Movie Villains

[Texas Star]

Jack Palance in Shane was pretty good. Wes Studi as Magua in Last of the Mohicans. Eli Wallach in How The West Was Won.

Plus 1 on Wes Studi. I think he really is bitter against white men, and this helped to make him more plausible. Hasn't he been in trouble for radical activity with the American Indian Movement? He handled, "Last of the Mohicans" very well. Superb movie, one of my all-time favorites.

Willem Dafoe can also be pretty scary, as can Rutger Hauer.

The actor who played Avery Burton/Applegate in the "Trophies" episode of "The Lost World" on TV managed to seem very cold blooded, a real psychopath. I have all three seasons on DVD, but haven't time to watch it now. His name is Peter O'Brien; he's Australian, like most of the show's cast. Ironically, he had previously played with Rachel Blakely on, "Flipper".
I watched their interaction in, "Trophies", and there was some definite chemistry there. I'm just not sure what kind.

He appears here from about marker point 1:07-on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJAZV4IshM8&feature=related You can check the list to the right of the YouTube video playing and access the entire episode. I'm surprised that safety rules on set allowed them taking Veronica (played by Jennifer O'Dell) through the jungle with that grasping bar thing on her neck. Thankfully, she wasn't injured. Jen always looked hot, and this was one of her better episodes. I think Jen was the only American on the show.

See if you can ID any of the guns toward the end of this clip. Two types should be easy.


T- Star

 

[Gun-runner]

One of my favorite movie villains...

Max Schreck as Count Orlok in Nosferatu!

I LOVE silent films.

Not as good as Lon Chaney in my opinion but right up there. Willem Dafoe did a great job playing him too.

 

[Jack Flash]

Eric Schweig as el Brujo (the Witch) in The Missing was one scary dude.

 

[Grayfox]

+1 on Rutger Hauer. He can play the cold psychopath with skill. As Roy Batty in Blade Runner he was creepy. But in The Hitcher he was truely frightening.

Another +1 for Anthony Hopkins.

 

[cmort666]

Heath Ledger as the Joker. He's not interested in money, or even power, other than the power to harm other people, especially the power to get people to harm each other.

I actually know a guy who used to be in usenet who's the spitting image of the Heath Ledger Joker, personality wise. He just lived to do harm.

 

[norad45]

IMO, the absolute best is Ralph Fiennes' performance as Amon Goeth in "Schindler's List". It was truly chilling. But if you limit it to fictional villains only, then Clancy Brown playing "the Kurgen" in the first "Highlander" gets my vote. He was wonderfully over the top!

 

[safearm]

Gene Hackman in "The Quick and the Dead" and "Unforgiven." Also, Henry Fonda in "Once Upon a Time in the West." Shows how great both actors were; they normally played the good guy, but could be a great villian.

 

[red14]

+1 to Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West. He was cold and calculating.

 

[RonJ]

My wife asked me to post a vote for her and I gotta say it's not bad one. Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber in Die Hard.

 

[feralmerril]

Broderick crawford many years ago played a good heavy. When he played chris matthews on the old highway patrol series in the mid 50s I always thought he was obnoxious and overbearing. Then I had occasion to deal with him in 65 when I worked security at universal studios and we got along well. Same for jack lord, heard he was "whatever" then I met him, he was a nice guy, bought me lunch one day. You cant belive what you hear around the studios etc, some of the ones said to be nice off set, and vice-versa. One famous commedian actor was clowning around off set and thought he was going to look good by puting me down in front of some fellow actors, and it backfired for him. I came back with something that had his group laughing at him. It was a interesting job for the short while I was there. The old time camera men and the drivers seemed to be the most interesting to be around really. Lot of director assistants seemed to be fruits. The studios treated their workers well and it was a good fun place to work.

 

[firedog3700]

Quigley

Alan Rickman in Quigley Down Under. He always plays a good bad guy.

 

[Lead Chucker]

Richard Widmark was always an excellent villain.

Gary Oldman does a good villain.

One that should give all the guys chills... Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction!

 

[OFT]

Roy Barcroft likely robbed more banks & trains, rustled more cattle, bushwacked more good guys and kidnapped more pretty young girls than any other movie villain in over three hundred old black & white westerns than anyone else. You young folks may not know who I'm talking about but the more mature members of this forum have likely seen him many times in the past and everytime we knew that he was the bad guy long before Gene or Roy did.

 

[RonJ]

Roy Barcroft.......

I didn't know the name but I recognized him as soon as I found his picture. Good one!

 

[GatorFarmer]

Not as good as Lon Chaney in my opinion but right up there. Willem Dafoe did a great job playing him too.

Lon Chaney Jr (the Wolfman) or Lon Chaney Sr (the man of a thousand faces)?

Lon Chaney's namesake great somethingest (depending on which Lon Chaney one is talking about) grandson is a Petty Officer in the Navy and used to be my wife's roommate. His wife has a morbid fear of zombies - owing to a fear of food preservatives creating them. Strange world.

 

[Capt Steve]

Ricard Boone in Hombre. Honorable mention for Big Jake.

 

[jj2am44]

IMO, the absolute best is Ralph Fiennes' performance as Amon Goeth in "Schindler's List". It was truly chilling. But if you limit it to fictional villains only, then Clancy Brown playing "the Kurgen" in the first "Highlander" gets my vote. He was wonderfully over the top!

+1 for Clancy Brown. he was terrific in Shoot To Kill, too.

 

[Wheelgunner840]

Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction" saved many a marriage! But, my vote for best villain would have to go to the creep "Scorpio" in the first Dirty Harry movie. He was the one that I most wanted to really hurt.

As far as actors who played great villains, I think I would vote for Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter.

WG840

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Roy Barcroft was the featured villian in many of the Republic serials. His favorite role was in "Manhunt of Mystery Island" as Captain Mephisto, an 18th century pirate brought back to life via a "Transformation Machine" in the hands of one of the four owners. He gets to say one of the great villians' lines:
[After explaining to his henchman Sidney Brand (Kenne Duncan) how the Transformation machine works]
Brand; "Oh, I understand."
Captain Mephisto:"If I thought you understood I'd kill you!"

 

[hudsonvalley]

Robert Mitchum - The Night of the Hunter (1955)

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=17678&category=Full Synopsis

Evil that's possible is the scariest kind...