!! so likeable, so caring, then wham!!!) James Mason – North by Northwest (charming, well spoken, evil and up front about it) Angela Lansbury – Manchurian Candidate (the original) (soulless, manipulative, and truly evil) ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/45 "2014-12-29T03:34:14Z")
John Jarratt as Mick Taylor in **Wolf Creek** “It’s called making a head on a stick.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/46 "2014-12-29T13:35:31Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I think any top 5 list of Villains needs to have a James Bond Villain. > > Goldfinger would be my choice. Not mine. Jimmy Bond, all the way! ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/47 "2014-12-29T18:38:57Z")
Chad from [In the Company of men](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119361/?ref_=nv_sr_1) > [@](#): > > Two business executives–one an avowed misogynist, the other recently emotionally wounded by his love interest–set out to exact revenge on the female gender by seeking out the most innocent, uncorrupted girl they can find and ruining her life. An understated villain, but evil, evil, evil! Chad talks Howard into a plot to destroy a woman ‘to get back at them for all the shit they do to us’. Chad and Howard both meet and emotionally destroy Christine, a beautiful but naive deaf woman. They destroy Christine. Howard ends up devastated by what he has done. In the end it is revealed that the whole time, Chad’s target for destruction was …_Howard_. Christine was just a means to that end. He coaxed Howard into an evil act, while taking _glee_ in it, knowing it would destroy Howard, both personally and professionally. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/48 "2014-12-29T22:33:58Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) in _Schindler’s List_ This must be on the list. I’ll second Robert Mitchum from Night of the Hunter. (awesome movie) Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (He’s a villain, right?) I will second Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Bob Gunton as The Warden in Shawshank Redemption. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/49 "2014-12-29T22:50:04Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > _Dolores Umbridge_ in Harry Potter. I know Voldemort was the big baddie, but at least he was knowingly evil and after power. Dolores was evil in the pursuit of goodness/justice. Stephen King called her the “greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter” in his 2003 review of the novel. I wonder what he thought of Imelda Staunton’s performance (which it’s hard to believe didn’t receive an Oscar nomination). ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/50 "2014-12-29T22:50:08Z")
James Cromwell as Captain Dudley Smith in _L.A. Confidential:_ gentle, charming, avuncular, and pure soulless evil. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/51 "2014-12-29T23:34:42Z")
Gary Cole as Bill Lumbergh in \*\*Office Space \*\* Eleanor Audley as Lady Tremayne in **Cinderella**. Andy Serkis as Gollum in **LOTR** and the first Hobbit movie. (If we can include non-humans) Richard White, who voiced Gaston in Disney’s **Beauty and the Beast**. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/52 "2014-12-29T23:53:36Z")
1.) Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_ 2.) Richard III (Al Pacino) – the documentary _Looking for Richard_ 3.) Norman Bates (Anthony Hopkins) – _Psycho_ (the original) 4.) Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) – _The Wicker Man_ (the original) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/53 "2014-12-30T00:01:29Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > 3.) Norman Bates (Anthony Hopkins) – _Psycho_ (the original) Anthony Perkins. Hopkins’ first film credit is from 1967, 7 years after Psycho came out. (And his first TV credit from 1965.) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/54 "2014-12-30T00:36:01Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (He’s a villain, right?) I sure thought so. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/55 "2014-12-30T01:53:47Z")
Cyril Cusack (Day of The Jackal, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, 1984) was a favorite. The opposite of manical mustache-twirling, he underplayed it as a utterly corrupt old man, bored with the people he made it his duty to harm. It’s even in his George Smiley in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Sian Phillips as Livia in I Claudius: like Cusack’s speech in Fahrenheit 451 explaining why books only cause trouble, her speech on how Rebuplicanism only leads to civil war and chaos shows how committed she is to villany, and anyone she has to explain it to is a stupid child. The scene where she kills Brian Blessed while nagging him is wonderful. Olivier had a pat technique for when he played a baddie (Spartacus, Marathon Man, The Entertainer): all the muscles in his upper face slack. Completely dead expression. Two more favorites, each of whom started as romantic leads and segued into evil old men: Jeremy Irons (team England) Frank Langella (team USA) ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/56 "2014-12-30T19:47:59Z")
Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty in blade runner and Harvey Keitel as the lieutenant in Bad Lieutenant. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/57 "2014-12-31T02:37:21Z")
Al Pacino in “The Devils Advocate”. “I am a Fan of MAN!” He made virtue so lame, and sin so alluring. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/58 "2014-12-31T16:10:35Z")
FWIW, who played the Murdstones and Uriah Heep in movie versions of \*David Copperfield? \* ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/59 "2014-12-31T17:30:35Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Cyril Cusack (Day of The Jackal, 1984) Nitpick: \*\*\* Jackal \*\*\*came out in 1973. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291/60 "2014-12-31T17:55:45Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Cyril Cusack (Day of The Jackal, 1984…) was a favorite. The opposite of manical mustache-twirling, he underplayed it as a utterly corrupt old man, bored with the people he made it his duty to harm. It’s even in his George Smiley in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. > [@terentii](#): > > Nitpick: \*\*\* Jackal \*\*\*came out in 1973. And TJ was played by Edward Fox. Cyril Cusack was the gunsmith. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-5-movie-villains-of-all-time/708291.md?page=4)