Top 10 movie murderers

[Brian Damage]

10. Samara Morgan -- "The Ring"
Like evil movie children before her ("The Village of the Damned," "The Bad Seed," "The Exorcist"), little Samara Morgan is one bad apple. Sure, at first you think she's a victim -- those sad, lost eyes, all that long stringy black hair, the freaky, oppressive mom -- but as the film progresses, you realize she's simply evil incarnate. Hell, she can walk out of your TV (couch potatoes beware) to scare you, literally, to death! Re-made from the Japanese film "Ringu," Gore Verbinski's "The Ring" utilized the doubly frightening concept of young, unexplainable evil and death via voyeurism. On top of that, you have to help Samara make copies of her creation if you want to live. Awww, how cute.

9. Dracula -- "Dracula"
Dracula may be a killer, but on the flip side, he can give you eternal life. Hey, that's a better deal than most cinematic psychos can offer. Created in Bram Stoker's masterful psycho-sexual novel, Dracula (or any vampire figure) has been a cornerstone villain in film for decades. From F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu" to Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula," Dracula's caped, fanged, slick persona is something that both haunts and thrills us. But Bela Lugosi in Tod Browning's 1931 version remains classic, with Browning (like Coppola) understanding the hyper-erotic elements to Dracula's presence, a blood-sucking, coffin sleeper who's also a romantic at heart. Browning's close-ups of the heavily made-up Lugosi are stupendous, as is Lugosi's campy though still intelligent performance -- his thick Hungarian accent punctuating all that heavy sensuality and creepy psychopathology. This is the lethally charming pre-cursor to Hannibal Lecter.

8. Freddy Krueger -- "A Nightmare on Elm Street"
Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) has become such an icon (that burned face, those steel claws, that jaunty hat, that red-striped sweater worn like Charlie Brown's demented brother), that we sometimes forget his actual roots. A murderer and child molester, Freddy was offed by the vigilante neighbors on Elm Street. But as director Wes Craven showed, you just can't get away with stuff like that. You certainly can't close your eyes and pretend the crime never happened. In retribution for the adults' actions, Freddy haunts their children, but not in waking life. Instead, he visits in the realm Roy Orbison sang so hauntingly about -- dreams. As the movie says, "Whatever you do, don't fall asleep." Freddy will get you. A freaky concept, "Nightmare" has now (with "Freddy Vs. Jason") spawned eight sequels, all varying in quality. But the first film is scariest, with a mysterious Freddy lurking in the nightmare world like every monster you imagined in your closet combined. And he was cheeky too (though he got too cheeky and less scary as the sequels went on), tossing off one-liners in his well-spoken, dulcet tones. He's now ubiquitous, but once upon a time, Freddy was seriously scary.

7. Michael Myers -- "Halloween"
John Carpenter's "Halloween" still scares the pants off viewers, and its masked, inhuman force, Michael Myers, is one serious baddie. As a 6-year-old, he stabbed his teenage sister to death. Sent to the funny farm, he escapes 15 years later, returning home, now in the groovy '70s where stoned kids are fresh prey on Halloween night. Psychiatrist Donald Pleasence searches for him, deeming him totally dangerous and bonkers (uh, yeah, he's right about that) while Michael mischievously taunts his victims by hiding behind bushes, playing tricks with a car door and generally scaring the crap out of them before killing. You know, stuff you do when you're an insane 6-year-old living in the body of a 21-year-old man. This is scary stuff -- especially with Myers' expressionless mask, which was a replica of William Shatner's face. How screwed up is that?

6. Mark Lewis -- "Peeping Tom"
Even over 40 years later, Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" still manages to make you feel dirty after watching it. In the spirit of killers we can't help but feel empathy for (say, Peter Lorre in "M"), Carl Boehm plays a soft-spoken, nice-looking but clearly twisted filmmaker who kills girls, filming their deaths on his snazzy 16mm camera (complete with attached knife). Even sicker, he places a mirror on his camera so he can watch their reactions while filming. When you get to know Mark, you understand how his perversion was formed (his scientist father used him as a terror guinea pig) and even hope he may improve through the kindness of a female neighbor. But could that really happen? No. A beautiful-looking picture that examined sleaze, fetishism and voyeurism (which is the film's intriguing question to viewers: Do you like to watch too?) with vivid color and simultaneous darkness, the picture remains a classic in the canon of cinematic psychos.

5. Preacher Harry Powell — "The Night of the Hunter"
Robert Mitchum is absolute genius in James Agee's adaptation of Davis Grubb's novel, directed by actor Charles Laughton (his only directing effort). An expressionist classic, the film works as gothic horror, children's nightmare, and fairy/religious tale all in one. As the mysterious, sadistic preacher Harry Powell, Mitchum is so powerful a presence, you almost forget to be attracted to him (almost). Riding into town as a wolf in sheep's clothing, Mitchum's Powell pursues a widow (a fabulously pathetic Shelley Winters), whose two children know where their dead father's money is hidden. After killing the mother (he slits her throat and dumps her body in the river -- a scene where you see her hair floating in the water is one of cinema's most haunting), Powell goes after the kids in scenes shot with a beautifully nightmarish and claustrophobic quality. The ultimate evil, Powell is a man whose famously tattooed knuckles reveal the warring factions within him ("Love" and "Hate"). No one has or perhaps ever will touch this performance. Pray they never attempt a re-make.

