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The 7 Best B-Level Villains

By Dan Saipher | Posted Under Seriously Random Lists | Comments (38)

bennett_from_commando_goes_ape_shit.jpg

Just because they’re A-List in our hearts, it just doesn’t put them amongst the top hombres in Hollywood. Here’s to the skeezy, low-life, double-crossing, drug-dealing mobsters. Here’s to the foreign-accent brandishing, government vendetta-swearing, well financed anarcho-terrorists. The schemers, the dastardly dreamers, the life-time cons and dapper dons. The militants, belligerents, the crass and the eternally bad-ass.

1. Jurgen Prochnow

Every good villain list has to include a German. They’re always three steps ahead of the good guy, but one good foot in the ass from being foiled. Cultured, composed, always crooked.

Bad Guy Roles: The Replacement Killers, Judge Dredd, Beverly Hills Cop II

Bad-Ass Moment: Trusting Brigitte Nielsen with his plans in the Alphabet Robberies. Seriously, giving that chick an electric toothbrush takes balls.



2. Vernon Wells

It’s not his fault chainmail can’t stop Ah-nold from throwing a steam pipe through his chest. His legend should be bigger, but just like Major League Baseball, we don’t place asterisks on PED users.

Bad Guy Roles: Mad Max 2, Commando, Innerspace

Bad-Ass Moment: Ever threatening to harm one damn hair on Alyssa Milano’s head.”-EJ. [ETA: Full credit to Mike for pointing out that Wez does NOT shoot Max’s dog. He does still get sandwiched between a semi and a rocket-propelled dune buggy, though.]



3. Joaquim de Almeida

Oh, it’s a bi-lingual bloodbath here. Need a Mexican cartel head? An affluent Brazilian slum lord? How about a politically savvy Cubano drug peddler? See this man.

Bad Guy Roles: Fast Five, Desperado, Clear and Present Danger

Bad-Ass Moment: More or less gets the President impeached, after convincing the CIA to give up a Black Ops team wreaking havoc in the Colombian jungle, and a quick detour in the States to choke an unfortunate female liason. Has to be defeated by Harrison Ford, Willem Defoe, and Rainbow Six Superman Ding Chavez.



4. Eric Roberts

Julia who?

Bad Guy Roles: Sharktopus, The Prophecy II, The Dark Knight

Bad-Ass Moment: Beating up a cop. In real life.



5. Bolo Yeung

CHONG LI! CHONG LI! CHONG LI! CHONG LI! CHONG LI!

Bad Guy Roles: Enter the Dragon, Bloodsport, Double Impact

Bad-Ass Moment: Finds a way to kill someone with his bare hands very often, but lest we forget the moment the shit hit the fan in Bloodsport.



6. Michael Ironside

Even when he smiles, small mammals have the urge to throw themselves off the nearest ledge in fear. His breakfast consists of a bowl of rivets and kerosene.

Bad Guy Roles: Scanners, Total Recall, Highlander II

Bad-Ass Moment: Oh yeah, I’m gonna post it. All hail Revok. Put your coffee down first.



7. Powers Boothe

Wrote the book on gravelly-voiced supervillainy. He always projects a cool and capable intelligence, with his trademark diction that oftenspeaksveryfast and then slooooooooows dooooown so he can snarl in your ear and make you wish you were back in kindergarten.

Bad Guy Roles: Deadwood, Sudden Death, Tombstone

Bad-Ass Moment: Shoots Veronica Mars in the face. Oh no, wait, he shoots her brother in the face and makes Joannie Stubbs shoot a teenage girl. That’s just good evil.










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Comments

Where's Rade Serbedzija? The guy played so many Russian villains that he should get an honorary Russian citizenship:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0784884/

Posted by: astounded at May 19, 2011 12:25 PM

What, no Tex Cobb?

Posted by: keith at May 19, 2011 12:26 PM

Michael Ironside
Bad Guy Roles: Scanners, Total Recall, Highlander II

Sorry, what ? How can one be a bad guy in a film that doesn't and has never existed ?

