Question of the Month: Best Movie Villain

Hey, guys! This is a new feature I want to get going, called Question of the Month. Basically, once a month, I shall email around a few of the film bloggers I know and ask them all the same question. For example, this month I asked everyone what their favourite movie villain is. Sometime in the near future, I shall ask around another similar question that I haven’t thought of yet. Should be fun and is something a little different.

If you were not one of the people I contacted, then that might be for multiple reasons. Maybe your blog is more gaming based, or maybe you were a little too hard to contact (Mark Walker, for example, was someone I struggled to get hold of). If you want to take part in future articles like this, then post a comment below with an email I can get you on, and you will take part in the next question. As for those that did send me something in, your entries have been fantastic. Much more varied than I anticipated. So, without further ado…

ORACLE OF FILM – GOLLUM (THE LORD OF THE RINGS): Gollum is an impressive character for many reasons. The first reason is visually he is sinister, yet beautiful. Not as in he is a handsome creature, because he really is just how Tolkien wanted the wretched beast to look. Pitiful and withering, corrupted by the Ring. But for the massive leap in technology used to bring Gollum from the pages of the books, we have to marvel at the spectacle that is Smeagol. But the reason I chose Gollum as the best villain is the fact that his character is one of the most complex that I have seen in a movie for a long time. He might be an evil character, yet we never stop pitying him, because he is a puppet throughout the entire story. Whenever, his character begins to redeem itself, greed and jealously swoops in and corrupts him. He is a soul that doesn’t let itself be saved. It is fun, watching him plot the deaths of Frodo and Sam and there is a magnificence to the final fight. We see this character, never in control of his own life, fight to the death for something as petty as a ring. It is story-telling at its best and Andy Serkis’s Gollum brought that story to life.

SIDEKICK REVIEWS – THE TERMINATOR (THE TERMINATOR): Terminator is an unstoppable killing machine. It’s the iconic role that Arnold Schwarzenegger was born to play. It’s a cyborg than can blend in amongst humans but has no humanity. I get shivers after its flesh is burnt off revealing a metal endoskeleton with piercing red eyes. Kyle Reese’s speech perfectly sums up why Terminator is my favorite movie villain. “That terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.”

WHAT ABOUT THE TWINKIE – CLARENCE BODDICKER (ROBOCOP): Clarence Boddicker is the man in Old Detroit, he has the muscle, he has the power, anything you want he can get, you just better be able to pay up when the time comes. Boddicker is the type of man who will throw one of his own gang from a moving vehicle in order to try and halt the police from following him. He’s mean, he’s dirty, and as Officer Alex Murphy said; he’s slime.

Boddciker is played by Kurtwood Smith, also known for his role as Red Forman in That 70’s Show, but it’s his role as one of the main villains in the original Robocop movie that sticks in my mind the most. Watching the film when I was younger, the guy simply terrified me, and to be honest he still does now. The way he toys with Officer Murphy in the famous execution scene to his total disregard for any other human being, he’s complete scum, but boy do I have fun watching him. As Clarence Boddicker, Kurtwood Smith brings a straightforward type of villainy to the role. He doesn’t mess around with politics, or two faced conniving like some of the other characters in the movie, no, he’s just pure evil and he wants everyone to know it. You can take your Hans Gruber’s and Joker’s and Agent Smith’s, but no one gets the job done quite like Clarence J. Boddicker.

TIM THE FILM GUY – SCAR (THE LION KING): Scar is a great villain. I could have picked a live action, but nothing is more scarring (Ha, Puns), than when Scar betrays his brother Mufasa, kills him and then mocks him as he does it. “Long Live the King”.

FILMS AND THINGS – FREDDY KRUGER (NIGHTMARE ON ELM’S STREET): Freddy Krueger is my favorite movie villain because unlike a lot of those kinds of horror villains he’s actually pretty funny. I find (and maybe it’s just me being slightly twisted), that I end up rooting for Freddy rather than any of the people he’s trying to kill…I never thought I’d feel sorry for a pedophile for burning to death! I suppose it helps that Robert Englund is such an awesome actor. I nearly dressed as Freddy Krueger for a fancy dress party, and somewhere lying around my room at home is a really shit Freddy glove with plastic knives on, but I couldn’t find a stripy top that looked right so I gave up on that idea.

VERBAL SPEW – SIMON GRUBER (DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE): Simon Gruber, much like his late brother Hans, was a methodical, highly intelligent and completely amoral individual. All of these qualities made him a most excellent villain. Both Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons delivered fantastic performances in Die Hard and Die Hard With A Vengeance (my two personal favorites of the franchise) respectively, but for overall bona fide creep-factor, Irons wins out for me every time. There were many other, perhaps more obvious villains that elicited a much deeper reaction from me, but with the nefarious scheming accompanied by a side of brass balls, Simon Gruber will always be one of the more memorable ones. (Editor’s note: Happy Birthday, Vee!)

SILVER SCREEN SERENADE – DR HANNIBAL LECTER (THE HANNIBAL TRILOGY): What’s great about Hannibal is he’s wickedly clever, surprisingly strong, and a full-blown psychopath. Plus, you know, the whole cannibal thing. Yet everything he does has an air of sophistication, even the really twisted stuff (i.e. eating people). Makes for a great villain and a fascinating character.

THE SPORADIC CHRONICLES OF A BEGINNER BLOGGER – THE JOKER (THE DARK KNIGHT): My favourite movie villain is The Joker. To be precise about it, the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s epic The Dark Knight (I was asked for a movie villain, though he is my favourite outside of that, too). Heath Ledger just brought that character to life such as it has never been done before. I love watching the Joker because he has that mix down – that mix being that you are interested in seeing what he wishes to do, so you want to let him have his reign for a while to see where he goes with it, but on the other hand you want your hero to swoop in and save the day, such as it is meant to be. The Joker is, plain and simple, cracked. He is an immeasurable crazy, and you are never really certain what he is cooking up, only that it is going to be incredibly frenzied. On one hand, he thrives off of chaos, and on the other hand, he seems to be some sort of organised, despite the fact that he may be just a little bit off the beaten track in terms of organised. It begs the question, does everything just fall into place in his pell-mell little world, or are they deviously crafted that way? Does everything happen on a whim or has it been cunningly crafted? He is terrifying and smart as a whip, compelling and devious, commanding your attention and (yes, I will say this), even some of your allegiance.

THE IPC – MIKE MYERS (HALLOWEEN): So I sent Luke my favorite villain like this: Michael Myers in Halloweens 1, 2, 4 & 5. And then he asked me for a couple of sentences detailing why. Here’s the answer: because he scared the fucking shit out of me when I was a kid in Halloweens 1 & 2 and then – when they came back with some new ones in the 80s – HE STILL SCARED ME. The old Myers – The Shape – lurked in the shadows and just stared at you, sometimes cocking his head. I don’t know what was scarier – seeing him in the background in the moonlight or watching someone get The Knife. Either way – what an effective bad guy for all of those years.

Of course – they stunk all of that up in H6 and H9 before Zombie took over. I think the two Zombie movies are decent enough but THE SHAPE DOESN’T GRUNT, SCREAM OR EAT DOGS!!!! BOO! BOOOOO!!!!

Calm.

(Editor’s Note: And to tie things up, remember to keep an eyes on the IPC’S blog. As my Featured Image tells you Shitfest Winter is almost upon us, so be sure to look there for one of the most treasured film blogging marathons on WordPress. You will not be disappointed.)