Ten In A Half: Top 10 Movie Villains

Giggaheim.com Podcast Episode 18 had the inaugural game of “Ten and a Half”. Our podcast panel would have half an hour to pull together a top ten list of the topic presented to them. This week: Top Ten Movie Villains.

10) Al Capone – The Untouchables

Robert DeNiro brings the notorious prohibition Chicago gangster to life in the 1987 film The Untouchables. Al Capone’s vicious nature of threatening his enemies and loved ones of his enemies, coupled with his strangle hold of Chicago make him the top gangster, and only real life character in the Top 10 Movie Villains list.

9) Nurse Ratchet – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Louise Fletcher has a career with roles on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, VR.5, and Picket Fences, but her most famous has to be Nurse Ratchet in One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest. The nurse who tormented the inmates, was a inescapable nightmare, and the role of the tormentor of the mentally insane landed her an Oscar.

8 ) Delores Umbridge – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Along the line of tormentors, the number 8 villain gradually tightens an iron grip around the fabled and cherished world of Hogwarts School for Wizardry and Witchcraft. Delores Umbridge gradually enforces her will on Harry’s only favorable dwelling he can belong to, and by enforcing a towering stack of rules, erodes our hero’s freedoms, and blocks his every move. Her eventual end is one that is always favorably remembered, which is a mark of a good villain.

7) Maleficent – Sleeping Beauty

The podcast crew truly feels remorse for someone who’s childhood wasn’t haunted by a witch who could put you in a coma, and eat your loved ones as a fire breathing dragon. This vane witch is most children’s first encounter with a being who is to be feared, and would do anything to get her way. The impressive part is, she has been imposing her villainy on children since 1959 and she is the only cartoon villain in the top 10.

6) Percy Wetmore – The Green Mile

An unlikely villain that has been overlooked, this spoiled and deranged prison guard barbecued a death row inmate out of morbid and sadistic curiosity. While this story of death row inmates in the depression is filled with awful characters, none shows the genuine cruelty that Percy Wetmore demonstrates, and his comeuppance is delicious. He is one of two villains created by the celebrated author Stephen King on the top 10 list.

5) Agent Smith – The Matrix

Hotly debated on the podcast, Hugo Weaving’s virtual enforcer starts the top 5. Agent smith, lead enforcer of the matrix, has an eerie calm that is only broken by his expert use of kung fu. His placid demeanor and ruthless aggression eventually threaten the entire Matrix that birthed him as he becomes a worthy adversary to the god-like protagonist, Neo.

4) Annie Wilks – Misery

The second Stephen King villain on the list is Anne Wilks. The kindly nurse who eventually becomes a monstrous and suffocating force of evil. This obsessed nurse (another nurse) nurtures Paul Sheldon to life to continue creating her favorite world, and answer to her whims. The role was brought to life by Kathy Bates, who won an Oscar for her performance, and haunts our ankles.

3) Col. Hans Landa – Inglorious Basterds

Although most Nazis are worthy enemies, few ever make a top 10 list. Until now. This Jew-hunting villain was brought to life by Christoph Waltz who won an Oscar for the role. This evil detective’s charm and calculating strategy make him a formidable and entertaining villain.

2) Darth Vader – Star Wars

There isn’t much left to say that hasn’t been said before. Along the line of Maleficent, this fallen Jedi betrayed his order, blew up a planet, cut the hand off his son, and strangled anyone who performed their job poorly. His steady and creepy breathing, imposing stature, and inhuman cyborg body have haunted generations since 1977.

1) The Joker – Batman: The Dark Knight This villain normally tops the top ten comic book villains, but thanks to Hearth Ledger’s Oscar winning performance, it tops our Top 10 movie villains. Not only is the villain infamous, but in “Batman: The Dark Knight” his presence is felt even off screen. The scenes of the Joker are the ones we all skip to on the DVD and quote to one another, but it is the Joker’s calculating plots, un-winnable scenarios, haunting videos, and ruthless violence made him our top ten villain on screen.