October 1, 2002: The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), the international association of the leading Internet-based cinema journalists, is sharing its love with the character we're supposed to hate. The OFCS has announced its new list celebrating the Top 100 Villains of All Time and the greatest screen villain of all time, according to the 132 members of the OFCS, is Darth Vader played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones in the original Star Wars trilogy.

Following Darth Vader in the Top 10 sector of the Villains list is Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates in Psycho, Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth in Blue Velvet, Robert Mitchum's Rev. Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter, Douglas Rain as the voice of the HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, Max Schreck as Graf Orlock in Nosferatu, and Ricardo Montalban as Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The complete list of the Online Film Critics Society's Top 100 Villains can be found online at http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com/.

In polling the OFCS membership for this survey, with a list of more than 400 potential villains to choose from, the society invited its members to consider some of the most wonderfully charismatic examples of celluloid evil. "The Villains list spans the history of motion pictures, from Max Schreck's landmark performance in the 1922 silent version of Nosferatu to Anthony Hopkins reprising his Hannibal Lecter role yet again in the new Red Dragon feature," says Erik Childress, editor of eFilmCritic.com and a member of the OFCS Governing Committee. "In many ways, the villains are the most important aspect of classic films--what would Star Wars be without Darth Vader or The Wizard of Oz without 'The Wicked Witch of the West.' With this list, we can unapologetically say that we love a great villain!"

Now celebrating its fifth anniversary, the Online Film Critics Society has been the key force in establishing Internet-based film journalism. The OFCS membership consists of writers from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, Australia and Africa, with journalists representing many of the most important online news sites including Salon, Slate, TV Guide Online, the Apollo Guide, FilmCritic.com, Daily-Reviews.com and the Internet Movie Database.

The Society's web site, which has been hosted since January 2001 by the highly influential film resource Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/), provides the most comprehensive online listing of reviews and original interviews with the leading artists in today's cinema, plus links to the most important motion picture-related web sites. The annual OFCS Awards, announced after the new year, are widely regarded as a prime barometer in determining which individuals and films are top contenders for the Academy Award nominations.

The OFCS Governing Committee consists of Chicago-based Erik Childress of eFilmCritic.com, New York-based Phil Hall of Film Threat, and Liverpool's Ian Waldron-Mantgani of The UK Critic. The Governing Committee is the OFCS liaison with the film industry and the Net community. For more information, visit the Online Film Critics Society at http://www.ofcs.org/.

