MovieChat Forums > The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) Discussion > No. 5 Greatest Movie Villain

No. 5 Greatest Movie Villain

posted 16 years ago by dtdbiz
6 replies | jump to latest

"Dr. Phibes" was on TV tonight. Made me think how he scored No. 5 in my Greatest Movie Villains list. I only came up with 5 at the time (prompted by Heath Ledger's performance in "Dark Knight"), but what are yours?

Here's my list:

5. Dr. Phibes, "The Abominable Dr. Phibes"
4. Terminator, "The Terminator" (first film only)
3. Frank Booth, "Blue Velvet"
2. The Joker, "The Dark Knight"
1. Scorpio, "Dirty Harry" (the first film)

If you like creepy movie villains and haven't seen any of these other flicks, check 'em out.

Also, I think the writers of "Seven" and "Saw" were influenced by this movie, and the writers of "Dr. Phibes" probably ready Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians," but it's all good. Interesting genre, a little more cerebral than splatter horror...

[–] glemay25 16 years ago

My list of all time great movie villians would be

1. Dr.Phibes
2. The Joker- Dark Knight version
3. Pinhead- Hellrasier 1-4
4. Otis B. Driftwood and Baby Firefly - House of 1000 Corpses and Devil's
Rejects
5. John Doe- Seven
6. Hannibal Lecter- Silence of the Lambs/Red Dragon
7. Salieri- Amadeus
8. Darth Vader- Stars Wars Esp 4 and 5
9. Ramses- Ten Comandments
10. Khan- Star Trek 2
11. Jarrod- the orginial House of Wax
12. Swan- Phantom of the Paradise
13. Cyrus the Viris- Con Air
14. Or-Ren Ishi and Go Go- Kill Bill vol 1
15. Jack the Ripper- Time After Time
16. Chucky - Whole Child's Play/Chucky series
17. Mitch Leary- In the Line of Fire
18. Skeletor- Masters of the Universe
19. The Masked Strangers- The Strangers
20. Dr. Rendell- Dr.Giggles
21. Jack the Ripper- From Hell
22. Emperor Palatine- Star Wars esp 3 and 6
23. Lex Luthor and General Zod-Superman 1 and 2
24. The Penguin- Batman Returns
25. Freddy Kruguer- Nightmare on Elm Street 1 and 3
26. Darkness- Legend

Its a big list but in my opinion they are the best evil characters ever put
on film. Jigsaw is a good villian but his style of villiany was done much better by Vincent Price and Kevin Spacey. Dustin Hoffman's Hook almost made
my list but he was actually a very likable character at times, so I took him
out.

[–] hyperchipper 16 years ago

now thats a list... I'd move Palpatine up if it were my list

"..But dude, if i've watched it, it's gotta be a classic.."

[–] glemay25 16 years ago

Palpatine was one of the all time great villians-maybe in some ways even
better than Vader. I didn't put my list in any order just listed what I belive
are the most evil and sinister characters in film history

[–] alchymist1015 16 years ago

on a tangent, there's a Phibes/Batman connection: whether officially admitted or not, the current (since given an origin in Batman: the Animated Series) depiction of Mr. Freeze is taken from the plot of the first Phibes film...even down to Freeze's wife hovering in her cryogenic chamber ""mirroring" the image of Victoria Phibes, and Freeze having a snow-globe music box representation of his wife at the end.

[–] glemay25 16 years ago

You know your right. The orgins of both Phibes and Mr.Freeze are very simliar.
I know for sure Phibes had a major influence on the Saw series-maybe it did
on Batman/Mr.Freeze comics/cartoons as well

[–] browncis 16 years ago

Below are four additional villains for your consideration. Most folks have seen these movies, and know these quotes, but just in case I'm including a spoiler warning. The four movies are:

Marathon Man (1976)
Goldfinger (1964)
Psycho (1960)
Wait Until Dark (1967)

SPOILIERS (for all 4 movies) below...

SPOILIERS (for all 4 movies) below...

SPOILIERS (for all 4 movies) below...

SPOILIERS (for all 4 movies) below...

Dr. Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier), Marathon Man (1976),

"Is it safe?"

Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), Goldfinger (1964),

"No Mr. Bond! I expect you to die!"

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), Psycho (1960),

"Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly..."

Harry Roat (Alan Arkin), Wait Until Dark (1967),

"No, that's not quite it... 'please may I give you the doll?'"