The 20 Greatest Movie Psychos of All Time

To be considered one of the greatest movie psychos of all time, a character has to meet certain criteria:

1) The performance must be enduring, meaning the character didn't just seem crazy when you saw him or her during the era of the film's release, but remains so twenty years later as your kids and grandkids watch it on DVD.
2) They have to be "not-all-there," scary, yet compelling to watch. Definitely someone you wouldn't want to come across on the street, but somehow still admittedly cool.
3) They're plain-ol' freakin' nuts.

And with that I present to you the 20 greatest movie psychos of all time.

1. Travis Bickle - Portrayed by Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver(1976)

You don't get nuttier than De Niro's portrayal of disturbed taxi driver Travis Bickle, who is systematically losing his mind in accordance with his perceived deterioration of New York city. His desire to flush the city down a toilet, save a preteen prostitute, and "take a stand" becomes more and more unsettling only when you watch how he goes about doing it.

Quote:You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talking... you talking to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh yeah? OK.

2. Colonel Walter E. Kurtz - Portrayed by Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now(1979)

It may be more than coincidence that some of the best "psycho" actors are also rumored to be a little "off" themselves. De Niro and Brando certainly have their off-camera reputations, but it is performances like Brando's portrayal of a missing and increasingly mentally-deteriorating Colonel that solidifies films like Apocalypse Now as a monumental achievement in the visual arts.

Quote:I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight... razor... and surviving.

3. Norman Bates - Portrayed by Anthony Perkins in Psycho(1960)

The seminal psychopath, Perkins basically invented the type when he starred as the mother-smothered lunatic Norman Bates. The only reason he isn't number 1? Two actors did it better.

Quote: Mother, uh... what is the phrase? She isn't quite herself today.

4. Jack Torrance - Portrayed by Jack Nicholson in The Shining(1980)

Like De Niro and Brando, Nicholson has adopted the psycho tag both on-screen and off. It was in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest that he displayed his affinity for psycho looniness, but it was in The Shining that he embraced it.

Quote: Heeere's Johnny!

5. John Doe - Portrayed by Kevin Spacey in Se7en(1995)

Chilling, is one way to describe Spacey's down-played portrayal of psychopathic serial murderer John Doe. Other words that come to mind are eerie, frightening, and unforgetable.

Quote:It's more comfortable for you to label me as insane.

6. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman - Portrayed by R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket(1987)

Though the military engages strictly in a philosophy of tough love, Ermey's portrayal of Sergeant Hartman took it to another level. Hard-talking, fast-talking, loud, and abusive, Sergeant Hartman promises to turn boys into men-- but only after destroying them first.

Quote: Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: How tall are you, private?

Private Cowboy: Five-foot-nine, sir.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Five-foot-nine, I didn't know they stacked shit that high.

7. Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore - Portrayed by Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now(1979)

As much comic relief as unsettling, Duvall's portrayal of Bill Kilgore was a perfect personification of the insanity of war and the savage brilliance of Apocalypse Now.

Quote:I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

8. Annie Wilkes - Portrayed by Kathy Bates in Misery(1990)

Talk about bad luck, when writer Paul Sheldon's car goes off the road while driving through a blizzard, he is rescued by a psycho fan who makes him wish he was dead. Bates won both the Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Wilkes, an ironic recognition for such an unsettling performance.

Quote:I am your number one fan. There is nothing to worry about. You are going to be just fine. I am your number one fan.

9. Hannibal Lecter - Portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs(1991)

Never has a locked-up, chained-up, face-masked psychopath still been so threatening. Hopkins' intense under-playing of the notorious cannibal Hannibal Lecter made his performance all the more scary, making the audience feel that plate-glass windows and full-body restraints were not enough to keep anyone safe.

Quote:A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

10.Rupert Pupkin - Portrayed by Robert De Niro in The King of Comedy(1982)

A disturbingly dark comedy with the king of disturbia. De Niro has deranged characters down to a science as he portrays Pupkin, a wannabe stand-up comic who goes to deranged lengths to get himself booked on the king of late night's talk show.

Quote:MOM!

11. Sonny Corleone - Portrayed by James Caan in The Godfather(1972)

Though unpredictable, volatile, and violent, Sonny Corleone was mostly psychotic only to those who went against the family. But when he was, he was without a doubt.

Quote:What's the matter with you, huh? What am I going to do? Am I going to make that baby an orphan before he's born?

