Online Film Critics Society Names Greatest Screen Villains

Posted on November 20, 2002

The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), an international association of Internet-based cinema journalists, is sharing its love with the character we're supposed to hate. The OFCS has announced its new list celebrating the Top 100 Villains of All Time and the greatest screen villain of all time, according to the 132 members of the OFCS, is Darth Vader played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones in the original Star Wars trilogy.

Following Darth Vader in the Top 10 sector of the Villains list is Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates in Psycho, Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth in Blue Velvet, Robert Mitchum's Rev. Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter, Douglas Rain as the voice of the HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, Max Schreck as Graf Orlock in Nosferatu, and Ricardo Montalban as Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

"The Villains list spans the history of motion pictures, from Max Schreck's landmark performance in the 1922 silent version of Nosferatu to Anthony Hopkins reprising his Hannibal Lecter role yet again in the new Red Dragon feature," says Erik Childress, editor of eFilmCritic.com and a member of the OFCS Governing Committee. "In many ways, the Villains are the most important aspect of classic films--what would Star Wars be without Darth Vader or The Wizard of Oz without the Wicked Witch of the West'? With this list, we can unapologetically say that we love a great villain!"

THE OFCS TOP 100 VILLAINS OF ALL TIME

1. Star Wars etc. - Darth Vader - David Prowse/James Earl Jones
2. Silence of the Lambs, The etc. - Hannibal Lecter - Anthony Hopkins
3. Psycho etc. - Norman Bates - Anthony Perkins
4. Die Hard - Hans Gruber - Alan Rickman
5. Blue Velvet - Frank Booth - Dennis Hopper
6. Night of the Hunter - Rev. Harry Powell - Robert Mitchum
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey - HAL 9000 - Douglas Rain (voice)
8. Wizard of Oz, The - The Wicked Witch of the West - Margaret Hamilton
9. Nosferatu - Graf Orlock - Max Schreck
10. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - Khan Noonien Singh - Ricardo Montalban
11. Clockwork Orange, A - Alex - Malcolm McDowell
12. Usual Suspects, The - Keyzer Soze - (mystery/actor's name withheld)
13. Third Man, The - Harry Lime - Orson Welles
14. Schindler's List - Amon Goeth - Ralph Fiennes
15. Halloween - Michael Myers (aka The Shape) - Nick Castle
16. Batman (1989) - The Joker - Jack Nicholson
17. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Nurse Ratched - Louise Fletcher
18. Manchurian Candidate, The - Mrs. Iselin - Angela Lansbury
19. Jaws - The shark - himself
20. Se7en - John Doe - Kevin Spacey
21. Terminator, The etc. - T-800 - Arnold Schwarzenegger
22. Misery - Annie Wilkes - Kathy Bates
23. Shining, The - John 'Jack' Daniel Torrance - Jack Nicholson
24. Once Upon a Time in the West - Frank - Henry Fonda
25. Amadeus - Salieri - F. Murray Abraham
26. M - Hans Beckert - Peter Lorre
27. In the Company of Men - Chad - Aaron Eckhart
28. Alien etc. - The alien - himself
29. Shadow of a Doubt - Uncle Charlie - Joseph Cotten
30. Nightmare On Elm Street, A etc. - Freddy Kreuger - Robert Englund
31. Apocalypse Now - Col. Walter E. Kurtz - Marlon Brando
32. Chinatown - Noah Cross - John Huston
33. Fatal Attraction - Alex Forrest - Glenn Close
34. Full Metal Jacket - Gunnery Sergeant Hartman - R. Lee Ermey
35. Blade Runner - Roy Batty - Rutger Hauer
36. Matrix, The - Mr. Smith - Hugo Weaving
