More than 40 years ago, film critic Roger Ebert claimed that “Each film is only as good as its villain.” He might not have been the very first person to make this observation, but in any event, Ebert certainly knew what he was talking about when it came to film, and his statement here is a difficult one to dispute. Both before Ebert said this, and in the years since, plenty of films have become iconic largely because of their villains.
The lead antagonist gives the protagonist/heroes something to fight against, and will often be the primary source of a story’s conflict. Conflict is always interesting, and so oftentimes, the better—or more compelling—the villain, the more emotional engagement a viewer will feel. This makes a great villain something that’s always worth celebrating, with the villains below all being some of the best in film history, thanks to how evil, clever, persistent, or sometimes even understandable/tragic they are.
45
Angel Eyes
‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (1966)
So, with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, things are a little more complicated than the title might suggest regarding two of the three titular characters, all of whom end up clashing by the film’s climax. Clint Eastwood’s Blondie (“the good”) isn’t really that heroic, while Eli Wallach’s Tuco (“the ugly”) ends up kind of being the heart of the movie. But Lee Van Cleef’s Angel Eyes (“the bad”) is pretty much just bad.
He has a little less screen time than the other main characters, but Van Cleef still makes one hell of an impression, and is ultimately very memorable. His character in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly also stands in stark contrast to the one he played in Sergio Leone’s previous movie, For a Few Dollars More, as there, he was a decent person seeking vengeance for a horrific act of cruelty.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- Release Date
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December 29, 1967
- Runtime
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161 minutes
44
Mrs. Voorhees
‘Friday the 13th’ (1980)
As a series, Friday the 13th is far from the only notable one within the horror genre that kicked off with a film that stands in contrast to its sequels. Well, not in terms of premise, considering it’s got the fairly standard “young people stalked by a killer” thing going on. Where it differs is the villain, because Jason isn’t the central murderer in the first film. Instead, it’s his mother, Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer).
She’s seeking retribution for the death of her son in Friday the 13th (1980), and is also convinced that murdering the staff at Camp Crystal Lake will prevent further accidents from happening, like the one that befell Jason. But then Jason is alive after all, and the rest (post this first film) is history. Mrs. Voorhees continues to be a presence after the original movie, though, with Palmer appearing in Friday the 13th Part 2 and the character continuing to be referenced in later films as well.
43
The Emperor
‘Return of the Jedi’ (1983)
The Emperor is a bit of a complicated villain to talk about, as he’s a small yet still important part of the Star Wars original trilogy (only being featured briefly in The Empire Strikes Back while playing a more significant role in Return of the Jedi), then was a major presence in the prequels, and was then hastily brought back rather haphazardly in the 2019 film The Rise of Skywalker, from the sequel trilogy.
But even if he was just in Return of the Jedi, he’d be a memorable overarching villain, even if it’s his top underling who’s ultimately the most iconic (and complex) villain in the series (more on him in a bit). Ian McDiarmid is ultimately great here as a scenery-chewing being of pure evil, and the hamminess of the Emperor—along with the genuine threat he poses—help make him a great antagonist.
42
Dr. Evil
‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’ (1997)
Sure, Dr. Evil is the central villain of a trilogy of parody movies, but he’s still a pretty great antagonist, all the while being a send-up of Ernst Stavro Blofeld from the James Bond series. That’s fitting, considering the Austin Powers movies are themselves send-ups of the James Bond series, alongside having a good deal of crude and in-your-face humor that you don’t have to be a fan of 007 to “get.”
Also, unlike most villains, Dr. Evil is played by the same guy who also plays the titular hero of the Austin Powers series: Mike Myers. He does a good enough job making them so different that it’s sometimes easy to forget they’re played by the same actor (but it might well be that the less said about his other characters—especially Goldmember—the better).
41
Asami Yamazaki
‘Audition’ (1999)
Saying that Asami (Eihi Shiina) is the central villain of Audition might well count as a spoiler, given the way the first half of the movie unfolds without really being a horror film, but at the same time, most of the posters have her looking pretty menacing, and the film’s also been out for more than a quarter of a century. Still, the things she ends up doing do prove surprising, even if you’re sufficiently braced for unpleasantness.
