10 Horror Movie Villains Everyone HATED
3. Captain Vidal - Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro sure knows a thing or two about crafting a despicable villain, and his crowning achievement in that regard is surely Pan's Labyrinth's Captain Vidal (Sergi López).
In del Toro's dark horror-fantasy, Vidal is protagonist Ofelia's (Ivana Baquero) new stepfather and an utterly savage Civil Guard officer operating in Francoist Spain.
Vidal is an unrepentant fascist who takes clear joy in tracking down the Spanish guerrillas waging war against the Francoist regime, best evidenced by the unforgettably horrific scene where he caves a farmer's face in with a glass bottle. He's a particular breed of psychopath who will have a torture victim patched up only so he can torture them some more, not to ignore how flagrantly abusive he is towards Ofelia herself.
There's not even the faintest fleck of humanity to be found here. Vidal is totally heinous, and yet del Toro never turns him into a rampaging caricature, because of course, people like this did and do actually exist.