Posted by: cockroach at May 19, 2011 12:29 PM

Aw, they left out the Sudden Death clip where he threatens the little girl with putting spiders in her mouth. He is badass, tho.

Posted by: Chickaboom at May 19, 2011 12:31 PM

I will assume that you left off Michael Ironside's recent appearance as General Lane on Smallville by accident.

Now, please allow Mercy to drive you home. It's a dangerous world out there, Dan. I'd hate for something bad to happen to you.

Posted by: superasente at May 19, 2011 12:31 PM

Please come with me, Mr. Saipher.
[grins menacingly]

Posted by: Mercy at May 19, 2011 12:32 PM

"Bolo Yeung" FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: LA Juice at May 19, 2011 12:39 PM

Sorry, your Vernon Wells bio is incorrect on one part-

Bad-Ass Moment: Ever threatening to harm one damn hair on Alyssia Milano's head.

Let off some steam?!? Ha! You got off easy Bennett.

Posted by: EJ at May 19, 2011 12:39 PM

I love to see Vernon Wells get recognition. However, the fanboy in me can't let this pass: Wez does NOT shoot Max's dog. It's another of the Lord Humongous' lackeys who does - one of the guys dressed as a kinky cop. And that dude promptly gets blown away after the Last of the V-8 Interceptors explodes. Wez watches from the road, grimly satisfied thinking Max is dead...but little does he know.

Wez does shoot a wild rabbit with his wrist crossbow earlier in the movie, though, presumably to terrify the good guys.

Posted by: Mike at May 19, 2011 12:50 PM

"Wez does NOT shoot Max's dog. It's another of the Lord Humongous' lackeys who does"

SONOFABITCH!

Good call by Mike.

Posted by: D-Day at May 19, 2011 12:56 PM

But you didn't list Vernon Wells's most memorable role... as Ransik in Power Rangers: Time Force. I assume this was just an oversight and await its correction.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at May 19, 2011 1:06 PM

Powers Booth was badass enough to play Jim Jones. "Drink, my children, drink!"

Posted by: , at May 19, 2011 1:06 PM

Word. Love me some Ironside.

Bolo looks like he can tear people in half.

Vernon Wells does crazy eyes like few have ever or will ever do.

Posted by: Kballs at May 19, 2011 1:10 PM

Thank you, Mike.

Posted by: latvianluck at May 19, 2011 1:10 PM

Very good list. We need a TV channel that just plays these movies on a loop.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at May 19, 2011 1:16 PM

That's what Spike should've been, Darth.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at May 19, 2011 1:27 PM

Powers Boothe as Jim Jones won an Emmy back in '80

Steve Railsback as Charles Manson, & assorted other psychos.

Joaquin de Almeida was also in Season 3 of "24", playing a - you guessed it - Mexican drug lord.

Robert Carlyle in "28 Weeks Later", & of course as Hitler in a 2003 TV movie.

don't forget both of Garrett Dillahunt's roles in "Deadwood"

Posted by: harold ballard's ghost at May 19, 2011 1:33 PM

No Michael Rooker?

Posted by: JYD at May 19, 2011 1:51 PM

Timely. I don't remember what I was watching, but it made me think back to some mid-1980's horror movie that featured "that red-haired" guy with kind of a pock-marked face as a villain with a chainsaw. I cannot find "that red-haired guy's" name. I can also picture him in some sort of Judge Dredd futuristic cop uniform (but I don't see him listed in the Judge Dredd cast).

Anyone maybe know who I am talking about? He's probably played a small role in at least 30 films over the last 30 years. My lack of recall is making me unnecessarily crazy.

Posted by: jilljac at May 19, 2011 1:58 PM

Ric Young will sit by the corner and sip on a drink while glaring at you for ignoring him.

Posted by: Fredo at May 19, 2011 2:21 PM

The thing I always liked about Bolo was that through the 70's and 80's his pecks would get bigger every picture. You can track his career by the size of them.

