The Movie
An ambitious FBI agent enlists the aid of a criminally insane ex-psychiatrist to help track down a vicious serial killer.
About him
A brilliant, genius psychologist and a vicious murderer at the same time.
2. Jack Torrance (The Shining)
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.
About him
Jack is an extremely sympathetic character. His power as a protagonist lies in his deep desire, and great potential, to be a good person – a good father, a good husband, and a good writer. Yet, he's a tragic figure with very specific demons, namely his temper and the memory of his abusive father.
3. Michael Myers (Halloween)
The Movie
A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood escapes on a mindless rampage while his doctor chases him through the streets.
About him
A common characterization is that Michael Myers is evil. John Carpenter has described the character as "almost a supernatural force - a force of nature. An evil force that's loose," a force that is "unkillable".Professor Nicholas Rogers elaborates, "Myers is depicted as a mythic, elusive bogeyman, one of superhuman strength who cannot be killed by bullets, stab wounds, or fire."
4. Norman Bates (Psycho)
The Movie
A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.
About him
His character, suffering from severe mental illness as a result of years of abuse from his mother, appears normal to everyone else, as he presents himself as a humble business owner and son. His multiple personalities and deranged relationship with his mother lead him to kill anyone who threatens his mother’s wishes.
5. The Joker (Batman: The Dark Knight)
The Movie
Batman, Gordon and Harvey Dent are forced to deal with the chaos unleashed by an anarchist mastermind known only as the Joker, as he drives each of them to their limits.
About him
Its the insatiable lust for chaos and destruction that makes The Joker so scary. He is flesh and blood, he is not immortal, but it is his disregard and denial of such petty constraints that truly make him terrifying. In one pivotal scene, The Joker quietly but vehemently urges Batman to run him down with the Batpod, a collision that would surely kill The Joker. It is not his own survival that The Joker considers, but the assertion of chaos. To get Batman to break his one rule – to never resort to killing – would be The Joker’s ultimate victory.
