by Julius Albert Custodio

Created on: February 04, 2009   Last Updated: January 25, 2010

"Remembering Cinema's Unsung Heroes err.. Villains"

Ah, these foul and wretched villains! I don't know about you, but when I watch a movie, it's usually not the dashing hero I root for but the bad guys. As the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock once said: "“The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.”

Anyway, if the hero is an anti-hero, then maybe I will root for him too, but I don't want to digress. For me, villains are always a joy to watch, you just know they're begging for your attention. They have that magnetic appeal, that unique charisma you would never dream of finding in the cliched protagonist. Some of the more popular villains are just glorified underdogs that ultimately loses to the hero in any anti-climactic movie. They're a disgrace! What I usually look for in a villain is that unexplainable factor, it's almost like the "umami" of the movie world, if you will.

Here are some of the most underrated villains I've watched, this is in a descending order from the least underrated to the severely forgotten. Let's begin:

10. Mr. Glass from "Unbreakable" (Samuel L. Jackson) - I have to commend Mr. Jackson for giving Mr. Glass that strange appeal you don't commonly find in villains. I admit I had that gut feeling when I saw him appear on the screen but Mr. Jackson almost convinced me he's one of the good guys. It's a lost cause for I'm already revealing the film's final twist here, but if you haven't read this you'll probably be taken aback after you find out what lies beneath that fragile exterior. Deception is always a conventional plot device, and I don't think anyone can admit that they were deceived by such a nice character like Glass.

9. Kazuo Kiriyama from "Battle Royale" (played by Masanobu Ando) - yes, Battle Royale, that controversial Japanese film that probably wouldn't reach some parts of the western civilization due to the sensitive issue of campus killings. Kiriyama is one of the film's major villains and you can actually see the joy he had while he was obliterating one student after another. It is sick and I can't believe I appreciated this guy's madness and gusto for annihilation. That said, Masanobu Ando is a really effective actor for giving a great performance for such a one-dimensional character.

8. Mrs. Carmody from "The Mist" (played by Marcia Gay Harden) - I've watched "The Mist" a couple of times and every time Marcia Gay Harden stares at me on the screen, I always get that spine-tingling chill.

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