Posted by: Some Guy at May 19, 2011 2:41 PM

I also think you should have included Michael Berryman, or at least given him an honorable mention. He was the mutant in the Hills Have Eyes and Weird Science, the latter of which also starred Wells.


Posted by: Some Guy at May 19, 2011 2:49 PM

Also, how could you NOT note Wells time as a villain in Toronto. He held an entire baseball team hostage for cripes sake.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at May 19, 2011 2:53 PM

Michael Ironside!!

Fucking rad-ass. That is all.

Posted by: MM at May 19, 2011 3:07 PM

The person/character that popped into my head is not in the same league as those mentioned above, but my favorite "B" grade (maybe actually "C" grade) movie villain is Julius Carey as Shonuff, the Shogun of Harlem from Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon.

Just watching him in that awesomely stupid movie you can see how much fun he had with such a ridiculous, over the top character.

Posted by: pattonbt at May 19, 2011 4:00 PM

Michael Ironside
Bad Guy Roles: Scanners, Total Recall, Highlander II

you ddin't have his role as the park manager in Free Willy?

Posted by: Utah Dynamo at May 19, 2011 6:17 PM

Joaquin de Almeida. Isn't he the Hispanic Phil Hartman?

Posted by: David McTaintwaffle at May 19, 2011 6:29 PM

You forgot William Smith, who played Conan's father in the original Conan the Barbarian and a Russian Special Ops-type in Red Dawn. For a time there, it seemed as if every 1970s and 80s B-movie featured Smith as the villian. I'd also add Robert Davi to the list, although in the past decade he's played more good guys then bad.

Posted by: PDamian at May 19, 2011 7:40 PM

Who's the guy in the picture at the top of the article? Looks familiar, but it would take a while to go through all the clips of actors whose names I don't recognize to figure it out...

Posted by: Jesse M. at May 19, 2011 8:24 PM

Old school best bad guy is Jack Palance. B level or poor man's Jack Palance is Henry Silva. Both of them gave me the heeby jeebies when I was a kid.

Look at this face and tell me he isn't creepy as hell:

http://www.cheese-magnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/HenrySilvaSM02.jpg

Posted by: snapnhiss at May 19, 2011 9:04 PM

Also, how could you NOT note Wells time as a villain in Toronto. He held an entire baseball team hostage for cripes sake.

Posted by: Socrates_Johnson at May 19, 2011 2:53 PM

I was going to make a comment along those lines when I saw the name "Vernon Wells" too, Socrates, but I wondered how many here would get it?

Posted by: Uriah Creep at May 19, 2011 9:48 PM

Michael Wincott. God, I hoped my voice would turn out like his after puberty.

Posted by: Cal Feen at May 20, 2011 2:54 PM

Tired of lists made up of your favorite pre-pubescent memories. That being said, I gotta give it to you for including Wez. But no, it's not Mad Max 2, it's Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. So there, hmph. So badass the Toecutter knows his name from the afterlife!

As maybe the only one here who saw the Scanners scene on the silver screen, I commend you. I think that was the last movie where the hero was uglier than the villain. You know how some actors get an eternal pass because of one pinnacle role? Michael Ironside gets an eternal no-pass for everything that is Highlander 2.

This list is bunk without the dude from The Crow. Hell yes to Michael Wincott. Even though he couldn't save The Three Musketeers or Robin Hood, Seriously, that voice. That sneer.

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Posted by: Watch UFC 133 Online at July 13, 2011 8:44 PM

It's Brion James! Finally. I noticed him this evening as Leon in Blade Runner. The "futuristic cop" role was in The Fifth Element. The awesome movie from 1988 was Dead Man Walking. "After Leila, his boss's daughter, is kidnapped by psychopathic plague victim Decker, chauffuer Chazz teams up with plague-infected mercenary Luger to penetrate the toxic & off-limits Plague Zone and bring her back alive. -- IMDb Plot: Dead Man Walking (1988)"

Posted by: Jilljac at July 18, 2011 5:32 AM