Filmmakers generally like to keep themselves behind the camera. There are cameos here and there - Hitchcock famously appeared in nearly every one of his films, albeit very briefly - but for the most part directors are camera-shy souls who'd prefer to let the actors do the acting. There are, certainly, exceptions. Sydney Pollack became a fairly prominent character actor after he masterminded popular films like Three Days Of The Condor in the '70s, while Woody Allen found himself highly sought by other directors after he rose to fame starring in his own films. The purpose of this list, however, is to scope out those acclaimed filmmakers who sneaked themselves onto the big screen to play the bad guy. And not just any bad guy, but a memorably terrifying kind of villain, so effectively terrifying that it almost makes you wish they'd given up the day job. Directors who were originally known as actors before they became filmmakers (Richard Attenborough, for example, who is so horrifying in 10 Rillington Place) will be ruled out for the sake of fairness. This list has places reserved for those originally and often best known for their work behind the camera, but who happened to prove their mettle in front of it, too, by transforming themselves into the most extreme kind of screen bastards.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