THE OFCS TOP 100 VILLAINS OF ALL TIME
1 Star Wars etc. - Darth Vader - David Prowse/James Earl Jones
2 Silence of the Lambs, The etc. - Hannibal Lecter - Anthony Hopkins 
3 Psycho etc. - Norman Bates - Anthony Perkins 
4 Die Hard - Hans Gruber - Alan Rickman 
5 Blue Velvet - Frank Booth - Dennis Hopper 
6 Night of the Hunter - Rev. Harry Powell - Robert Mitchum 
7 2001: A Space Odyssey - HAL 9000 - Douglas Rain (voice) 
8 Wizard of Oz, The - The Wicked Witch of the West - Margaret Hamilton
9 Nosferatu - Graf Orlock - Max Schreck 
10 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - Khan Noonien Singh - Ricardo Montalban 
11 Clockwork Orange, A - Alex - Malcolm McDowell 
12 Usual Suspects, The - Keyzer Soze - (mystery/actor's name withheld)
13 Third Man, The - Harry Lime - Orson Welles 
14 Schindler's List - Amon Goeth - Ralph Fiennes 
15 Halloween - Michael Myers (aka The Shape) - Nick Castle 
16 Batman (1989) - The Joker - Jack Nicholson 
17 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Nurse Ratched - Louise Fletcher 
18 Manchurian Candidate, The - Mrs. Iselin - Angela Lansbury 
19 Jaws - The shark - himself 
20 Se7en - John Doe - Kevin Spacey
21 Terminator, The etc. - T-800 - Arnold Schwarzenegger 
22 Misery - Annie Wilkes - Kathy Bates 
23 Shining, The - John 'Jack' Daniel Torrance - Jack Nicholson
24 Once Upon a Time in the West - Frank - Henry Fonda
25 Amadeus - Salieri - F. Murray Abraham 
26 M - Hans Beckert - Peter Lorre 
27 In the Company of Men - Chad - Aaron Eckhart
28 Alien etc. - The alien - himself 
29 Shadow of a Doubt - Uncle Charlie - Joseph Cotten 
30 Nightmare On Elm Street, A etc. - Freddy Kreuger - Robert Englund 
31 Apocalypse Now - Col. Walter E. Kurtz - Marlon Brando 
32 Chinatown - Noah Cross - John Huston 
33 Fatal Attraction - Alex Forrest - Glenn Close 
34 Full Metal Jacket - Gunnery Sergeant Hartman - R. Lee Ermey 
35 Blade Runner - Roy Batty - Rutger Hauer 
36 Matrix, The - Mr. Smith - Hugo Weaving 
37 Dracula (1931) - Dracula etc. - Bela Lugosi 
38 Marathon Man - Christian Szell - Laurence Olivier 
39 Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The - T-1000 - Robert Patrick 
40 It's a Wonderful Life - Mr. Potter - Lionel Barrymore 
41 Exorcist, The - Pazuzu - Mercedes McCambridge (voice) 
42 Touch of Evil - Captain Hank Quinlan - Orson Welles 
43 Leon (The Professional) - Norman Stansfield - Gary Oldman 
44 Cape Fear (1991) - Max Cady - Robert De Niro 
45 Goldfinger - Auric Goldfinger - Gert Frobe 
46 Richard III - King Richard III - Ian McKellan
47 Strangers On a Train - Bruno Antony - Robert Walker 
48 Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, The - Albert Spica - Michael Gambon
49 Double Indemnity - Phyllis Dietrichson - Barbara Stanwyck
50 American Psycho - Patrick Bateman - Christian Bale 
51 Hitcher, The - John Ryder - Rutger Hauer 
52 Goodfellas - Tommy DeVito - Joe Pesci
53 All About Eve - Eve Harrington - Anne Baxter 
54 Bad Seed, The - Rhoda - Patty McCormack
55 Kiss of Death - Tommy Udo - Richard Widmark 
56 White Heat - Arthur "Cody" Jarrett - James Cagney 
57 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - The queen - Lucille La Verne (voice) 
58 Rebecca - Mrs. Danvers - Judith Anderson
59 Cape Fear (1962) - Max Cady - Robert Mitchum 
60 Dr. Strangelove - Jack D. Ripper - Sterling Hayden 
61 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery etc. - Dr. Evil - Mike Myers 
62 Taxi Driver - Travis Bickle - Robert DeNiro
63 Basic Instinct - Catherine Trammell - Sharon Stone 
64 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The - Leatherface - Gunnar Hansen
65 Wall Street - Gordon Gekko - Michael Douglas 
66 Rosemary's Baby - Minnie Castevet - Ruth Gordon 
67 Deliverance - Mountain men - Bill McKinney and Herbert "Cowboy" Coward 
68 Training Day - Alonzo Harris - Denzel Washington 
69 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - Jane Hudson - Bette Davis 
70 101 Dalmatians - Cruella De Vil - Betty Lou Gerson (voice) 
71 Metropolis - The evil Maria - Brigitte Helm
72 Duel - The truck driver - Carey Loftin 
73 In the Line of Fire - Booth - John Malkovich 
74 Phantom of the Opera, The (1925) - Erik - Lon Chaney 
75 Last Seduction, The - Wendy Kroy - Linda Fiorentino
76 Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - Henry - Michael Rooker
77 Sexy Beast - Don Logan - Ben Kingsley 
78 Wait Until Dark - Roat - Alan Arkin 
79 Reservoir Dogs - Mr. Blonde - Michael Madsen 
80 Aguirre, the Wrath of God - Aguirre - Klaus Kinski
81 Fight Club - Tyler Durden - Brad Pitt 
82 Batman Returns - Catwoman - Michelle Pfieffer 
83 Rob Roy - Archibald Cunningham - Tim Roth 
84 Graduate, The - Mrs. Robinson - Anne Bancroft
85 Casablanca - Major Heinrich Strasser - Conrad Veidt 
86 Back to the Future etc. - Biff Tannen - Thomas F. Wilson 
87 Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Ed Rooney - Jeffrey Jones 
88 Roger & Me - Roger Smith - himself 
89 Unforgiven - Little Bill Daggett - Gene Hackman 
90 Frankenstein etc. - The monster - Boris Karloff 
91 Flash Gordon (1980) - Ming the Merciless - Max Von Sydow 
92 Stepfather, The - Henry Morrison/Jerry Blake/Bill Hodgkins - Terry O'Quinn 
93 Primal Fear - Mystery Villain - actor's name withheld
94 Shane - Jack Wilson - Jack Palance 
95 Peeping Tom - Mark Lewis - Carl Boehm 
96 Mutiny On the Bounty (1935) - Captain William Bligh - Charles Laughton 
97 Legend - The Lord of Darkness - Tim Curry 
98 Last House On the Left, The - Krug - David Hess 
99 Lolita - Clare Quilty - Peter Sellers 
100 Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The - Dr. Caligari - Werner Krauss