Amph 50 Best Movie Villains (acc. to The Times): 1. Darth Vader (David Prowse) - Star Wars

The film itself shows the fact that it was made on a shoestring, and that Murnau didn't have much technical mastery at the time. What's astonishing is the speed in which he acquired technical expertise, because "The Last Laugh", made two years later, is absolutely remarkable. He did make about ten films prior to it, and about ten after it.

Some are lost: "4 Devils", his next to last film, had very good reviews, but there are no extant copies.

I saw a similar arc with Seastrom: in his early work, "The Phantom Carriage" (1921), the film is remarkable, but we get stuff like light glares, etc. By the time of "He Who Gets Slapped" (1924), he has mastered the medium.

 

I think Nosferatu is pretty technical sound but in comparison to Sunrise you see a much more developed filmmaker.

 

A lot of the frames are overexposed; which may or may not be his fault. Also the day-for-night doesn't work.

 

That generally seems to be the most noticeable technical fault in silent films though and it's even worse when you have a bad print.

 

Keep in mind, though, that those day-for-night scenes would have been shown theatrically with a blue tint, creating a nighttime "feel" that is almost laughably absent from most DVD copies of the film. Yellow-orange for the sunrise scene at the end, green for the outdoor scenes... and all of that with a truly excellent Classical score, and the film would be a much richer experience than the crummy, washed-out, third-hand prints we have easily available today.

 

5. Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) ? Fatal Attraction (1987)

They say: Glenn Close?s bunny-boiler is terrifying not only when flying into jealous rages at her married lover and his family, but also in her calm demeanour as she considers and carries out these acts. Alex Forrest is a compelling character because everyone can relate to her spurned advances and the basic human need to feel loved.

 

Close is good in the movie, sometimes very good. Her "I won't be ignored" bit is absolutely chilling. But she's not top five material. Not when people like John Doe from Se7en were in the forties.

 

A more realistic villain than some, and most men (and women) have met a version of her: the girlfriend/boyfriend who won't go away.

 

4. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) ? Psycho (1960)

They say: What makes Bates so terrifying is that he appears normal, and it?s only towards the film?s stunning climax ? when that pesky oedipal complex kicks in ? that we learn the extent to which he has lost his mind. Perkins was the prototype for the attractive, articulate yet psychotic villain that has become the mainstay of spine tingling psychological thrillers ever since.

 

Definitely. Perkins' performance is a thing of absolute beauty.

 

No "benefits of a classical eduction" or teeth-sucking liver and fava beans... Perkins is just pure, subtle malevolence.

 

Perkin's greatest role. And it ruined his career.

 

Both true. He's a bit like Robert Walker in "Strangers on a Train"; he's so very convincing, it's unsettling.

 

Really? I don't know very much about him, but what-he couldn't get parts after scaring the crap out of everybody?

 

No, he could get parts, but he was somewhat typecast, not neccesarily as a murderer,
but as someone nervous and eccentric. His range didn't really grow after Bates.

 

He could only get certain types of parts--and not the sort that sustained stardom. Of course, there were other issues, namely that he was bisexual, and it was fairly well known. This is in the early sixties, when this was more of a problem than it is now.

 

Wow, that sure sucks. The more you know, I guess?

 

Perkins did eventually get married to a photojournalist named Berry Berensen, and had two sons. He died of AIDS; she later died on 9/11 in one of the doomed planes. Robert Walker died immediately after he finished "Strangers on a Plane" of chronic alcoholism. Only Joseph Cotten escaped the curse, I guess.

 

3. Henry F. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) ? It?s a Wonderful life (1946)

They say: The purest representation of greed and miserly misery caught on celluloid, Henry F. Potter spits venom at every turn in Capra?s masterpiece. He?s the antithesis of Jimmy Stewart?s ?heart of gold? hero George Bailey, and exists without a shred of redemptive quality to counter his greed, malice and downright evil towards the good people of Bedford Falls.

I say: Been a while since I saw it, but as I remember, Potter is pure unrestrained greed with no character shading to speak of.

 

Notable for having no redeeming qualities and no redemption at the end of the film, but this guy ain't better then Norman Bates.

 

Close was brilliant as Alex Forrest. "I won#t be ignored" was absolutely perfect. Of course, I always hear Elmer Fudd singing "Kill the rabbit" when I think of this movie. In a good way.

And yes, Barrymore was tremendous as Mr Potter. Though the real villain of the movie is Uncle Billy, imo. Stupid jackass.

 

Better than Norman Bates? Nah.

 

He's a stinker, but he's kind of small beer compared to most everybody else on the list.

 

2. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) ? Silence of the Lambs (1991)

They say: Despite coming a very close second, Anthony Hopkins?s courteous cannibal is still a terrifying prospect. Lecter?s calm demeanour, articulate manner and moral vacuum tick all of the boxes for cinematic psychological torture, while his penchant for human flesh crosses one of society?s final taboos. He?s visually striking too and the facemask and restraints have become a cultural icon outside the movie?s terrorising context. Despite his intelligent, controlled exterior there still lurks a vicious killer as seen during a frenzied attack when he bites the nose off a security guard and wears his face to escape.

 

He's great in The Silence of the Lambs, he's pretty fun in Hannibal, but Hopkins becomes a boring old dude doing a vapid Anthony Hopkins impersonation in Red Dragon. A mate of mine told me that Ratner demanded that he overplay it, while Hopkins insisted that he underplay it. Instead you get neither, and the effect is nil.

Brian Cox is pretty chilling in the role too, taking it in another direction entirely.