Scum of The Earth All-Stars!
The villains you most want to see die! (I.E., the most courageous performances of all time!) All of them are totally unsympathetic, completely irredeemable, and devoid of the "safety net" that comes with playing a comic book, sci-fi or fantasy villain. Plus none of them have any sequels or prequels (sorry, Hannibal), since these are villains you just want to see gone ASAP. If you're naive enough to think that the "all-time movie villain" competition is between the Wicked Witch of the West and Darth Vader ... it's time for you to meet one of these guys!
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- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsVictor MatureBrian DonlevyColeen GrayA crook arrested for a jewelry heist initially refuses to give up his accomplices, but he changes his mind once his wife dies under worrying circumstances.Richard Widmark's Tommy Udo is the founding father of cinematic scum.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsHumphrey BogartFredric MarchArthur KennedyThree escaped convicts move in on and terrorize a suburban household.Humphrey Bogart's penultimate performance blows away his 30's gangster roles.
- DirectorDon SiegelClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodAndrew RobinsonHarry GuardinoWhen a man calling himself "the Scorpio Killer" menaces San Francisco, tough-as-nails Police Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan is assigned to track down the crazed psychopath.Andrew J. Robinson ushered in the MPAA ratings era.
- CreatorVince GilliganStarsBryan CranstonAaron PaulAnna GunnA chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine with a former student in order to secure his family's future.As did Raymond Cruz with the streaming era.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsAnders Danielsen LieJonas Strand GravliJon ØigardenA three-part story of Norway's worst terrorist attack in which over seventy people were killed. 22 July looks at the disaster itself, the survivors, Norway's political system and the lawyers who worked on this horrific case.Anders Danielsen came pre-approved, playing real-life mass-murdering terrorist Anders Behring Breivik.
- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsLeonardo DiCaprioTom HardyWill PoulterA frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.Capping off a spectacular 2015, Tom Hardy becomes the first actor to ever achieve back-to-back scum of the earth performances (following LEGEND) playing the kind of villain who could inspire a superhuman vengeance quest.
- CreatorNic PizzolattoIssa LópezStarsVince VaughnColin FarrellRachel McAdamsAnthology series in which police investigations unearth the personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within and outside the law.(Season 1) Glenn Fleshler is a scum-incarnate villain whose demise provides a payoff worthy of the journey it took to get him and confers hero status on Woody and Matthew.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKoji YakushoTakayuki YamadaYûsuke IseyaA group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.Gorô Inagaki is the most contemptible ever!
- DirectorPeter GreenawayStarsRichard BohringerMichael GambonHelen MirrenAt Le Hollandais gourmet restaurant, every night is filled with opulence, decadence and gluttony. But when the cook, a thief, his wife and her lover all come together, they unleash a shocking torrent of sex, food, murder and revenge.Close behind -- and #1 for 22 years -- is Michael Gambon in this movie. He's totally cretinous, and completely devoid of any positive qualities whatsoever. (For a real kick, watch this movie as a Harry Potter prequel titled, MY DINNER WITH DUMBLEDORE.)
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsMonica BellucciVincent CasselAlbert DupontelEvents over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.Jo Prestia takes misogyny to the outer limits. In terms of bang for the buck, nobody ever packed more scum into a smaller role.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsJon VoightBurt ReynoldsNed BeattyIntent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's dammed and turned into a lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a canoeing trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.In the doubles competition, I used to think that NO duo would ever surpass Bill McKinney and Herbert "Cowboy" Coward, the two fun-loving hillbillies in this movie ... (continued)
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsSusanne LotharUlrich MüheArno FrischTwo violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.... until I saw THIS film, featuring Arno Frisch and Frank Giering as sicko serial killers out to demonstrate their Aryan sadistic supremacy over Leopold & Loeb.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.In a scum race to the bottom, Peter Stormare makes mincemeat out of Steve Buscemi.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsMichael BiehnAlex McArthurNicholas CampbellAlex is an outwardly normal man who goes on killing and mutilating sprees. When he is finally captured and brought to trial, the district attorney is torn between his own liberal ideals on guilt and the crimes the accused is being tried.The most underrated of all scum performances ... Alex McArthur is nothing less than Hannibal Lecter WITHOUT the class!
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsIsabella RosselliniKyle MacLachlanDennis HopperThe discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.Career scum overachiever Dennis Hopper in his most memorable bad guy role. "Mommy ... MA-MEE!!!"
- DirectorTony ScottStarsChristian SlaterPatricia ArquetteDennis HopperIn Detroit, a pop-culture nerd steals cocaine from his new wife's pimp and tries to sell it in Hollywood, prompting the mobsters who own the drugs to pursue the couple.Fellow overachievers Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken and James Gandolfini all reached their scum peaks in this movie, due in no small part to having Tarantino dialogue to work with.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsMorgan FreemanBrad PittKevin SpaceyTwo detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.Kevin Spacey's "John Doe" is even more unnerving than Gary Cooper's!
- DirectorDaryl DukeCurtis HansonStarsElliott GouldChristopher PlummerSusannah YorkA timid bank teller anticipates a bank robbery and steals the money himself before the crook arrives. When the sadistic crook realizes he's been fooled, he tracks down the teller and engages him in a cat-and-mouse chase for the cash.Christopher Plummer goes all-out to distance himself from THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
- DirectorJonathan GlazerStarsRay WinstoneBen KingsleyIan McShaneBrutal gangster Don Logan recruits "retired" safecracker Gal for one last job, but it goes badly for both of them.Ben Kingsley goes all-out to distance himself from GANDHI
- DirectorGeoffrey WrightStarsRussell CroweDaniel PollockJacqueline McKenzieA group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.Russell Crowe as an Aussie skinhead in a movie that makes "American History X" look like Romper ROOM.
- DirectorDominic SenaStarsBrad PittJuliette LewisKathy LarsonA journalist duo goes on a tour of serial-killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.Kudos to Brad for taking a detour from safe, "pretty boy" star-vehicle roles to get in touch with his dark side!
- DirectorRémy BelvauxAndré BonzelBenoît PoelvoordeStarsBenoît PoelvoordeJacqueline Poelvoorde-PappaertNelly PappaertA film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.Benoit Poelvoorde as the world's happiest serial killer.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsAl PacinoMichelle PfeifferSteven BauerIn 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.Al Pacino throws caution to the wind in the most memorable bad guy role by a leading man AFTER hitting it big.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsHarvey KeitelTim RothMichael MadsenWhen a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.No shortage of scum in this movie ... but Michael Madsen towers above the others.
- DirectorPaul McGuiganStarsMalcolm McDowellDavid ThewlisPaul BettanyChronicles the rise and fall of a prominent, and particularly ruthless English gangster.Paul Bettany and Malcolm McDowell team up for the greatest COMPOSITE scum performance ever!"