5. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs
As the ultimate cultured serial killer in fiction, Hannibal sets the benchmark for charismatic yet monstrous villains. A ropey sequel and a feeble prequel eventually reduced him to a wish-fulfilment vigilante, who gallivanted about the world murdering people who were just as heinous as him but without the style. However, the early Lecter novels and films still hold up as eerie thrillers, tense procedurals and grisly horror stories, where Hannibal is an unknowable sociopathic fiend, whose murders were committed for his own dark amusement and whose contributions towards the hunt for other killers are far from altruistic. His vile acts include sending a coded message that instructs a demented murderer to go after the lead investigators family, and savagely killing multiple public servants in order to ensure his own eventual escape. For all his undoubted monstrousness, Hannibal has a perverse appeal, thanks to his electrifying portrayal by Anthony Hopkins, and the Satanic intensity of every encounter with him; when Clarice Starling first visits Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, in the nightmarish bowels of a maximum-security hospital, her journey to his cell is like a descent into hell. Hannibals masterfully-executed escape sets up the movies haunting coda, as the human predator, with no restraints upon his cannibalistic desires, slips away into the teeming crowds of humanity. For all its entertainment value, it might be better to pretend that the overblown sequel doesnt exist and use your imagination to fill in Hannibals future evil deeds.