37. Dracula (1931) - Dracula etc. - Bela Lugosi
38. Marathon Man - Christian Szell - Laurence Olivier
39. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The - T-1000 - Robert Patrick
40. It's a Wonderful Life - Mr. Potter - Lionel Barrymore
41. Exorcist, The - Pazuzu - Mercedes McCambridge (voice)
42. Touch of Evil - Captain Hank Quinlan - Orson Welles
43. Leon (The Professional) - Norman Stansfield - Gary Oldman
44. Cape Fear (1991) - Max Cady - Robert De Niro
45. Goldfinger - Auric Goldfinger - Gert Frobe
46. Richard III - King Richard III - Ian McKellan
47. Strangers On a Train - Bruno Antony - Robert Walker
48. Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, The - Albert Spica - Michael Gambon
49. Double Indemnity - Phyllis Dietrichson - Barbara Stanwyck
50. American Psycho - Patrick Bateman - Christian Bale
51. Hitcher, The - John Ryder - Rutger Hauer
52. Goodfellas - Tommy DeVito - Joe Pesci
53. All About Eve - Eve Harrington - Anne Baxter
54. Bad Seed, The - Rhoda - Patty McCormack
55. Kiss of Death - Tommy Udo - Richard Widmark
56. White Heat - Arthur "Cody" Jarrett - James Cagney
57. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - The queen - Lucille La Verne (voice)
58. Rebecca - Mrs. Danvers - Judith Anderson
59. Cape Fear (1962) - Max Cady - Robert Mitchum
60. Dr. Strangelove - Jack D. Ripper - Sterling Hayden
61. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery etc. - Dr. Evil - Mike Myers
62. Taxi Driver - Travis Bickle - Robert DeNiro
63. Basic Instinct - Catherine Trammell - Sharon Stone
64. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The - Leatherface - Gunnar Hansen
65. Wall Street - Gordon Gekko - Michael Douglas
66. Rosemary's Baby - Minnie Castevet - Ruth Gordon
67. Deliverance - Mountain men - Bill McKinney and Herbert "Cowboy" Coward
68. Training Day - Alonzo Harris - Denzel Washington
69. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - Jane Hudson - Bette Davis
70. 101 Dalmatians - Cruella De Vil - Betty Lou Gerson (voice)
71. Metropolis - The evil Maria - Brigitte Helm
72. Duel - The truck driver - Carey Loftin
73. In the Line of Fire - Booth - John Malkovich
74. Phantom of the Opera, The (1925) - Erik - Lon Chaney
75. Last Seduction, The - Wendy Kroy - Linda Fiorentino
76. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - Henry - Michael Rooker
77. Sexy Beast - Don Logan - Ben Kingsley
78. Wait Until Dark - Roat - Alan Arkin
79. Reservoir Dogs - Mr. Blonde - Michael Madsen
80. Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Aguirre - Klaus Kinski
81. Fight Club - Tyler Durden - Brad Pitt
82. Batman Returns - Catwoman - Michelle Pfieffer
83. Rob Roy - Archibald Cunningham - Tim Roth
84. Graduate, The - Mrs. Robinson - Anne Bancroft
85. Casablanca - Major Heinrich Strasser - Conrad Veidt
86. Back to the Future etc. - Biff Tannen - Thomas F. Wilson
87. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Ed Rooney - Jeffrey Jones
88. Roger & Me - Roger Smith - himself
89. Unforgiven - Little Bill Daggett - Gene Hackman
90. Frankenstein etc. - The monster - Boris Karloff
91. Flash Gordon (1980) - Ming the Merciless - Max Von Sydow
92. Stepfather, The - Henry Morrison/Jerry Blake/Bill Hodgkins - Terry O'Quinn
93. Primal Fear - Mystery Villain - actor's name withheld
94. Shane - Jack Wilson - Jack Palance
95. Peeping Tom - Mark Lewis - Carl Boehm
96. Mutiny On the Bounty (1935) - Captain William Bligh - Charles Laughton
97. Legend - The Lord of Darkness - Tim Curry
98. Last House On the Left, The - Krug - David Hess
99. Lolita - Clare Quilty - Peter Sellers
100. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The - Dr. Caligari - Werner Krauss