12. Henry Hill - Portrayed by Ray Liotta in Goodfellas(1990)

Intended or not, Liotta's portrayal of real-life psychopath Henry Hill was so impeccable that a significant period of the actor's post-Goodfellas career has been spent being typecast as either a crazy, looney or psychopath.

Quote:One day some of the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect.

13. Nick - Portrayed by Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter(1978)

Walken's early role as a man traumatized by the horrors of Vietnam made him a name to recognize and a face to call on when requiring characters with a "distinguishing" uniqueness(i.e., crazy).

Quote:I like the trees, you know? I like the way that the trees are on mountains, all the different... the way the trees are.

14. Peter Loew - Portrayed by Nicholas Cage in Vampire's Kiss(1988)

You don't see a lot of psychopaths in comedies, but in Joseph Minion's dark comedy about a publishing executive going insane, Nicholas Cage is unforgettable as the lead character convinced he is turning into a vampire. During one indelible scene, Cage eats a live cockroach. Talk about crazy.

Quote:Alva, there is no one else in this entire office that I could possibly ask to share such a horrible job. You're the lowest on the totem pole here, Alva. The lowest. Do you realize that? Every other secretary here has been here longer than you, Alva. Every one. And even if there was someone here who was here even one day longer than you, I still wouldn't ask that person to partake in such a miserable job as long as you were around. That's right, Alva. It's a horrible, horrible job; sifting through old contract after old contract. I couldn't think of a more horrible job if I wanted to. And you have to do it! You have to or I'll fire you. You understand? Do you? Good.

15. Carrie White - Portrayed by Sissy Spacek in Carrie(1960)

Raised by an overbearingly religious mother, shunned, alienated, and abused by her classmates, discovering she has telekinetic powers-- what else can a teenage girl do but turn psycho? Spacek's portrayal of Carrie White is the original benchmark for any ghastly pale, blood-covered, revenge-seeking psychopaths that came after.

Quote:It has nothing to do with Satan, Mama. It's me. Me. If I concentrate hard enough, I can move things.

16. Freddy Krueger - Portrayed by Robert Englund in A Nightmare on Elm Street(1984)

Though numerous horror movie villains exist, none are as identifiable and rooted in psychopathism as Frederick Charles Krueger. Born from a nun violently raped by one hundred maniacs, Accused child-killer Freddy was burned to death by local parents angered by his release from prison on a technicality. Though gone from the real world, Krueger made a pact with dream demons from hell to be able to carry out his legacy of killing the town's children through their dreams.

Quote:I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy.

17. Mr. Blonde - Portrayed by Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs(1992)

He may be cool, he may be calm, but Mr. Blonde was all psycho. Besides being called a psychopath by his peers, robbing jewelers, and torturing cops, Mr. Blonde also enjoys hot-stepping to Super Sounds of the 70's music. Who knew?

Quote:Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?

18. Dr. Strangelove - Portrayed by Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove(1964)

Paranoid world leaders, antagonistic commanders, plans of unilateral military action, set against a backdrop of fear and power struggles. Sound familiar?

Quote:Mr. President, it is not only possible, it is essential. That is the whole idea of this machine, you know. Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy... the FEAR to attack. And so, because of the automated and irrevocable decision-making process which rules out human meddling, the Doomsday machine is terrifying and simple to understand... and completely credible and convincing.

19. T-1000 - Portrayed by Robert Patrick in Terminator 2: Judgement Day(1991)

Robert Patrick made a name for himself depicting the cold-as-ice(literally) advanced T-1000 terminator. The film broke ground in C.G.I., stunts, and ways to present a psycho villain.

Quote:Say... That's a nice bike...

20. Cujo - Portrayed by (several Saint Bernards) in Cujo(1983)

Though depicted by several, uncredited "actors," Cujo and those who played him are nonetheless worthy enough to have made the film and its title character indelible in cinematic psycho history. Perhaps more credit is due if you stop and think about how difficult a task that must have been.

Honorable mentions: Sergeant Scagnetti, portrayed by Tom Sizemore in Natural Born Killers(1994), O-dog, portrayed by Larenz Tate in Menace II Society(1993), Private Hudson, portrayed by Bill Paxton in Aliens(1986), Max Cady portrayed by Robert De Niro(again!) in Cape Fear(1991), The Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight(2008), Leatherface, portrayed by Gunnar Hansen in Texas Chainsaw Massacre(1974), Tyler Durden, as portrayed by Brad Pitt in Fight Club(1999), J.D., as portrayed by Christian Slater in Heathers(1988), and Steve Stifler, as portrayed by Seann William Scott in American Pie(1999).