I 50 cattivi più cattivi del cinema: the winner is...

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50. Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) – Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

49. Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

48. Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) – Rocky IV (1985)

47. Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) – The Matrix (1999)

46. Kevin (Elijah Wood) – Sin City (2005)

45. Mr Blonde (Michael Madsen) – Reservoir Dogs (1992)

44. Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston) – The Three Musketeers (1973)

43. John Doe (Kevin Spacey) – Se7en (1995)

42. The Child Catcher (Robert Helpmann) – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

41.The Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

40. Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

39. Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman) – Unforgiven (1992)

38. Jason Voorhees (Steve Daskewisz) – Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

37. Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) – Basic Instinct (1992)

36. Cruela De Vil (Betty Lou Gerson) – 101 Dalmatians (1961)

35. Mrs Iselin (Angela Lansbury) – The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

34. The Hunter – Bambi (1942)

33. Hal 9000 (Douglas Rain) – 200:1 A Space Odyssey (1968)

32. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) – Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

31. Frankenstein’s Monster (Boris Karloff) – Frankenstein (1931)

30. Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)

29. Phyliss Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) – Double Indemnity (1944)

28. Emperor Ming the Merciless (Max Von Sydow) – Flash Gordon (1980)

27. Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) – Back to the Future (1985

26. Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) – Blue Velvet (1986)

25. Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) – No Country For Old Men (2007)

24. Frank (Henry Fonda) – Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

23. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Anthony Dawson) – From Russia With Love (1963)

22.The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) – The Wizard of Oz (1939)

21. Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) – Superman (1978)

20. Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) – M (1931)

19. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) – The Shining (1980)

18. The Alien (Bolaji Badejo) – Alien (1979)

17. The Shark – Jaws (1975)

16. Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) – Goodfellas (1990)

15. Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) – Cape Fear (1962)

14. Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) – A Clockwork Orange (1962)

13. Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) – Schindler’s List (1993)

12. The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – The Terminator (1984)

11. Michael Myers / The Shape (Nick Castle) – Halloween (1978)

10. Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) – Die Hard (1988)

9. Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) – Wall Street (1987)

8. Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

7. The Joker (Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger) – Batman films

6. Count Orlock (Max Schreck) – Nosferatu (1922)

5. Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) – Fatal Attraction (1987)

4. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) – Psycho (1960)

3. Henry F. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) – It’s a Wonderful life (1946)

2. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) – Silence of the Lambs (1991)

1. Darth Vader (David Prowse) – Star Wars (1977)

The embodiment of evil, Vader drew boos from cinemagoers even before he’d choked his first officer. This instant recognition of his villainy, alongside his for-all-ages evil appeal propels the Sith Lord to the top of our list. Few on-screen characters generate such an instant emotional reaction from audiences, yet alongside such pantomime villainy Vader also manages to instil a sense of genuine evil. That expressionless helmet leaves no moral compass from which audience’s can draw empathy or understanding, and the hypnotic rhythm of his respirator points to something mechanical, perpetual and unstoppably evil that jars with every fibre of the cinemagoer’s being as if death itself had walked on screen. Evil of epic proportions.

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