A great villain is essential for an engaging cinematic or literary conflict. An antagonist is one of the most important elements of a narrative, an entity without which the hero or heroine has no quest to speak of.
Female villains are few and far between. Occasionally, there has been a seductress (hello, Phyllis Dietrichson!) or a downright baddie with no scruples (hello, Veda Pierce!), but women have rarely had chances to inhabit characters that went beyond these tropes and that were not dictated by the Hollywood system. Those that we got to see in the past three decades, however, have run the gamut from criminals to warriors, from psychologically damaged and vengeful to up-to-no-good supernatural creatures. Self-sufficient and ingenious, they are some of the most intriguing and complex characters ever to appear in cinema. For some reason, the nineties gave us many of these malefactors and it might be worth exploring why, but that is a story for another post.
This list showcases my ten favorite female sinners EVER, in no particular order. Please enjoy and do not forget to let me know about your own favorites.
**SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ALL OF THE FILMS MENTIONED. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN SOME OR ANY OF THESE FILMS, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM VENTURING FURTHER. THANK YOU.**
1. Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone), Basic Instinct (1992)
"Killing isn't like smoking. You can stop."
Weapon of choice? Some might say ice pick. I say brain. A crime author AND psychologist by trade, Catherine
Trammell twirls everyone she meets around her little finger, using them
for gain or pleasure or both. She takes a shine to
Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), whose life is unraveling at an alarming pace, and
proceeds to play delicious little mind games with him. It is
unbelievable to me that writer Joe Eszterhas wrote this clever,
diabolical story in three weeks' time. It is also unbelievable
to me as to how many actors turned the part down before Stone came along
and realized that this was one of the best female roles ever
created. Various LGBTQ alliances have protested the character as yet
another bisexual psychopath, but what many viewers do not realize is that Trammell possesses the entire gravity of power in
the film, simply by virtue of her brilliance. No, the best scene is not the infamous -- and exploitative -- interrogation scene. The best scene is the one taking place on the way to the precinct beforehand, with Trammell nonchalantly taunting two detectives like a cat playing with a yarn ball, proving once and for all how sexy intelligence is.
2. Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen), GoldenEye (1995)
"Enjoy it while it lasts."
She is a fighter pilot and femme fatale, who kills sexual partners in an original and
effective manner -- using her thighs. Forget for one moment the
over-the-top -- see what I did there? -- method of dispatching her
enemies. Rather than being a henchwoman on the sidelines, Xenia is a key player in the GoldenEye scheme, murdering two pilots and stealing the electromagnetic weapon for the Janus criminal syndicate. She shoots, jumps out of planes and is also one of those rare Bond girls who do
not end up having to be rescued by the infamous agent, falling for his
charms and finally bedding him. The only close-to-sex scene
between the two shows Xenia using Bond for her own enjoyment, almost murdering him instead of becoming his
latest conquest. Janssen has a lot of fun with the role, taking it to delightful extremes. Of course, Xenia is unable to win, since this is a 007 film with a
strict narrative code and she is still... well, a criminal bent on world destruction. Nevertheless, she is one of the most memorable villains and boldest women in Bond history.
3. Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), Dredd (2012)
"If I hear of anyone helping the Judges, I will kill them and the next generation of their families."
Operating out of a futuristic high-rise slum, Madeline Madrigal -- now
known as Ma-Ma -- took over her former pimp's drug business after he mangled her face and after promptly killing him. She
presides over the main criminal clan on the block,
skins her opponents alive and does not care if she lives or dies, since
she truly has nothing to lose. I love, love, LOVE the fact that the
character is not processed and polished to look like a runway model. In
lesser hands, this woman would have been sexualized
all the way to Sunday, but the realism of the harsh set design and the
story's social significance reflect in the characters' aesthetics.
Spent and scarred, ruthless and unhinged, Ma-Ma is one of the best genre villains by far. One cannot help but
feel a tinge of sorrow for her misdirected life despite her cruelty, which is Headey's
gift -- finding humanity and vulnerability amid the worst traits that
people are capable of possessing. Indifferent and homicidal
yet melancholy in a raw, surreal way,
Dredd's Ma-Ma is a villain for the ages.
4. O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
"The price you pay for bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is... I collect your fucking head."
O-Ren Ishii gets a raw deal in life. As a child, she watches her parents
get murdered by a Yakuza boss and his associates. After finding out
that he is a pedophile, she goes through training, plays bait and
murders him. By the age of twenty, she becomes one of world's top female
assassins and, eventually, head of the Tokyo Yakuza. O-Ren is proud and
merciless, immediately killing a subordinate who dares question her
heritage. Her sense of honor is what distinguishes her from many other
villains in the Kill Bill films. She fights fairly and fiercely,
and seems almost humbled when dying of a wound caused by a prominent
swordmaker's weapon. Though too homicidal to be a role model, O-Ren
stands up for what she believes in, makes her opinions heard and employs
the coolest bodyguard army in recent celluloid memory. She is that elusive and intriguing Asian character in Western cinema -- the industry with so
many disappointing Asian characters that it is difficult to count them
all -- and one of the toughest women in film in a while.
5. Santánico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek), From Dusk till Dawn (1996)
"I'm not gonna drain you completely. You're gonna turn for me. You'll be my slave."
