12 Most Terrifying Action Movie Villains

When alternate World War Two flick Inglourious Basterds was released by Quentin Tarantino back in 2009, Christoph Waltz was a bit of an unknown, and many would have simply glanced their eye over his name in the opening credits. That quickly changed when cinema goers witnessed his portrayal of SS colonel Hans Landa.

From the very first scene, Waltz becomes the star of the show. He plays Landa as manipulative and utterly sadistic, someone who shows no empathy and seems to completely revel in his role - hunting down and killing Jews. In his opening appearance, the scene becomes almost claustrophobic, as Landa calmly interrogates a farmer as to the location of a Jewish family he is hiding under the floorboards, before ordering his men to kill them while retaining a pleasant conversation about the farmer's family.

His presence alone is enough to hold breath from the audience, and it's incredible testament to Waltz's acting skills that he continues this through the film, right up to his vicious and savage murder of Diane Kruger's resistance spy Bridget von Hammersmark by choking. The tension in the scene is heart-wrenching, as the audience knows that Landa is on to her, and there's a real feeling of dread. That's down to the utter evil of this character, and it arguably remains Waltz's finest role to date.