"The More Successful the Villain, The More Successful the Picture" - Hitchcock

Hitchcock was right
Look at Darth Vader or check out the better James Bond movies
A proper villainous bastard ups the tension and makes the picture work

I think true...my mom loved a good movie villain...I remember when we first watched Star Wars together many years ago, when we first see Darth Vader boarding Leia's ship, and he makes the breathing noises, she turned to me and said, "Now that's a villain."

I hadn't come across that Hitchcock quote before. It does seem a little ambiguous. I suppose a villain has to be initially successful at what he does to make an impact. Even is he is inevitably defeated in the end to make the story moral. A villain who is a loser from the outset wouldn't be very interesting.

It's interesting because in many of AH films there really isn't a established villain. Tony Perkins is mild as is Ray Milland while the seagull only had a small role.

Without a great antagonist in the story, regardless of the medium in which the story is told, you’ve got nothing. This is the problem with writing for Superman, because he’s tantamount to omnipotent. Milton had the opposite problem when he wrote Paradise Lost. It’s hard NOT to make Satan the most interesting character in a story where he appears.

Mr. Hitchcock had a good grasp of understanding human nature, so, when you say that he meant that he or she truly inspires fear or hatred in the audience," then, that's what I think he meant. And I'll be holding onto that movie title, I CARE A LOT, which I have never heard of and I will try to find it and watch it. I'm trying to think of a recent movie villain that I have seen and am drawing a blank...

True. Look at Ruth Wilson as Alice Morgan in ' Luther ' or Adam James as John Bellasis in ' Belgravia '. Both charismatic villains.