10 More Awesome Sci-Fi Villains Wasted In Terrible Movies

5. Jobe - The Lawnmower Man

Flash gordon Ming
New Line Cinema

In The Lawnmower Man, Dr. Angelo works for a virtual reality corporation that uses VR technology to make their test subjects smarter. After a successful trial with chimpanzees, Angelo moves onto human trials. When he learns of a neighbourhood groundskeeper called Jobe who is mentally impaired, Angelo believes he is the perfect test subject.

Not only does the experiment make Jobe super-intelligent, he develops psychic powers. But when the project's director removes all cognitive safeguards from the procedure without Angelo's knowledge or consent, Jobe goes insane. He starts murdering anyone who wronged him and uses the VR to control all of Earth's technology.

Jobe is a really fascinating character because he is a victim that was turned into a genocidal monster through no fault of his own. Even when he becomes a killer, you feel sorry for him, knowing he never wanted anything except to feel normal.

Unfortunately, most viewers only focused on one thing while watching The Lawnmower Man: the virtual reality scenes. Although they looked pretty cool at the time, they have aged terribly and are considered one of the most laughably bad special effects in cinema. Sadly, Jobe is an amazing character trapped in a crappy movie.

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Contributor

James Egan has written 80 books including 1000 Facts about Superheroes Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about TV Shows Vol. 1-3 Twitter - @jameswzegan85