15 Chilling Movie Villains That Are Harrowing To Watch

This is one people probably weren't expecting to see here, but oh boy is this a scary villain. He's a low-key villain; he's merely an abusive psychiatrist, but he still gets under your skin.

Like many of the most unpleasant film antagonists, this one is worse because he actually existed. Dr Eugene Landy was psychiatrist to Brian Wilson (the legendary Beach Boys musician) and he abused and controlled Wilson is a very damaging manner. Melinda Ledbetter, Wilson's wife, has said that Landy was even worse in real life, but what we see in the film is horrifying enough.

Landy is a slimy, nasty and relentlessly angry bully who controls Wilson's life in an entirely unethical manner. Many of the best film villains are sympathetic to some extent, but this creepy antagonist is of the entirely hateful variety. John Cussack's miserable and heart-breaking portrayal of Brian Wilson clearly shows a man who has been psychologically destroyed by having his life dominated and misshapen in such a manner, showing just how destructive Landy really was.

Thanks to both Paul Giamatti's sinister performance and the film's thought-provoking screenplay, this character stands as one of the underrated movie villains of recent years.