Gallery: Like Clockwork: 40 Years of Ice-Cold Psychopaths
011971-clockwork
Forty years ago, a derby-capped, Beethoven-loving English hoodlum smashed noggins with so much style that he set a new benchmark for psychopathic behavior. After Alex and his Droogs wreaked havoc in 1971's *[A Clockwork Orange](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(film))*, ambitious filmmakers could no longer get by with standard-issue bad guys. Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of novelist Anthony Burgess' futuristic satire impacted Hollywood-style depravity: Audiences would now expect extra dollops of wit and cruelty from their bad guys. And if the psycho wore a creepy mask or really bad haircut, all the better. To mark the 40th anniversary of *A Clockwork Orange*, which will be re-released Tuesday on Blu-ray, Wired.com chronicles the spawn of Alex with a gallery of the sickest, coldest and most charismatic evil bastards from the past four decades of movie history. __Above:__ Alex ---- __Movie:__ *[A Clockwork Orange](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/)* (1971) __Psycho factor:__ After [Malcolm McDowell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Lee_Browne) dances through beatings to the music of Beethoven, big-screen villainy will never be the same.
021972-last-house
Fred 'Weasel' Podowski ---------------------- __Movie:__ *[The Last House on the Left](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_House_on_the_Left_(1972_film))* (1972) __Psycho factor:__ Disturbing in the extreme, Fred "Weasel" Podowski (played by porn vet [Fred J. Lincoln](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Lee_Browne)) joins up with Krug Stillo ([David A. Hess](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Lee_Browne)) to bring a group of girls into the forest in Wes Craven's landmark horror film. Amputation ensues.
031973-live-and-let-die-660
Mr. Big ------- __Movie:__ *[Live and Let Die](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Live_and_Let_Die_(film))* (1973) __Psycho factor:__ [Yaphet Kotto](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Lee_Browne), as sadistic mastermind Mr. Big, predates [torture porn](http://nymag.com/movies/features/15622/) by decades when he instructs his aide Tee Hee: "On the first wrong answer from Miss Solitaire, you will snip the little finger of Mr. Bond's right hand. Starting with the second wrong answer, you will proceed to the more ... vital ... areas."
041973-live-and-let-die-660
Mr. Big ------- __Movie:__ *[Live and Let Die](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Live_and_Let_Die_(film))* (1973) __Psycho factor:__ [Yaphet Kotto](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Lee_Browne), as sadistic mastermind Mr. Big, predates [torture porn](http://nymag.com/movies/features/15622/) by decades when he instructs his aide Tee Hee: "On the first wrong answer from Miss Solitaire, you will snip the little finger of Mr. Bond's right hand. Starting with the second wrong answer, you will proceed to the more ... vital ... areas."
051974-leatherface
Leatherface ----------- __Movie:__ *[The Texas Chain Saw Massacre](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072271/)* (1974) __Psycho factor:__ He isn't much for snappy retorts. But [Leatherface](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leatherface), the chainsaw-wielding lunatic played by Gunnar Hansen, gets his nickname because he wears a mask made of human skin. Enough said.
061975-cuckoo
Nurse Ratched ------------- __Movie:__ *[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073486/)* (1975) __Psycho factor:__ Dealing with Jack Nicholson's rebellious Randle McMurphy, mental hospital matron Nurse Ratched says, "If Mr. McMurphy doesn't want to take his medication orally, I'm sure we can arrange that he can have it some other way." Uh oh. Louise Fletcher wins an Oscar for her portrayal of a bureaucratic monster who believes in control-through-sedation.
071976-logans-run-2
Box --- __Movie:__ *[Logan's Run](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan's_Run_(film))* (1976) __Psycho factor:__ "I am overwhelming, am I not?" asks [Roscoe Lee Browne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Lee_Browne) in director Michael Anderson's dystopic sci-fi movie. Browne's character, the robotic Box, runs an ice chamber filled with frozen animals and human "Runners" — individuals who aren't ready to step into the sanitary killing chamber at age 30.
081977-star-wars
Darth Vader ----------- __Movie:__ *[Star Wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope)* (1977) __Psycho factor:__ James Earl Jones' voice, coupled with a monk's-cape-meets-gas-mask costume, forms the foundation for sci-fi's most iconic tragic hero.
091978-halloween
Michael Myers ------------- __Movie:__ *[Halloween](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/)* (1978) __Psycho factor:__ A 6-year-old murders his older sister, escapes the loony bin and freaks the daylights out of Jamie Lee Curtis' character, thus launching a nine-movie franchise. Filmmaker John Carpenter invented [Michael Myers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Myers_(Halloween)), played by Nick Castle and Tony Moran in this first installment, after taking a college field trip to a Kentucky mental institution. A 12-year-old patient gave the director a "a real evil stare" that Carpenter remembers as being "completely insane."
101979-caligula
Caligula -------- __Movie:__ *[Caligula](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080491/)* (1979) __Psycho factor:__ [Malcolm McDowell](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000532/) goes for the jugular again, this time wreaking havoc as the famously depraved emperor of Rome. *__Editor's note:__ An earlier version of this gallery included the movie* [Stalker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalker_%28film%29). *This entry replaces that one.*
111980-the-shining
Jack Torrance ------------- __Movie:__ *[The Shining](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/)* (1980) __Psycho factor:__ Stanley Kubrick's cinematic adaptation of Stephen King's chilling novel is filled with carefully composed visuals and literary allusions. But the film's most iconic moment is improvised by Jack Nicholson when his Jack Torrance character bursts through a door, ax in hand, and announces, "[Here's Johnny](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TVooUHN7j4)!"
121981-escape-from-new-york
Hauk ---- __Movie:__ *[Escape From New York](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_New_York)* (1981) __Psycho factor:__ He's a sneaky bastard! Police commissioner Hauk, played by veteran cowboy villain [Lee Van Cleef](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Van_Cleef), injects prisoner hero "Snake" Plissken ([Kurt Russell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Russell)) with microscopic explosives designed to rupture his carotid arteries once his 24 hour-mission has been completed.
131982-blade-runner
Roy Batty --------- __Movie:__ *[Blade Runner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner)* (1982) __Psycho factor:__ Unstoppable [Rutger Hauer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutger_Hauer), playing the relentless [Roy Batty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Batty#Roy_Batty) in Ridley Scott's sci-fi stunner, shows what he's made of when he pulls the hand belonging to Harrison Ford's Deckard through the wall, then breaks two of his fingers, proving that good characters do bad things.
141982-blade-runner
Roy Batty --------- __Movie:__ *[Blade Runner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner)* (1982) __Psycho factor:__ Unstoppable [Rutger Hauer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutger_Hauer), playing the relentless [Roy Batty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Batty#Roy_Batty) in Ridley Scott's sci-fi stunner, shows what he's made of when he pulls the hand belonging to Harrison Ford's Deckard through the wall, then breaks two of his fingers, proving that good characters do bad things.