4. Leatherface -- "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"
Truth be told, the whole family in Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is scarier than hell. There's the hitchhiker obsessed with taking pictures and headcheese; the supposedly kindly gas-station attendant who puts poor Marilyn Burns in a bag; half-alive, blood-sucking grandpa. And then, of course, there is unpredictable Leatherface, who gets our vote for scariest because, well, you get the feeling you couldn't really talk him down. Gunnar Hansen played the animal/man with the mask made of human skin (based somewhat on the real-life Ed Gein), a freak who pursues his victims with a loud, whirring chainsaw. Scariest moment? The splendidly filmed sequences where Leatherface chases Burns through the sticks with a jacked-up chainsaw. It's one of the greatest moments of genuine terror in cinema; Burns is realistically screaming the whole way. This landmark horror film garnered one interesting sequel (the second film is great fun) and a bunch of stupid ones. Leatherface remains horror incarnate (ohhh, that last shot). We'd rather be stuck in a room with Regan from "The Exorcist" -- at least she'd talk to you.

3. Hannibal Lecter -- "The Silence of the Lambs"
Let's all just forget "Hannibal" and "Red Dragon," shall we? Pause to praise filmmakers Jonathan Demme and Michael Mann for making writer Thomas Harris' creation, Hannibal Lecter, the haunting cannibal he is. Though Mann's "Manhunter" (with Brian Cox as Lecter) is a sublime work, we're giving the Demme/Anthony Hopkins collaboration the focus here. Hopkins' Lecter was a slithery and, yes, sexy horror force. Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling enlists Lecter's help to solve a rash of deranged killings by serial murderer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), who is in many ways scarier than Lecter ("It puts the lotion in the basket.") From his high-security prison cell, Lecter messes with her mind, talks of fava beans and human livers, calls her a "rube" and reveals a dislike for rude people. He's dashing, well read, well mannered; it's too bad he eats people. Demme's use of extreme close-up monologue shots was stunning, giving Hopkins the floor like no other killer's gotten. Absolutely chilling. Plus, how many psychos have both won the Academy Award and been knighted?

2. Henry Lee Lucas -- "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer"
One of the most chilling portrayals in fear, John McNaughton's wonderfully drab, incredibly shocking "Henry" made a dark splash upon release for its violent, matter-of-fact brutality. Based loosely on the real life of drifter serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, the picture starred Michael Rooker in a performance that has lived in many a viewer's nightmares since their first (and often only) viewing. The film is that scary. And it's not scary because of tricks or blood or creative killing; it's scary for its realism. Rooker's Henry, a man who spent time in prison for killing his abusive mother, plays the role almost flat, without color and a hint of charm. What makes Henry so scary is that he could live next door or work right next to you. He could easily ask you for directions on the street or even help you with your groceries. That's how most real serial killers work ... and that's a lot more horrifying than Hannibal Lecter.

1. Norman Bates -- "Psycho"
Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates is the most influential nut case in filmdom. Issues with mother? Check. Homicidal rage? Check. Shy and withdrawn? Check. Sexually perverse yet sexually ambiguous? Check. Taxidermist? Check. Oh, and cross-dresser? Check. Also loosely based on Ed Gein, "Psycho" may play tamer these days, but when released, it was a shocker. Janet Leigh is the famous shower victim. She's a nice but not-so-innocent gal who flees a seamy life with a wad of cash stolen from work, only to see it end with a neurotic, mother-obsessed Perkins at the Bates Motel. Alfred Hitchcock's innovative, experimental film was something of a macabre joke, but also very perceptive in terms of the psycho-sexual killer, a person who would figure heavily in real life for years to come (John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer anyone?). And Perkins would never escape playing Bates, not seeming normal in any role since (he did do a bang-up job the underrated sequel "Psycho II," however). A perfect film (cinematography, score, timing, tension, horror and acting), it would nevertheless not be the same without Perkins -- no matter how Hitchcock felt about his actors.

Honorable Mentions:
Uncle Charlie -- "Shadow of a Doubt"
Freddie Clegg -- "The Collector"
Rhoda Penmark -- "The Bad Seed"
Franz Becker -- "M"
John Ryder -- "The Hitcher"

[The Modfather]

Thanks thats great!

[onefortheroad]

that's cool

mine would probably go like this:

12. Frank Zito (Maniac)
11. Terminator (The Terminator)
10. Franz Becker (M)
9. Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
8. Dracula (Dracula)
7. The Prowler (Black Christmas)
6. Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)
5. Michael Myers (Halloween)
4. Henry Lee Lucas (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer)
3. Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)
2. Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
1. Norman Bates (Psycho)

[Penny Lane]

Jaws!