Top 10 movie Psychopaths of the Centuries

There are many psychopaths in movie history, and I thought I would compile my favourites here!

Psychopath, “A person with an antisocial personality disorder, especially one manifested in perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior.” - American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary.

#10: Chuckie

The loveable Chuckie doll from Child's Play deserves a mention in this listing, starting life in the late 1980's with sequel after sequel. It is no longer the clown that infiltrates a child's bedroom with feelings of pre-sleep trauma, but a plain and simple doll: the boogeyman of any child's toybox, and he's after us all!

# 9: Michael Myers

Before 80's fever hit the world, John Carpenter – a master of the genre – released Halloween, the hit horror movie with another silent psychopath. This was Jamie Lee Curtis's first feature and Halloween was originally written as 'The Babysitter Murders'. I think Halloween sounds much better! As with all good psycho movies, the music is remembered for decades.

# 8: Jack Torrance

Although I am not a Stephen King fan, one of my favourite movies is The Shining, where Jack Torrance is transformed from a family man to a raving psychopath in the Overlook hotel, compelled to kill his family after they are cut off from the nearest town by a blizzard. We all love Jack, don't we!

# 7: Hannibal Lecter

Based on Thomas Harris's novel, Hannibal Lecter is a special breed of psychopath: intellectual, cunning, and alluring, drawing the viewer into his world to show them that he may not be as mad as he sounds. Anthony Hopkins, one of the best actors in the world, was brilliant in this movie and deserves this seventh spot.

# 6: Leatherface

There have been many horror remakes of late, one of my favourite being the Texas Chainsaw Massacre starring the most beautiful Jessica Biel. Leatherface, driven by animal instinct, dismembers family and friends in the remake of a gruesome and based on true events. Leatherface is primal and bloodthirsty, and like any masked killer, doesn't have a motive for killing other than for enjoyment.

# 5: Dr William Weir

Taking Dr Weir from Event Horizon and incorporating him into this top 10 is no gamble, in fact, Sam Neill's character shares his name with Johann Weyer, a Dutch physician occultist and demonologist (source: imdb). Dr Weir takes a spacecrew on the ride of their life (or death) and to the edge of the universe and beyond where there is no good and evil: just evil. He is an excellent character, and like Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, Sam Neill plays a remarkable role.

# 4: Freddy Kreuger

Who can forget Wes Cravens A Nightmare on Elm Street and its multitude of sequels, around the same time as Friday 13^th and Halloween were also making their mark? Yes, the best horror was born in or near the 1980's, and Freddy Kreuger remains and outstanding figure in horror history with his burned countenance and ability to infiltrate dreams and kill people from the inside out. Nobody can mistake Freddy and even if his burns are missed, the hat, glove and jersey is a definite give-away that you must wake up!!

# 3: Pinhead

Criticised as leaning towards sadism, the Hellraiser series is perfect horror, with an array of varying terror mechanisms for the viewer and memorable characters such as Butterball and Chatterer appeared in sequels with Pinhead in the middle of the psychosis that happens. Pinhead is a strong, verbal character with the reasoning skills of Hannibal Lecter, and the ability to tear your soul apart, earning him the bronze medal on the board!

# 2: Darth Vader

Interesting choice, one may sa

y, but if you think about it, Darth Vader is the ultimate psychopath, having special abilities to kill people from a distance or through gloved hands. With the yearning to destroy the resistance, taking lives becomes much more of a pleasure than a job and as we see through all six Star Wars episodes, the Darth Vader character development is one of darkness and destruction to the point where he is driven by the Emperor to exterminate planets themselves.

# 1: Jason Voorheees

Friday 13^th is known for its bad acting and silly plots. The Jason Voorhees character set a trend in his day for silent characters with a taste for human destruction and not saying a thing as they kill the good guy, like 'eat this' or 'make my day'. Yes, the likeable Jason Voorhees just killed people, simple, and many of his movies although bad, are certainly worth watching to get to know him. Jason is the ultimate killing machine, and although the movies don't match his reputation, he certainly deserves the gold medal for psychopath of the Century.

And a notable mention to:

"Begbie", played by Robert Carlyle in the cult British movie "Trainspotting" for his violent antics and pro-abuse strategy. Unfortunately, due to the kill count, Begbie didn't make it into the top 10!