The release of the anticipated film Sinister 2 is coming soon, and now that the trailer is here, we figured we’d bang out a doozy of a list for you. Take a look at the Top 9 Most Sinister Villains.
Of course no list would be complete without a slew of honorable mentions. Hannibal Lecter is an honorable mention. Although an argument could be made he deserves to be on the actual list, Lecter does have a glimmer of humanity about him. Ruth Chandler (played by Blanche Baker) was as sinister as they come in Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door, a retelling of the true-crime tale of Gertrude Baniszewski. In the “American Horror Story” universe, Dandy Mott from “Freak Show” proved to be a diabolical force. Add in a duo that may never have been paired together before in the entire history of the written word, Cruella de Vil and Krug Stillo (from 101 Dalmations and The Last House on the Left, respectively. Careful not to confuse those two). Certainly they seem to be a pair of opposites, but one must admit they both deserve sinister honorable mentions.
We’ll throw out a couple international HM’s next for Cesar (played by Louis Tosar) in Sleep Tight (Mientras duermes) and La Femme (played by Beatrice Dalle) in Inside (À l’intérieur). These were both sinister individuals with more focused goals and, although not necessarily the world domination or mass murder of others, they were certainly a handful to deal with in their own rights. Predatory serial killer Captain Howdy (Dee Snider in Strangeland) and predatory murderer and curiosity seeker Raymond Lemorne from Spoorloos (the film was Americanized and released as The Vanishing with Jeff Bridges’ character Barney Cousins in the Lemorne role). And we’ll close with horror legend Michael Myers. The Shape is sinister indeed, but perhaps a bit too plodding and machine-like to make the Top 11. But still, he’s one bad mutherfucker.
And now the…
The Joker – Legendary Batman Baddie
When you hear the word ‘sinister’, who automatically pops into your head? For many, it’s the Clown Prince of Crime himself, The Joker. Yes, an argument could be made that The Joker has never really been featured in any true horror works (we would immediately counter that statement by directing you to the Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth graphic novel written by Grant Morrison with artwork by Dave McKean. It’s a horror story). But The Joker is the definition of sinister. He’s always hatching some plan to poison the Gotham City drinking water or blow up a bunch of hospitals or some other maniacal plot. The Joker creates chaos just for the sake of watching it all burn. He is heartless and remorseless, devious and brilliant. A wicked combination. When it comes to sinister, The Joker may very well lead the pack.
Dr. Josef Heiter – The Human Centipede
When you’re the dude that designed a scientific approach to creating a way to fuse people’s butts to other people’s mouths in the most efficient way possible, sinister is just the first of a slew of derogatory adjectives that can be used to describe you. Played in an unforgettable fashion by Dieter Laser, Dr. Heiter’s creepy nature comes from that fact that he, too, is remorseless and cares nothing about his victims and is simply focused on this ‘Siamese Triplet’ or as we more loving have learned to call it, the Human Centipede experiment, which is nothing more than a plaything for him. Yes, he’s spent an inordinate amount of time preparing for it (further fueling the fire for his inclusion on this ‘Sinister’ list), he’s quite obsessed by it, actually. Heiter blindly moves forward with his experiment, choosing the creation of his grotesque pet over human life. Why couldn’t he have just stuck with the three-dog idea. So much less hassle for everyone involved.
The Djinn – Wishmaster series
He brings an offer of anything you want. All you have to do is wish for it. Fame, riches, love, power, anything at all and with the simple utterance of a phrase The Djinn will give it to you. But it comes with a price. And a sinister deal it is. The price The Djinn requires you pay is your soul. Sounds like a hefty price tag, especially if you blew your wish on something stupid like a new car or something like that. Everybody likes a nice set of wheels, but if burning in eternal hellfire is the cost, I think I could get a few more thousand miles out of my current ride, thank you very much. Of course, all this wishing and soul harvesting is done in the process of The Djinn trying to open a portal to another dimension which would allow his fellow Djinn buddies access to our realm to frolic about and cause any kind of havoc they wished. He has one of the coolest voices you’ve ever heard from a supernatural baddie, The Djinn is still a devious bastard!
Pinhead – Hellraiser series
Although he was born Elliot Spencer, Pinhead was wiped of any recollection of his human life when he became a Cenobite, and then climbed the corporate ladder and landed the role of leader of the Cenobites, which is where we meet him in novels, film and comics. Pinhead is a right dodgy bloke at the best of times and a downright asshole at his worst. With a simple directive of harvesting and torturing souls at the behest of his god named Leviathan, Pinhead and the Cenobites (fantastic name for a band, by the way. If any of you are out there putting a musical project together and are struggling for a name, you’re welcome) torture and destroy souls. That’s it. They are driven by that one job and the more suffering they can evoke, the more they enjoy it. Sinister? Yeah, you could say that. Below is a walk down memory lane revisiting the origin of Pinhead.
