Best Insane Film Characters

Lorelli!

There's so many that I can't chose a favourite. They often tend to be the most interesting and complex characters.

One's that come to mind now are Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver and Frank Booth from Blue Velvet.

Taxi Driver was good in that you followed the film through Travis. There wasn't really a goody as such. He was a very interesting character. I don't think he was bad, just messed up.

Frank Booth was a psychopath? A sadist? Not sure but definitely a very unusual eccentric quirky character and very well played by Dennis Hopper.

What others are the best and why?

DontThankMe

Heath Ledger as the joker in the Dark Knight he was an amazing crazy person/physco in it.

RocketRaccoon

Heath Ledger as Joker is the one who comes to mind immediately. Every time he was on the screen I was glued to it and when he wasn't, I found myself wondering what he was up to.

me_irl

DontThankMe wrote: »

Heath Ledger as the joker in the Dark Knight

And I was just about to post "in before x as The Joker" :pac:

I think the Joker character is a bit further down the scale, whereas the OP is suggesting sociopaths... not psychopaths.

Michael Douglas in Falling Down.

JohnFalstaff

Klaus Kinski in Aguirre, Wrath of God.

Actually, Kinski in anything, including real life.

RocketRaccoon

Actually, just had another thought. Malcolm McDowell as Alex in A Clockwork Orange.

Lorelli!

me_irl wrote: »

And I was just about to post "in before x as The Joker" :pac:

I think the Joker character is a bit further down the scale, whereas the OP is suggesting sociopaths... not psychopaths.

Michael Douglas in Falling Down.

Not really suggesting sociopaths or psychopaths particularly or any type of mental illness but just insane characters.

I also liked Bob in the comedy What About Bob? who suffered from an accumulation of phobias and then forms an unusual unwanted relationship with his therapist.

Falling Down was good though!

NIMAN

Ben Kingsley's character in Sexy Beast (forgotten name now), fantastic performance.

If you haven't seen it, check it out.

Edit: Don Logan !!

Lorelli!

NIMAN wrote: »

Ben Kingsley's character in Sexy Beast (forgotten name now), fantastic performance.

If you haven't seen it, check it out.

Edit: Don Logan !!

Yea, he is one my favourites. How he carries on on the plane so that he doesn't have to go home

Mr E

Willem Defoe in... er... anything.

He just has that 'look'.

loyatemu

both Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. "I ate his liver...", "it puts the lotion in the basket" etc...

Lougarden

Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in the Shining and as Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. I love how he portrays unhinged. Also not insane but quirky in as good as it gets as Melvin Udall. Another character who creeped me out and played really well was Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery.

Lorelli!

Lougarden wrote: »

Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in the Shining and as Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. I love how he portrays unhinged. Also not insane but quirky in as good as it gets as Melvin Udall. Another character who creeped me out and played really well was Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery.

And Nurse Ratched. She was freakishly unemotional and cold but always looked like she was seething inside!

Lougarden

Lorelli! wrote: »

And Nurse Ratched. She was freakishly unemotional and cold but always looked like she was seething inside!

She was great in it! soooo cold and such a battleaxe biatch

Bacchus

Annie Wilkes in Misery was a great one. A sort of calm, "I'm not crazy" crazy bubbling right under the surface until she lets loose with a sledgehammer.... and then reverts back to the calm crazy bubbling underneath.

Lorelli!

Lougarden wrote: »

She was great in it! soooo cold and such a battleaxe biatch

I bet you wouldn't say that to her face The look she'd give you

buried

Richard, Dead Mans Shoes

RocketRaccoon

buried wrote: »

Richard, Dead Mans Shoes

Great call, that's a fantastic movie.

Cocksy

Heath Ledger - Joker is the best

Lorelli!

Brad Pitt in Fight Club and he was quite good as Jeffrey in Twelve Monkeys.

Shred

Gary Oldman as Drexl/Stansfield in True Romance/Leon respectively. Both fantastic, especially the former - he was asked recently which character he'd like to go back to and he said Drexl.

brevity

Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men

Maybe not manic enough but definitely insane

homerun_homer

Robert Carlisle as Begbie in Trainspotting. Absolute nut job.

Feck the sequel. I thought it was pants.

Diane Selwyn

Christian Bale in American Psycho - the business card scene is equally hilarious and disturbing

Wombatman

El Duda

My list ranges from full blown insane to subtly unhinged...

Oscar Isaac as Nathan in Ex-Machina

Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery

Angelina Jolie as Lisa in Girl Interrupted

Steve Buscemi as Garland Green in Con Air

Sir Ben Kingsley as Don Logan in Sexy Beast

Jackie Earl Hayley as George Noyce in Shutter Island

Lorelli!

Amon Goeth in Schindlers List. Not sure how true to life the film was but it's interesting. He seems able to be respectful and wants to impress Schindler yet he was capable of being so cruel to Helen. Schindler knows how to humour him and uses it to his advantage though!

Pero_Bueno

Max Zorin in A view to a kill .

Best Bond villian

miss flutter ups

O-Ren Ishii, gogo yubari and elle driver. Kill bill

shoegal1

Stephen the Irishman in Braveheart :P

monster1

Tom hardy - Bronson