100 GREATEST MOVIE VILLAINS

Pt. 4  16-20

CASANOVA FRANKENSTEIN

Who's he?: One of the baddest, craziest and most stylish of the supervillain community of Champion City.
How bad is he?: Bad enough for the justice department locking his ass up in a mental insitution for the rest of his life. Come on, with a name like Casanova Frankenstein you know you're up to no good. Even his arch-nemesis Captain Amazing said so. Plus, his major henchmen were the Disco Boys, now that's bad.
What happened?: Ask Batman if he'll consider releasing the Joker for some PR stunt. Unfortunately, Captain Amazing is not Batman. Under the guise of his secret identity, the good Captain had Casanova released so he could have one last blaze of glory against him. This time, Casanova was playing for keeps and intended to burn the city down to the ground. Champion City was saved by a rag-tag buch of would-be heroes (after accidentally killing Captain Amazing).
Appearance: Mystery Men (1999)

EDWARD LIONHEART

Who is he?: Edward Lionheart was a British Shaskpearean actor. He spent his entire life dedicated in keeping the Bard's work alive and well. Unfortunately, he never got that Critic's Choice award and so he committed suicide. Apparently.
How bad is he?: Obsession was Lionheart talon d'Achylle. Other actors never get any award, still they soldier on. But not for Lionheart. He wanted that award and by God if they won't give him to them, then he'll systematically going to kill them all using Shakeaspeare's plays as inspiration. And when it came to killing people on stage, Shakespeare was the bees' knees.
What happened?: He did it. He started killing the critics' circle using death scenes from Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, Richard III and other masterworks of world litterature. He finally met his match with Perry Devlin, the one critic most devoted to not giving Lionheart his pound of flesh. He lost, but before giving one last encore for the audience.
Appearance: Theatre of Blood (1973)

MATTHEW HOPKINS

Who's he?: Back in the troubled times of the English Civil War, Matthew Hopkins was the self-appointed Witchfinder General. His main job was to investigate and prosecute anyone accused of witchcraft. For a fee.
How bad is he?: Assuming anyone he prosecuted and had executed was actually innocent of any wrongdoing, you get a feeling that Mr Hopkins here is no Mr Sunshine. And there's the self-appointed part. There was no such official position as Wintchfinder General. Faked credentials never go down well with anybody, do they? And he did it so he could get rich enough to buy property and become a landed gentleman. Quite the social climber are we, Mr Hopkins?
What happened?: When you start picking on people who can actually defend themselves, things have a tendency to go wrong very fast. Hopkins had a go at tormenting a family protected by a Parliamentary officer. Killing someone's bride-to-be makes for ackward conversations afterwards.
Appearance: The Witchfinder General (1968)

THE BLAIR WITCH

Who is she?: Back in colonial times, Ellie Kedward was an Irish immigrant who settled down in Blair, Maryland. She was found guilty of poisoning some of the local children. She was sentenced to die from exposure. But you can't put a good witch down, can you?
How bad is she?: She's still out there, guarding the woods surrounding the former location of Blair (now Burkittsville, Maryland). Anyone entering the woods for no good reason will be messing with her big time. Her favorite party tricks is to get someone to do her dirty work for her, like that hermit Parr who murdered ten children some time in 1940. Everyone in Burkittsville knows about her, and everyone will tell you they've been avoiding the woods like the plague. Caveat emptor.
What happened?: The last time she manifested herself was in 1994, when a trio of amateur film makers went to make a documentary about her. Well, they wanted a witch, by God they got a witch. They were never heard from again, though footage of their documentary told a very interesting story.
Appearances: The Blair Witch Project (1999), Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

THE ALAN YATES FILM CREW

Who are they?: Three documentary film makers (Alan Yates, Faye Daniels and Jack Anders) who went to the deepest reaches of the Amazon river to make a film about the last cannibal tribes in existence.
How bad are they?: See, when they didn't find anything conclusive they decided to stir up trouble and film what happened. First they set these two feuding tribes at war with each other, then they decided to burn down a village and rape some women there. Fun for the whole family.
What happened?: Some tribesmen decided they had enough of their approach to documentary film making and decided to "have them" for supper. In a way, they did find the cannibals they were looking for in the end. Alan Yates' teacher, Dr. Harold Monroe, followed in their footsteps and found their footage. Every picture tells a story.
Appearance: Cannibal Holocaust (1979)