Their dialogues, ideas and laughter make them memorable. They are remembered even more than the main characters, through performances that increase the value of any actor. They are only as good as the world allows them to be, just like the Joker said in Batman.
With no gender distinction, I bring to you today the 10 most memorable villains in global movie history.
1. Hannibal Lecter
Played by Anthony Hopkins in “The silence of the lambs” (1991). An incarcerated cannibalistic man, who enjoys psychologically torturing FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), ranks him as the most villain of them all.
2.The Joker
Played by Heath Ledger in “Batman, the dark knight” (2008). In this unique performance, he personifies absolute evil.
3. Jack Torrance
Jack Nicholson plays this psychotic character in “The shining” (1980). His change from being a family man to becoming a terrifying monster ranks him third in this list.
4. Patrick Bateman
Christian Bale brings this character to life in “American Psycho” (2000). It is almost impossible that we end up liking such an obsessive and cruel man but, in this case, his performance makes us really like him.
5. Annie Wilkies
Played by Kathy Bates in “Misery” (1990), she impacts through her insatiable obsession, torturing her favorite writer while he is prostrated in bed, to make him write a new book about her favorite character.
6. Alex Delarge
Malcom Mcdoweell plays this character in “A clockwork orange” (1971) in a incredibly terrifying and violent way. He goes from being a tortured prisoner, socially reincorporated to a hospital patient.
7. Leatherface
Performed by Gunnar Hansen in “The Texas chain saw massacre” (1974). His performance launched him as one of the most emblematic icons in terror movies, where people are just bodies hanging and sliced.
8. Lord Voldemort
Ralph Fiennes brings this character to life in “Harry Potter and the deadly hallows” (2010). His image matches his evil, the nightmare of an entire generation of viewers.
9. Scar
The antagonist in the famous and emblematic movie “The lion king” (1994), played by Jeremy Irons, marked the childhood of a generation, by perpetrating the most tragic death of all Disney movies.
10. Colonel Hans Landa
Christoph Waltz plays a Nazi colonel in “Inglorious bastards”. A pragmatic, cynical, unscrupulous character, who gets his own way most of the time. Almost, almost always.
No doubt a movie becomes memorable when it has a good villain.
Who is your favorite?