Villans

[Lotan]

Have you a favorite cinematic villan? One whom you feel accurately conveys the esence of remorseless malevolence? He/she/it may be from a swashbuckler or otherwise. My personal favorite is probably Tim Roth's superb portrayal of the despicable Archibald Cunningham, from the 1995 film Rob Roy. His destinctive method of rapier play (choreographed by the always excellent William Hobbes) has had a major influence upon my own style (as odd as it may seem).

Post Script: Beg pardon if this subject has been covered before. I'm rather new to this forum, so please don't take offense.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Dr Hannibal Lecter, Buffalo Bill and Leatherface... those three are really scary.

[telkanuru]

I can only answer that Christopher Lee is my absolute favorite villanous actor, since he gets no other parts.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I can only answer that Christopher Lee is my absolute favorite villanous actor, since he gets no other parts.

Join me obi-wan, and together we will destroy the sith!

[Soldier]

Gary Sinise and Christopher Walken. They can't play good guys when they try.

And when he wants to, Robin Williams plays one creepy-*** bad guy.

[telkanuru]

Join me obi-wan, and together we will destroy the sith!

I was thinking more along the lines of "Wha... Saruman's a dark Jedi, too?"

[Soldier]

Give in to the pedantic side:

It's "villians".

[fencerontheline]

That evil man-bunny from Donnie Darko, and Lil Ze from City of God were excellent.

[Cyranox11]

Tim Roth as Archibald Cunningham in Rob Roy...
Very good; scary...

Also, John Malkovich as Valmont in Dangerous Liasions,
And innumerable others that I dont have time to dredge up, but those two stand out for now...

[Masterurethane]

THE CAPTAIN from Wild Zero

[Inquartata]

Give in to the pedantic side:

It's "villians".

Ahem.

[noodle]

That evil man-bunny from Donnie Darko, and Lil Ze from City of God were excellent.

aww
but frank isn't really a villan...not to give away the end or anything.

if we're going for pseudo-villans, i'm going to tag the emporer in "hero"

and i'll agree on the robin williams front. he plays some really good/creepy bad guys.

[Maeve_Mari]

Give in to the pedantic side:

It's "villians".

'tis a shaking in your soul that can't rest

[blue_falcon]

I don't really have any favorite villains but I think Alan Rickman is currently the BEST villain actor out there! I still remember him from the first Die Hard (oh, he was a NASTY one there!) with the proper blend of malevolence and black humor. And then, of course, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner. The movie sucked but Alan Rickman, as the Sheriff of Nottingham, was priceless! As the piece de resistance, there's Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies.

Of course, I do agree that Christopher Lee is inimitable. But how about the CLASSIC villains? How about Lon Chaney? And that snivelling guy from the 30s? I can't remember his name now ...... He was in the Maltese Falcon! Yes, Peter Lorre! He was so creepy in M.

[Monkeyboy]

How about the mohawk-hair dude in the Mel Gibson movie Road Warrior? I think they gave the role to some big bad-**s Aussie stunt man, because you can see it's him doing all the moves he does. And when he says "You! You can run but you cannot hide!" you can tell he's not a forgiving christian.

[K Degnon]

My favorite badguy is a badgirl. Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery. A seemingly good intentioned nurse who turns out in reality to be an obsessed psychopath. That hobbling scene was the only time I've ever cringed in a movie.

[Moonitic]

::ahem:: And what does being a paid stunt person have to do with being Christian?

Anyhoo, I agree about Kathy Bates. Then again, I think the best villians are the ones who appear normal, but attack people psychologically (& sometimes, later, physically). The "I'm you're friend one minute & your worst nightmare the next" ploy can be pretty darn intense when done right.

A classic favorite of mine is Norman Bates. Tony Perkins, that is.

[MikeHarm]

The man-bunny I don't think qualifies as a villian. Everything he said, while it seemed like he was saying things in a evil/scary way turned out to usually be positive in the results didn't it?

That evil man-bunny from Donnie Darko, and Lil Ze from City of God were excellent.

[fencerontheline]

Yes and no (or is that nes and yo?- for all of you other Joyce people). It killed poor Donnie no? Without Frank's guidance, Donnie Darko would not have had the tragic ending it did.

[ArcherUK]

Gary Oldman plays fantastic Villains and I must admit is my favourite actor.

Hannibal Lector is an amazing villain but was too comic book for my liking in red dragon, they almost reverted and went into reverse with him.

Vincent Price...an oldie but a legend...Pit and the pendulum / dr phibes...amazing.

Christopher Lee again is another great villain actor.