The moment you see Santánico Pandemonium on that stage as Tito & Tarantula start their smoky intro to "After Dark" will take your breath away. It is not because she is played by the stunning Hayek. It is not because she is clad in merely a bikini and a python. It is because, from that very first second, she uses her feminine power to control the room. To top it all off,
as if she could -- and she can -- she turns into a deadly vampire,
which simply adds to her appeal. The most interesting aspect of her first
scene is that, while she ostensibly works as an exotic dancer, Santánico
is not managed by the ever-present male gaze
for one second. She subverts this point of view using, ironically, the very
object of the gaze -- her sexuality and sensuality -- against it.
6. Peyton (Rebecca De Mornay), The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992)
"Did you like looking at me?... Did you like looking at me?"
Peyton is the Bartels' new babysitter. She is helpful, cool, calm, great with the children and knows exactly what to say and suggest at the right moment. However, the Mary Poppins act is exactly that, because Peyton is a woman with a plan. She is on a mission of revenge, blaming Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra) for her hysterectomy and the suicide of her gynecologist husband, who Claire reported after he had molested her during an examination. Insinuating herself into the family, pitting Claire and her husband against one another, at one point even replacing Claire's breast milk with her own... this is an opponent not to be trifled with. Her treatment of the family's developmentally challenged handyman (Ernie Hudson) is a whole new infuriating low and her progression to murder is not unexpected. She is simply a vile human being all around, with De Mornay effectively traversing all of the frightening emotions contained by her icy demeanor. "You're not my mommy" has never been such an applause-worthy line.
7. Hedra Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Single White Female (1992)
"We're friends, Allie, and you could be in a lot of trouble without me."
So she is not a villain in the traditional sense. Still, killing one's roommate's fiancé due to having unresolved dead twin issues certainly qualifies as psychotic. Do not even mention leading that puppy
to the edge of the balcony and letting it fall
and die, since this was the moment when I started experiencing blind
hatred for Hedra. Starting off as a shy girl with a mysterious
background, Hedra morphs into a truly obsessed and obsessive killer. She ruins Allie's (Bridget Fonda) life by copying her every move, sets her up for murder and tries to have her commit suicide, all because of a misplaced need for affection and sisterhood. She does have the audience feeling a shred of sympathy
for her by the end, though, owing everything to Leigh's multilayered performance. After all, bearing the burden
of survivor's guilt for decades cannot be easy.
8. Sil (Natasha Henstridge), Species (1995)
"I want a baby."
She escapes from a lab as a prepubescent girl and evolves into a
grown woman within a mere few days. Did I mention that she is not
entirely human? Bred as a hybrid of human DNA and the DNA sent from Mars as a response to a message from SETI,
Sil is more than dangerous and unpredictable -- she is a threat to
humanity. Her mission is to produce offspring, which is too bad
and so sad for a few unfortunate souls that she encounters along the way. A clever
and possibly unintentional aspect of Species is the way that the filmmakers
contrast Sil's physical appearance to her real nature, satirizing
1995's societal norms of beauty. The alien looks angelic and acts
seductively, making no one wonder about and question her true
intentions, thereby giving her an advantage to end all advantages. Yes,
conventions can be deadly. On another note, it has to be said that this is a
fun thriller with a crazy good cast -- Marg Helgenberger, Ben
Kingsley and Forest Whitaker, anyone? See it if you have the chance.
9. Artemisia (Eva Green), 300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
"Now sit on your golden throne and watch this battle from the safety I provide you."
Having witnessed her parents' rape and murder at the hands of Greek hoplites and having survived being a sex slave as a child, it is no wonder that Greek-born Artemisia has been yearning for revenge her entire life. Becoming a naval commander in the Persian army is only the beginning for her, with every fibre of her body primed to exterminate her own people. As remorseless as she is beautiful, Artemisia will not stop until she kills all of her enemies or until they kill her. She has nothing to lose and lives for the sight of Greek death. With her expressive green eyes and throaty delivery, Green is perfect for the part and is obviously relishing every moment. The sex
scene between Green and Sullivan Stapleton, who plays Spartan warrior
Themistokles, is not a lovemaking scene in the least -- it is an
example of pure power play between a warrior
thirsting for blood and a warrior eager for victory. It will not take you long to figure out which character is which.
10. Bridget Gregory, (Linda Fiorentino), The Last Seduction (1994)
"I can be very nice when I try."
Cold-hearted and perceptive, Bridget is not only cunning, she is evil incarnate. Stealing her husband's money, hiding while thinking up her next grand plan and framing some poor schmuck for murder is only the tip of the iceberg. There is no denying that Bridget is a strong and alluring woman; in fact, she is one of the
strongest female characters ever written. However, there is a BIG difference
between tough and downright nefarious. The peculiar quirk of the character is that, while she looks out for herself first, one does not get the impression that she likes or respects herself that much to begin with. Not a fan of men, women or the world in general, Bridget moves through life like a shark, sneaking up on innocents and leaving nothing but destruction in her wake. The infamous story regarding The Last Seduction concerns Fiorentino not receiving an Academy Award nomination since the film was released on television before getting a theatrical release -- a total and utter rip-off, if you ask me. This performance is as captivating and complex as can be.
