Viola Davis has just been cast as the villain Dr. Volumnia Gaul in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel movie called The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes. In recent years, films like The Batman and Thor: Love and Thunder have reminded people of the excitement that a villain brings to a story. For every hero, there is seemingly a villain. This has been a trope in storytelling since movies began.
In 2003, The American Film Institute made a list honoring the 50 greatest villains in movie history honoring some of the most notorious villains cinema has ever offered.
The Evil Queen: Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
One of the greatest technicolor films of the era, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs also features one of the greatest villains in cinema history. The Evil Queen, voiced by Lucille La Verne, is the prototype of the evil stepmother in films based on fairy tales. In the film, the queen is envious of Snow White's beauty, doing what she can to destroy her.
Walt Disney had a knack for making the perfect villain. The Evil Queen stands out to this day due to the pure ugliness of the character and while the Queen is implied to have died in the film, she continues to be used by Disney due to her popularity to this day.
Pazuzu: The Exorcist (1973)
One of the scariest films ever made, The Exorcist was reflective of the New Hollywood trend of riskier stories and movies, Pazuzu is an ancient demon who takes over the body of Reagan MacNeil, played by Linda Blair. The film focuses on the attempt to exorcise the demon out of the young girl, costing the lives of multiple main characters.
The Exorcist got numerous sequels and spin-offs, with a lot of that coming down to the success of the villain. Pazuzu was legitimately horrifying and the image of the possessed Blair continues to haunt the dreams of many, nearly 50 years later. Without Pazuzu, films like the Insidious and Conjuring films would likely not have been made.
Phyllis Dietrichson: Double Indemnity (1944)
Barbara Stanwyck had been a movie star for over a decade before starring in Double Indemnity, but the role may be her most enduring. Here, she plays a woman who murders her husband with the help of an insurance agent, played by Fred MacMurray. The film ends with tragedy for everyone, as Stanwyck's Dietrichson is killed by MacMurray, who will have to meet his punishment head-on.
Attractive and cunning, she was able to seduce a man into killing her husband. It is shown throughout the film that she had killed in the past, as well. Dietrichson was one of the most important Femme Fatales on screen and was played by one of the most important actresses of the time with Stanwyck.
Alex Forrest: Fatal Attraction (1987)
Michael Douglas's Dan Gallagher made a huge mistake when he had his fling with Glenn Close's Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction. Forrest becomes obsessed, stalking him and his family while committing heinous acts to get his attention. Forrest tries to kill Gallagher's wife but ends up being the one who dies instead.
Fatal Attraction showed how much a love-scorned woman can work as an antagonist in a movie, making an unlikeable man the protagonist, and this became a template for many erotic thrillers of the future. Close got nominated for an Oscar for her role in the film.
Mr. Potter: It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
The villain of the most famous Christmas film ever, Mr. Potter is one miserable man in It's A Wonderful Life. He spends the entire film trying to ruin George Bailey's life and is responsible for the events that lead to Bailey's suicide attempt. Potter does not get any punishment in the film, which is odd, but believable.
The richest and greediest man in town, he doesn't have to worry about the true consequences of his actions. Potter did get some form of punishment though. George Bailey got to continue to live his life and became the one man Potter couldn't control. For a man like Potter, this is as horrible as anything.
Nurse Ratched: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
The power-hungry head nurse of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ratched does all she can to have full control of all the patients at the mental institute. As time goes on, she becomes more quietly sinister, ultimately culminating in the suicide of Billy Babbit. This leads to the main character, Jack Nicholson's R.P Murphy, choking her and ultimately getting lobotomized as a result.
Fletcher won an Oscar for the film and thanked the audience for hating the character so much. To this day, Ratched is used as a representation of power-hungry authoritarianism and an example of real-life evil. Murphy was an awful man, but with Ratched's evil control over the people that she was supposed to be helping, he became the hero.
The Wicked Witch Of The West: The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
Margaret Hamilton was allegedly a sweet woman, but she did a great job as The Wicked Witch in The Wizard Of Oz. Spending the whole film trying to get the ruby slippers off the feet of Judy Garland's Dorothy, The Wicket Witch Of The West uses all of her powers, as doing so would give her the ability to conquer Oz. As the story goes, she does not win and ends up melting.
Hamilton also played Miss Gulch in the Kansas scenes and is shown transforming into the witch in the tornado. The role scarred children for years, with a famous episode of Sesame Street featuring the character going missing 50 years after it first aired. Still, a horrifying character, The Wizard Of Oz brought the unlikable, infamous Witch to life in Technicolor and changed movies forever.
Darth Vader:The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
While appearing in the first Star Wars, Darth Vader truly becomes an icon in The Empire Strikes Back. After all, this is when he lays down his most iconic line and tells Luke he is his father. This is also the film where he cuts off Luke's hand, and while there was another antagonist in the original movie, Vader truly takes over as the main villain here, doing what he can to bring Luke to the dark side.
Always evil and menacing, here the audience sees him kill at will to get what he wants. His treatment of heroes like Luke and Han Solo is truly evil. Darth Vader is one of the most brutal villains of all time with a well-deserved place on this list.
Norman Bates: Psycho (1960)
Anthony Perkins was born to play Norman Bates in Psycho. Leaning into his sensitive young man image, Bates is a bit weird before the twist at the end. Running his motel, he kills multiple people throughout the film, taking on the persona of his dead mother. At the end of the film, his mother's voice plays in his head, as if she wouldn't hurt a fly, with Bates giving one of the most sinister smiles in film history. As rewatchable as any Hitchcock film, Bates is an interesting villain.
Bates is the perfect villain for that twist. He comes off as weird in the beginning, but not a killer. So when he is revealed, it leaves the whole audience shocked. Bates helped define what a horror villain would be from that point on.
Hannibal Lector: The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
The greatest villain ever according to the AFI, Lector is as evil as they come. In The Silence Of The Lambs, he is useful in helping track down fellow serial killer Buffalo Bill in one of the greatest murder mystery films ever, even if he is barely on-screen.
Perhaps it is Anthony Hopkins' winning performance, or perhaps it is the amazing chemistry with Foster, but Lector is deserving of the number one spot. He is truly evil with no thought for anyone but himself and also one of the most unique movie villain characters ever. He's so polite when he kills, but this doesn't make him any less unhinged.