All For Love: Crimson Peak

Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak is not about the horror of ghosts, but the horror of humanity. It’s a thread that runs through all of his films. Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, and The Shape of Water are all populated with wondrous (and monstrous) creatures, yet all get cast in sympathetic lights as close-minded, destructive humans...

Manipulative Evil: Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca

I don’t remember the first time I saw Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca, but I feel in love with it as a teenager. I read the novel, then saw every other available adaptation. Mrs. Danvers, the serene housekeeper that slowly undermines the psyche of the nameless heroine, stands out in my memory as one of literature’s great...

Composed of Contradictions: Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma (1957)

Patient. Conniving. Gentlemanly. Calculating. Charming. Deceitful. Truthful. Selfish. Efficient. Ruthless. Gentle. Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) in the original 1957 version of 3:10 to Yuma is all of those, and more. Ben Wade is such an enigmatic character. He has so many facets and layers. Other villains might have three or four of the attributes I...

“Ugly Girl”: Ursula from The Little Mermaid

Ursula is an ugly girl. I like that about her. I once heard a spoken word poem about Ursula. About being big and beautiful. Plus size and unafraid. I don’t remember the name of the poem or the poet or the word choice. I just remember how that poem made me feel. Like I could...

Scream

Scream is a 90s slasher film. It’s special because it knows exactly what it is and makes fun of its own genre. There’s something fun about a show and its characters being aware of their own circumstances and openly mocking it. It’s part of a franchise with four movies under its belt and a 5th one due...

Dishonor Thy Mother: Mrs. Coulter in His Dark Materials

Sure, when you watch a scary movie and the slasher in a mask chases people, it’s frightening, but I am personally more terrified when a villain feels more true-to-life. When the bad things they do stem from realistic and understandable reasons. An antagonist recognizable to the audience in that way can be the most memorable....

Marvel Villains: Understanding the Enemy

“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves.”Ender’s Game The Marvel Cinematic Universe now boasts...

Lady Susan

Like heroes, villains come in all shapes and sizes. However, not all villains desire world domination or commit evil against humanity. Some villains wreak havoc on ordinary lives. Some villains are the protagonist of the story. Jane Austen is best known for her moral novels of social satire/comedy of manners. When you pick up an...

The Only Villain I Love

It’s hard for me to love a villain. “But of course,” you think. “No one loves a villain. Instead, we love to hate them.” That’s exactly what I mean. If you enjoy hating a villain, then you enjoy their presence on the screen or page. You appreciate the dark energy they bring to the story,...

LOST: Ben Linus

If you’ve watched Lost (whether you liked the show or not), you know the characters were memorable and well-rounded. The story lines moved quickly, even if every episode seemed to ask more questions than it answered. One of my favorite aspects was how the people on the island felt like real people. You could feel...