In typical Takashi Miike fashion, Audition is shocking and kind of gross, but it has that element of restraint in terms of not playing its cards until its second half. This results in the movie being a wild ride, with Asami potentially being the most recognizable and iconic single character found in any Takashi Miike film.
40
Mrs. Eleanor Iselin
‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (1962)
If you want to count The Manchurian Candidate as a spy movie, then its main villain, Eleanor Iselin, probably ranks as one of the best spy film villains of all time. She’s played by Angela Lansbury, who shows range here because of how sinister she is, compared to various other roles of hers, and because she plays the mother of a character played by Laurence Harvey, who was only three years younger than her in real life.
Eleanor isn’t physically imposing, instead coming across as menacing because of the mind games she’s capable of playing, and what she’s willing to do to her own flesh and blood. The whole movie is a pretty dizzying, mind-bending, and paranoia-inducing watch, and Lansbury is a big reason why The Manchurian Candidate works as such a film.
The Manchurian Candidate
- Release Date
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October 24, 1962
- Runtime
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126 Minutes
- Director
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John Frankenheimer
- Writers
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Richard Condon, George Axelfrod, John Frankenheimer
39
Norman Osborn / Green Goblin
‘Spider-Man’ (2002)
There’s no shortage of amazing characters to be found throughout the Spider-Man series, especially when focusing on those directed by Sam Raimi (hell, even the characters who only appear for a few seconds leave an impression). Peter Parker/Spider-Man is, obviously, the hero and the most important of the bunch, but the characters always had an impressive roster of equally iconic villains, Norman Osborn/Green Goblin included.
You can’t really go wrong with Green Goblin ordinarily, but when he’s played by the likes of Willem Dafoe, he’s even better. Dafoe chews scenery, creates memes, and plays Norman Osborn as someone who’s rather tragic and human at the same time. He goes big and broad, but there is more to the character here than just a comic book villain, and that has to be respected just as much as lines like “You know, I’m something of a scientist myself.”
38
Commodus
‘Gladiator’ (2000)
Joaquin Phoenix has done a bit of everything as an actor throughout the last few decades, but few of his roles saw him shine quite as bright as he did in Gladiator. He’s the major antagonist here, and a real love-to-hate sort of character, seizing power that wasn’t his to seize and wronging Russell Crowe’s Maximus in a big way, giving Maximus little to live for except the desire to enact revenge.
To be fair, Crowe is also iconic here, being as great a hero as Commodus is a villain. Given the sequel goes forward so much in time (and given how the first movie ends), Gladiator II does suffer a little by not having as great characters at the center of its conflict. With the first Gladiator, the two leads are absolutely perfect for the story at hand, and the entire film soars as a historical action/drama flick as a result.
37
Count Orlok
‘Nosferatu’ (1922)
The Nosferatu movies are kind of Dracula, but kind of not. The original remains the best; a silent classic that was an unofficial adaptation of Dracula, but with a few changes made, like making the main antagonist more grotesque. Instead of Count Dracula, Nosferatu has Count Orlok, who has a more monstrous appearance and might well be even more evil than his official counterpart.
Well, evilness is subjective, and some might find the relative charm of Dracula makes him scarier. Count Orlok, instead, is more of a monster, and his appearance is one that has a timelessly creepy quality. Even though this original film is more than 100 years old, it still has the capacity to disturb during its most unsettling moments, and that enduring quality is rare to find in cinema made so long ago.
36
Jane Hudson
‘What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?’ (1962)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is kind of wild for a film of its era, and it stands to this day as one of the best from 1962. The whole movie is basically a feature-length excuse to have Bette Davis and Joan Crawford be at each other’s throats for a couple of hours, with the two actresses playing former stars who have become increasingly bitter rivals in old age.
Davis plays the more villainous of the two, Jane Hudson, who’s responsible for causing most of the film’s torment and drama, much of it targeted towards her sister, Blanche. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a deeply unsettling film for more reasons than just the performances (the whole setting and atmosphere throughout, for example, go a long way), but Davis and Crawford are also phenomenal in their respective roles.