With so much buzz about how great Heath Ledger was as the Joker I’ve been thinking about who I think the best movie villains of all time actually are.  I picked a top ten.  

#10  The Devil

Most people won’t even know this reference so it gets the ten spot.  Back in the 1985 a movie came out with this young actor named Tom Cruise.  You might have heard of him.  In it he must stop the Lord of the Darkness from stealing “The Light” and his girfriend.  The Devil is played by Tim Curry.  His costume alone is spectacular.  

 

 

 

 

 

#9  Pennywise 

Tim Curry gets props for appearing twice in my top ten.  Honestly as good as the other 8 villains are, if I’m actually scared late at night it’s of Pennywise the Clown.  I went camping with my cousins 1 week after first seeing It and they left me alone while they went to buy food.  I was sure a clown was coming to eat my liver.   

 

#8  Darth Vader

Darth Vader is one of the coolest bad guys of all time.  The actor who played Darth Vader is David Prowse and voiced over by James Earl Jones.  Honestly he did much better than Hayden Christensen who actually played Vader without the costume.  The moment where he is deciding whether or not to allow Luke to be killed by the Emperor is better acting than can be found in all three prequels.  

 

#7  Daryll Lee Cullum

Harry Connick Jr. is really creepy as one of the serial killers in Copycat.  This movie disturbed me and made me afraid of southern white guys. 

 

 

 

#6  That Mom with Munchowsen Syndrome

Remember that woman in the 6th Sense who feeds her daughter rat poison until she dies?  That’s pretty villainous and therefore gets the #6 spot and only female mention in all 10.  The fact that this woman was poisoning her daughter (and her other children) made her role, even though it was relatively minor, one of the best depictions of a really bad person I’ve ever seen on screen. 

 

 

#5 Agent Smith

Obviously!  The Matrix will be ten years old this fall (which makes me feel old) and there hasn’t been another sci-fi movie of it’s awesomeness released since.  Agent Smith, played by Hugo Weaving, was the coolest bad guy ever to wear a suit and Ray Bans.  

 

 

 

#4 John Doe

You probably know this guys as the creative serial killer from the movie Se7en played by Kevin Spacey.  The whole movie is build up in such a way that by the time you finally see the villain you’re terrified of him and totally on edge as to what plan he might have.  Then you find out with the line:

“I visited your home this morning after you’d left. I tried to play husband. I tried to taste the life of a simple man. It didn’t work out, so I took a souvenir… her pretty head.”  

This movie was one I kind of wished I hadn’t seen at all because it was so disturbing. 

 

 

#3 Hannibal Lecter

No list of villains could be legit without Lecter.  Although he did mostly kill other bad guys Anthony Hopkins performance is one of the best of all time.  His tone, eyes, phrasing and how he gets inside Clarise’s head make him fantastic. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#2 The Joker

History can judge me.  I think Heath Ledger made The Dark Knight and will be remembered as one of the best nemesis pairs of all time.  I loved the contextless, goal-less nature of his evil.  

Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it. You know, I just do things. The mob has plans, the cops have plans, Gordon’s got plans. You know, they’re schemers. Schemers trying to control their worlds. I’m not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are.

The idea of having him give multiple stories of how he got his scars made him all the more mysterious and scary. 

 

#1 Kaizer Soze

Duh!  Does this one even need an explanation?  Kaiser Soze from The Usual Suspect played by Kevin Spacey is the perfect villain.  He’s cold blooded, evil, deceitful, powerful and a genius.  The setup for his reveal as the true bad guy is also one of the best movie twists  of all time probably only topped by 6th Sense.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that… he is gone. 

 

Honorable Mention: Biff Tannin from Back to the Future (he almost destroyed the space time continuum people!), Ghostface from Scream, Hal 9000 from 2001, and Randal Flagg from The Stand.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Top Ten All-Time Scariest Travel-Themed Movies
• The “Only Ten” Lists