The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), the international association of the leading 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. Good choice, but we think that Dr. Giggles certainly deserves more respect than he gets.
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.”
With a reminder list of more than 400 potential villains to choose from, the society invited its members to consider some of the most wonderfully charismatic examples of celluloid evil. “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!”
For the complete list of Top 100 Villains, visit the Online Film Critics Society website.
