Best Insane Film Characters

Lorelli! · 05-12-2017 11:34am #1

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 · 05-12-2017 11:35am

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

RocketRaccoon · 05-12-2017 11:37am

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 · 05-12-2017 11:38am

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 · 05-12-2017 11:40am

Klaus Kinski in Aguirre, Wrath of God.

Actually, Kinski in anything, including real life.

RocketRaccoon · 05-12-2017 11:41am

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

Lorelli! · 05-12-2017 11:47am

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 · 05-12-2017 11:49am

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! · 05-12-2017 11:52am

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 · 05-12-2017 11:59am

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

He just has that 'look'.

loyatemu · 05-12-2017 12:01pm

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

Lougarden · 05-12-2017 12:03pm

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! · 05-12-2017 12:09pm

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 · 05-12-2017 12:20pm

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 · 05-12-2017 12:22pm

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! · 05-12-2017 12:24pm

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 · 05-12-2017 12:24pm

Richard, Dead Mans Shoes

RocketRaccoon · 05-12-2017 12:27pm

buried wrote: »

Richard, Dead Mans Shoes

Great call, that's a fantastic movie.

Cocksy · 05-12-2017 1:46pm

Heath Ledger - Joker is the best

Lorelli! · 05-12-2017 2:49pm

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

Shred · 05-12-2017 3:00pm

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 · 05-12-2017 3:18pm

Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men

Maybe not manic enough but definitely insane

homerun_homer · 05-12-2017 3:21pm

Robert Carlisle as Begbie in Trainspotting. Absolute nut job.

Feck the sequel. I thought it was pants.

Diane Selwyn · 05-12-2017 3:25pm

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

Wombatman · 05-12-2017 3:31pm

El Duda · 05-12-2017 3:36pm

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! · 05-12-2017 5:15pm

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 · 06-12-2017 1:01am

Max Zorin in A view to a kill .

Best Bond villian

miss flutter ups · 06-12-2017 1:09am

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

shoegal1 · 06-12-2017 1:14am

Stephen the Irishman in Braveheart :P

monster1 · 06-12-2017 1:23am

Tom hardy - Bronson

brianregan09 · 06-12-2017 1:41pm

monster1 wrote: »

Tom hardy - Bronson

Literally just came here to post that

Also Woody Harrelson and Juliet Lewis in Natural Born Killers

Lorelli! · 06-12-2017 4:26pm

Jim Carey in The Cable Guy. I heard it was a flop but I really liked that film.

And as Hank in Me Myself and Irene. Poor Charlie

:pac:

Liam McPoyle · 06-12-2017 7:34pm

Michael Rooker as Henry in Portrait of a Serial Killer.

Dead eyed, out and out psychopath.

It's the chilling, understated malevolence that pushes him near the top.

Sid Haig and Bill Moseley as Captain Spaulding and Otis Driftwood respectively in The Devils Rejects.

Treat Williams as Critical Bill in Things to do in Denver When You're Dead. Absolute looper.

I AM GODZILLA

YOU ARE JAPAN!!!!

Tony EH · 07-12-2017 1:13pm

Ralph Fiennes in 'Spider'.

Gwynplaine · 07-12-2017 11:08pm

I have to return some videotapes.

nix · 08-12-2017 12:52am

I had to beat them to death with their own shoes

Nerdlingr · 08-12-2017 12:49pm

Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler.

Lorelli! · 08-12-2017 1:05pm

Scarface aka Tony Montana

ShagNastii · 08-12-2017 4:15pm

I don't know about clinically insane but in terms of being mad b*stard I think Wild Bill from The Green Mile deserves a mention.

DaeryssaOne · 08-12-2017 4:36pm

After the awful news about Kevin Spacey I figured it would be difficult to watch a movie with him in it again, I then accidentally watched two movies in two weeks that I hadn't even know he was even in - Baby Driver and Seven (yes I know I know I've never seen Seven it just really weirdly passed me by all those years ago!).

Anyway to get back on topic I found him really convincing and crazy in Seven and he was also fairly unhinged in Baby Driver (terrible movie though) - such a shame he's a perv when he's such a good actor!