Freddy Krueger – A Nightmare on Elm Street series
So, what else can be said about Freddy Krueger. Well, he’s a sonofabitch for sure. But does he fall into the ‘sinister’ category? Let’s see…in his life he was not just a serial killer, but a child serial killer. Okay, child serial killer, that’s definitely one for the ‘sinister’ side. He escaped on a technicality and was murdered by the neighborhood parents. Alright, victim of murder, that will certainly get him the sympathy vote. From there he lurked in the dreams of the children of the parents that killed him, systematically slicing and dicing them in revenge for his own death before moving on and killing dozens of people seemingly at random. Final decision…yep, not only was Krueger a spineless child killer in life, he hides in dreams and ambushes innocent young people after death. He’s as bad as they come.
Lee Woo-jin – Oldboy
Revenge is a funny thing. Some people need it, some people can live without. It can be fast and wicked or slow and torturous… or somewhere in between. At its source, Oldboy is a revenge film. Perhaps the ultimate revenge film, as the suffering delivered in Oldboy certainly trumps anything that we see in movies where the revenge is delivered in a more traditional way, with a swift stroke of violence. Lee Woo-jin’s masterfully plotted revenge on Oh Dae-su stretches out over years. It took a truly diabolical mind to create and exact such a substantial plan, but Lee Woo-jin was more than capable, both intellectually and financially. Obsessed with his revenge on Oh Dae-su, Lee Woo-jin became a monster and the confrontation between the two men in the climactic finale of Oldboy is incredibly powerful and shocking. Being sinister might be bad for the soul, but it makes for one helluva movie. BTW, it’s nearly impossible to find a clip of Lee Woo-jin that doesn’t spoil the surprise for those who haven’t seen Oldboy, so just check out some of his bad ass gymnastic moves below.
Randall Flagg-Recurring malevolent force in Stephen King works
There is evil, and then there is Randall Flagg. Fans of Stephen King know the name very well. Flagg has appeared in one form or another in at least nine of King’s works. He is a demon or a specter or some other supernatural force that has no other motivation than destruction and devastation on the grandest level. Flagg is a central character in two of King’s most beloved works. He first appears in The Stand, asserting his antagonistic influence over the people of a post-apocalyptic world. He also appears as a very key figure in King’s epic series, The Dark Tower. It’s no wonder that this intriguing villain appears in two of King’s most beloved works. Flagg is devious and deceitful and will stop at nothing to bring down mankind. Although he’s appeared in so many of King’s works, he’s only made it into a film once, that being the television mini-series version of The Stand. But with so much buzz always around film versions of The Dark Tower and another reimagining of The Stand, it won’t be long before we see Randall Flagg again.
Pennywise the Dancing Clown – Stephen King’s IT
If Randall Flagg is the personification of evil, another Stephen King character, Pennywise the Dancing Clown is a strong runner-up. Pennywise is not of this world, actually not of this dimension. What we know about Pennywise is that he’s an incredibly malevolent force. With the ability to transform himself into the worst fear of his victim. (he also apparently has the ability to change into a cheesy-looking giant spider as evidenced by the unfortunate finale of the television mini-series version of the novel) He is incredibly efficient at terrorizing his targets. Although he looks, and often acts, like a dirty clown from a travelling circus, Pennywise is a hunter. A malicious, sinister entity.
The Governor – “The Walking Dead”
Power-hungry and vicious, The Governor (known as Philip Blake on the television series, but actually named Brian in the comic books and novel The Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor) needs to conquer and control…control and conquer. The sinister nature of his character is driven by his one-mindedness when it comes to his need to rule. Although he tries to satiate his nature by surviving within a family unit, that situation never keeps The Governor at rest for long. Going as far as decapitating Herschel/Tyrese (depending on your preference, television/comics) to get his point across to Rick, The Governor is a meticulous planner with a serious mean streak.
Sinister 2 opens nationwide on August 21st. Ciaran Foy (Citadel) directed Sinister 2. Scott Derrickson, director of Sinister, penned the screenplay with C. Robert Cargill, with whom he also wrote the original film.
Learn more about Sinister 2 on Facebook and Twitter.
Synopsis:
In the aftermath of the shocking events in Sinister, a protective mother (Shannyn Sossamon of “Wayward Pines”) and her 9-year-old twin sons (real-life twins Robert and Dartanian Sloan) find themselves in a rural house marked for death as the evil spirit of Buhguul continues to spread with frightening intensity. James Ransone co-stars.