# Who are the best villians in movie history? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131 "2008-12-07T14:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/121 "2008-12-12T17:01:50Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Yul Bryner’s gun slinger in Westworld was pretty good for someone who had basically one line to repeat again and again. I guess it added to the simple relentlessness of his onward march. The Terminator, as played by Arnold, was little more than Yul Brynner’s gunslinger without the cowboy suit. Yul is the original, and better, unstoppable killer android in my book. Terminator arguably has a better plot and is a better movie than Westworld, but Arnie has nothing on Yul performance-wise. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/122 "2008-12-12T17:04:14Z")
I also liked Harrison Ford’s **Doctor Norman Spencer** in _What Lies Beneath_. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/123 "2008-12-12T19:05:00Z")
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/124 "2008-12-13T15:32:57Z")
Can’t believe I’m the first to name Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Iselin in _The Manchurian Candidate_. On the outside, she looks perfectly human. Could a mod fix the thread title? Been bugging me for days. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/125 "2008-12-13T15:42:46Z")
Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho Robert Pattrick as the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/126 "2008-12-13T15:46:58Z")
Tim Roth as Archibald Cunningham in **Rob Roy**. Krank, the mad scientist from **The City Of Lost Children**. The character itself is more pathetic than evil, but Daniel Emilfork was certainly one of the most evil and creepy looking person on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/127 "2008-12-13T15:51:54Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Can’t believe I’m the first to name Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Iselin in _The Manchurian Candidate_. On the outside, she looks perfectly human. I preferred her as the mass murdering Jessica Fletcher in _Murder, She Wrote_. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/128 "2008-12-13T15:52:05Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Can’t believe I’m the first to name Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Iselin in _The Manchurian Candidate_. On the outside, she looks perfectly human. > > Could a mod fix the thread title? Been bugging me for days. How, indeed, did we all miss her! She was much more sinister than Meryl Streep was in the remake. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/129 "2008-12-13T16:10:37Z")
Stellan Skarsgaard in almost anything he’s done, but especially _Insomnia_. ---
**Author:** ![jaclynhyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jaclynhyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaclynhyde)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/130 "2008-12-13T16:25:34Z")
James Mason as Captain Nemo in Disney’s [20,000 Leagues Under the Sea](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046672/). An excellent portrayal of a thoroughly ambiguous villain (and he manages to overcome the irony of an Englishman playing Nemo). Also, for pure campy goodness, Hans Conried as Dr. Terwilliker in [The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045464/). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/131 "2008-12-13T18:02:54Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Could a mod fix the thread title? Been bugging me for days. What’s wrong with it? ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/132 "2008-12-13T19:41:32Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > What’s wrong with it? Shirley, you jest? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131/133 "2008-12-13T20:08:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > What’s wrong with it? It has a mispelling. I can’t tollerate that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-villians-in-movie-history/476131.md?page=6)