The 50 best movie villains of all time

Go to the dark side with our ranked list of evildoers.

By David Fear, Joshua Rothkopf and Keith Uhlich Mon Oct 24 2011

Movie villains: Count Dracula, Dracula (1931)
Movie villains: HAL 9000, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Movie villains: General Zod, Superman II (1980)
Movie villains: Gordon Gekko, Wall Street (1987)
Movie villains: Noah Cross, Chinatown (1974)
Movie villains: Freddy Krueger, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Movie villains: Mrs. Iselin, The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Movie villains: Auric Goldfinger, Goldfinger (1964)
Movie villains: The Terminator, The Terminator (1984)
Movie villains: The Alien, Alien (1979)

Movie villains: Count Dracula, Dracula (1931)

Count Dracula, Dracula (1931)

"I never drink...wine," says Bela Lugosi in his immortal performance—which he originated onstage—while chomping on every pause and flick of the cape. It's a strange turn, casting a warp over the entire movie and singlehandedly creating goth-chic. All Hollywood horror movies basically owe a debt to this one.—Joshua Rothkopf

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

HAL 9000, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Stanley Kubrick's galaxy-traversing masterpiece gave us a bad guy for the ages in the artificially intelligent computer HAL 9000. It's the voice, by Douglas Rain, that chills the most: flat and affectless, with just a hint of superiority. There's no rage in this machine, just cold indifference.—Keith Uhlich

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

General Zod, Superman II (1980)

Terence Stamp is marvelously stern and sinister as the chief antagonist of this buoyant Man of Steel sequel. A Kryptonian criminal mastermind with superstrength and a hilariously condescending leer, he plans to take our hero out and make all Earthlings his slaves. With a performance this delicious, we'd kneel before Zod any day.—Keith Uhlich

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

Gordon Gekko, Wall Street (1987)

Equal parts seductive charm and cutthroat corporate Darwinism, Michael Douglas's iconic role turned a stock-market Master of the Universe into Satan in suspenders. Gekko's philosophy—"Greed...is good"—summed up the get-rich '80s to a tee; his idolization by a generation of white-collar alpha males suggests Douglas may have played this villain too well.—David Fear

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

Noah Cross, Chinatown (1974)

John Huston's decrepit patriarch could be mistaken for just another 20th-century opportunist hell-bent on owning "the future, Mr. Gittes!" Then you find out what's hiding behind that reptilian grin, and out comes his true self: Cross exemplifies not just free-market capitalism run amok but the bone-deep corruption of a nation built by evil men.—David Fear

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

Freddy Krueger, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

One, two, Freddy's coming for you.... Robert Englund's razor-fingered adversary wasn't always a wisecracking slasher: In his first appearance, he was a petrifying bogeyman who, with that ratty red sweater and fire-scarred face, made more of a searingly visual than verbal impression.—Keith Uhlich

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

Mrs. Iselin, The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Angela Lansbury is scarily perfect in John Frankenheimer's Cold War classic as the senator's-wife-cum-communist-plant who uses hypnotic suggestion to make her sleeper-agent son carry out everything from breakups to assassinations. Don't believe that Queen of Diamonds getup she wears; there's nothing noble about this character.—Keith Uhlich

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

Auric Goldfinger, Goldfinger (1964)

"No, Mr. Bond...I expect you to die!": With all due respect to Ernst Blofeld, Rosa Klebb and Jaws, the Bond villain we most love to hate is the man with the Midas touch. Whether killing a traitorous cohort with gold paint or pointing a laser at Sean Connery's crotch, nobody threatened 007 with more panache than Gert Frbe's aurum-obsessed foe.—David Fear

Buy on Amazon

The Terminator, The Terminator (1984)

He became something of a softie in the sequels, so we'll always prefer Arnold Schwarzenegger's relentless cyborg in James Cameron's lean, mean '80s action flick. He stalks his prey so mercilessly (innocents in the line of fire be damned) that you long to pull the plug yourself.—Keith Uhlich

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

The Alien, Alien (1979)

Evolving over the course of the movie into three distinct creatures, this landmark beast is, first and foremost, a brilliantly dark conception (by original screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, exploring rape fears). Costume-work by creepy Swiss designer H.R. Giger and director Ridley Scott's eerie atmosphere sealed the deal.—Joshua Rothkopf

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

50–41
40–31
30–21
20–11
10–1

Your rating
Name *
Email *
Comment *
* mandatory fields

Comments & ratings

(14 ratings)

I'm sad that Lady Iboshi from Princess Mononoke didn't make the list.

Boschman About 5 days ago
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
Everyone complaining about The Joker not being on the top 50 list needs to calm down and realize The Dark Knight only came out 5 years ago. Give it another 5-10 years and we'll see if Ledger's portrayal was as memorable as this generation claims it is.

Jack Sat May 4
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
i guess they wanted to make a doublepost for the Joker (1989/2008) as first place. But you know bugs are everywhere and most times about 50cm in front of the screen^^ but worst "villain" is Sarah Connor. Or you forget the moment where the Terminator (the star role) get squashed and he not could kill her? I really had to weep about this tragic end.

crazyaverage Tue Apr 30
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
Joker from the dark night??? He should be in top 5 !!!!!!!!!!!!

Joker Mon Apr 29
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
Alan Rickman's Hans Grubert at #28 is a complete joke.

Colin Sun Apr 28
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
wheres the shining/ Jack Nicholson...???...

Rudy Tue Apr 23
Rated as: 3/5
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
The Kurgan from Highlander? Stansfield from The Professional? Zorg from The Fifth Element?

shannon Mon Apr 1
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
John Doe in Se7en is the scariest villain of all time...obviously

Ben Fri Mar 29
Rated as: 1/5
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
The best villain of all time is Night Slasher in Cobra (1986), (BRIAN THOMPSON), but nobody put him in the list.

Naglifar Thu Mar 28
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
C´mon!! How about Mr Blonde from Reservoir Dogs??

RocknRolla Sun Mar 17
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *