10. The Wicked Witch of the
West
From Dorothy’s initial arrival in
Munchkin City, and the very fact
that she’d landed smack on top
of the Wicked Witch of the East,
good old Margaret Hamilton as
the W.W. of the West nips at her
heels and tries to stop her every
move toward home. Tossing
insults as skillfully as she tosses
fire balls, the Witch proves
herself a worthy foe indeed as
she commands her band of
flying monkeys and seemingly
loyal soldiers.
9. Lex Luthor
Be it Gene Hackman or, to a
lesser extent, Kevin Spacey, the
portrayal of Lex Luthor as the
ultimate nemesis to America’s
hero, Superman, is a daunting
task. One has to be of particular
evil genius to not only out wit,
but also out muscle The Man of
Steel. Somehow always within
reach of a chunk of Kryptonite,
Lex Luthor manages to get the
upper hand for what seems like
a breathless eternity. But
Superman will always triumph in
the end.
8. Jason Voorhees
What more could you want in an
unstoppable juggernaut than a
presumably walking corpse in a
goalie mask? Few villains have
had the staying power as the
Camp Crystal Lake killer, Jason.
Born from the very lake, in
which he was drowned, Jason
has racked up the revenge
victims for years only to ‘die’
once more at the end of what
could potentially be his final
killing spree. But, like a good
villain, death never keeps him
down for long.
7. Freddy Krueger
Like Jason before him, Freddy
only truly exists because we fear
him so deeply. Lodged firmly in a
town’s subconscious. Freddy
appears most frequently on Elm
Street where he collects his
victims while they sleep. Not
bound by real-world laws or
even physics, Freddy uses
anything and everything he can
‘dream up’ to antagonize his
prey before finally skewering
them on his razor-fingered
glove. But, much like every other
evil killer, someone manages to
banish him for just long enough
to take a breath. But he always
comes back.
6. Michael Myers
Halloween always brings out
thoughts of monsters and evil
masked men, and who better to
fit that description than a
massive silent murderer wearing
a discount, plastic William
Shatner face? Michael Myers had
the good old-fashioned troubled
childhood and wound up in a
mental ward only to find release
on Halloween and also find his
sister. But, like any good slasher,
Meyers continued his endless
rampage focusing on anyone
who got in his way.
5. Max Cady
Originally portrayed by Robert
Mitchum, Max Cady in Cape
Fear was a brutal, relentless
beast who would stop at nothing
to torture a desperate family.
Later, Robert DeNiro took the
reigns, but something about the
first performance stuck with
everyone and made his name a
classic in the annals of movie
bad guys.
4. Jigsaw
Evil without ever coming into
personal contact with his victims
is pure genius. Jigsaw lets his
diabolical torture devises do all
the work for him as he watches
hapless victims struggle for their
very lives attempting to undo, by
equally torturous methods, the
predicament they’ve found
themselves in. Surviving three
movies, and appearing in
flashbacks in a fourth with a fifth
doubtless in the works, Jigsaw
has become a master of his craft.
3. The Joker
Tormenting Batman for a half
century, The Joker has been one
of the most prominent figures in
bad-guy lore. Having killed Bruce
Wayne ’s parents, then
systematically murdering
everyone Wayne tried to get
close to, and eventually Robin
himself, the Joker is a sadistic
lunatic bent on nothing more
than vindictive malice. Sure,
Batman jails him as often as not,
but the Joker always finds a way
to get back to work.
2. The Emperor / Darth Vader
Though bent on locating his son
and stopping at nothing to do
so, Darth Vader was not,
unfortunately, the brains behind
his evil. No that job falls straight
on the shoulders of Emperor
Palpatine: his very creator. Yes,
Vader helped extinguish
thousands of Jedi throughout
several years, and Vader used his
Force powers to firmly place him
atop the upper echelon of Dark
Lords, it was always The Emperor
pulling the strings. Until, that is,
monster turned on master.
1. Hannibal Lecter
Dr. Lecter ATE people. That’s all
you need to know. Oh, and he
ATE a lot of them. That is
enough for me to top the list.
