Top 50 Movie Villains of All-Time: Part II

      Last week I began the first of a five part series on the 50 greatest film villains of all-time. Here with part II, let's continue on with the next ten in the countdown.

40) Captain (Cool Hand Luke) - Strother Martin

      1967 - If you thought Warden Norton from The Shawshank Redemption was cold, Strother Martin's Captain makes Warden Norton look like Deputy Barney Fife. "Now I can be a good guy, or I can be one real, mean son of a bitch... It's all up to you.", he says during the preliminary lineup. Despite not fitting an intimidating profile, what with his greyish-white hair and reedy, southern accent, he was one not to be trifled with. When wronged or crossed, he'll let you know who's boss, but, hey, like he mentions in the now infamously iconic line, "I don't like it any more than you men."

39) Dr. Rene Belloq (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) - Paul Freeman

      1981 - I hate having to use the big climatic ark opening scene, but even this took forever for me to find. Plus, unless you've been living under a rock for the past thirty or so years, I'm assuming you've already seen not just one of the greatest action flicks, but greatest films in general of all-time. That being said, Dr. Rene Belloq, for a villain, was cultured, sophisticated, eloquent, well dressed, yet above all, obsessed. Assisting the Nazi regime, Belloq was obsessed with finding, capturing and eventually opening the lost Ark of the Covenant for what he sees as a "transmitter to God". In the end though, Belloq finds out the hard way what happens when you essentially open "Pandora's Box" in one hell of a thrilling finale.

38) Cruella de Vil (One Hundred and One Dalmatians) - voiced by Betty Lou Gerson

      1961 - For God's sakes, she wanted to make fur coats out of adorable Dalmatian puppies. How the hell does she not make this list? It wasn't just her look - one of the most iconic of all the Disney villains - but also her spoiled and snobbish behavior (excellently voiced by Betty Lou Gerson) that made your skin crawl. Plus, my God, she wanted to make fur coats out of cute puppies! How "Anita, dah-ling!" was able to be her friend - hell, just stomach her period - is beyond me.

37) Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger) - Gert Frobe/voiced by Michael Collins

      1964 - There have been many memorable Bond villains (most recently portrayed by Javier Bardem in last year's terrific Skyfall), but none were as memorable as the devious Goldfinger. His plan of taking over Fort Knox not to rob the gold, but to devalue it thereby increasing the value of his own stock was ingenious and diabolical. Plus, it's almost impossible to forget the murder of Jill Masterson in one of the most enduring and memorable images in film history. In talking about Goldfinger, it'd be wrong of me not to give a solid nod and mention to the quiet yet menacing Oddjob (Harold Sakata), but it's Auric Goldfinger that steals the show.

36) Lars Thorwald (Rear Window) - Raymond Burr

      1954 - One of legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock's greatest works, Rear Window is a must see on how to make a great, taut thriller. Raymond Burr is perfectly chilling as Lars Thorwald, a wholesale jeweler that, according to the eyes of Jimmy Stewart's L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries, may or may not be hiding something. All you need to see is that one scene I just showed you where Thorwald notices the ring being signaled to Jeffries then slowly looks straight ahead, dead-on at Jeffries to realize this is a masterpiece. The final confrontation where Thorwald, while not seen, creeps up the steps to Jeff's apartment and the viewer can only hear his slow, booming steps while Jeff anxiously awaits is cinematic gold. Who knew Perry Mason would make my top 50 villains list?

35) Eve Harrington (All About Eve) - Anne Baxter

      1950 - The gorgeous Anne Baxter's Eve Harrington is living, walking proof of the Proverb "Charm is deceitful and beauty vain." The title says it all. Eve Harrington may appear humble as she befriends Broadway's biggest star Margo Channing (Bette Davis) and becomes her understudy. Deep down, though, she's seductive, scheming, manipulative, and is willing to use anyone to get where she wants to go. I don't wanna give away the ending, but trust me when I say it's a great and rather fitting ending for Eve.

34) Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) - Louise Fletcher

      1975 - Louise Fletcher earned every bit of her Best Actress Oscar for this role. It's her calm demeanor along with those smug glances she gives Jack Nicholson's Randle McMurphy that makes you still wanna smack her into a straight jacket, and the undercurrent of sexual tension between her and Randle adds so much more to their back and forth chemistry no matter how off-putting they are to each other. It's the final confrontation between her and Brad Dourif's young, stuttering Billy Bibbit though that really makes you finally love to hate her.

33) Lady Tremaine/The Wicked Stepmother (Cinderella) - voiced by Eleanor Audley

      1950 - Confession, no one scared me into fertilizing my diapers as a toddler more than Cinderella's wicked stepmother. Yes, it's true. In today's world, you have to wonder how many complaints to Social Services this woman would get 'cause she is a Bitch, and that's with a capital B. It's the coldness in her calm, smooth voice when she peeks back through the door - after ruining Cinderella's chance at the ball - and says "good night" that makes her so terrifying. You almost have to applaud Cinderella for her "turn the other cheek" ability to take so much abuse. I mean, how much can a girl take before they go all Kill Bill on the three of them?

32) T-1000 (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) - Robert Patrick

      1991 - In what I believe to be the best in the Terminator film series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day gave us one of the most menacing villains of all-time. Made of a liquid metal known as "memetic poly-alloy", T-1000 is able to shape-shift into... well, pretty much anything. Now what makes him so menacing is the fact that he looks like the everyday cop he's disguised as. Writer/director James Cameron could've nabbed a Schwarzenegger look-alike such as Jean-Claude Van Damme or Dolph Lundgren. The lean and fit Robert Patrick, however, was completely polar opposite of Schwarzenegger in almost every aspect which is why he was the perfect choice.

31) Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb (The Silence of the Lambs) - Ted Levine

      1991 - Is it really too much to ask to put the lotion back into the basket? Obviously, when people think of The Silence of the Lambs they think of Hannibal Lecter. Rightly so, but still the ultimate shame in that is not enough credit is then given to Ted Levine's haunting performance as "Buffalo Bill". As a serial killer who skins his female victims' corpses so he can make himself a "woman suit", Levine is nothing short of terrifying and certainly made a number of people scared to put on lotion just like Jaws made people scared to go into the ocean. People, remember Academy Award winners Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins's roles in this film, but Ted Levine's performance deserves its recognition too.

      Well, that's all for Part II. Next week I'll have Part III (30-21) up. Feel free to comment on any villains you think should be in the list while we continue up to the top 10. These are naturally my own opinion, so I'd love to read what you think.