Top 10 Most Underrated Movie Villains

A tribute to those malicious on screen villains who haven't gotten their due respect. Big budget or small, we acknowledge their efforts to make life for the hero a veritable hell.

10. The Lord of Darkness - Legend. Make-up artists and actor Tim Curry give an Oscar-worthy effort in bringing the Lord of darkness to light. He abducts the last unicorn in order to sacrifice it, thus plunging the world into eternal darkness. If that isn't bad enough, he is also trying to woo the heroine into becoming his bride.

9. The Djinn - Wishmaster. He'll grant any wish, and it only costs you your soul. He's looking to gather enough souls to open a gateway allowing his race to come into our world and plunge it into hell. Andrew Divoff fully embraces his role as the Djinn, and seems to have devilish fun as this cruel, demonic genie. 

8. Mr. Dark - Something Wicked This Way Comes.Ringmaster of an October carnival, Mr. Dark brings to town rides, games, cotton candy, and evil. They arrive to steal souls and enslave townsfolk. Mr. Dark is especially sinister as he looks to enslave two boys and kill one's father. Speaking with a sinister British accent and spawned from William Shakespeare and Ray Bradbury, how could Mr. Dark be anything but diabolical? 

7. Johnny Lawrence - The Karate Kid. No other character embodied the "bully" archetype more than Johnny. Not only was Johnny bigger and stronger than poor Danny, but he was a black belt. Unrelenting in making Danny's life hell, he beat him up nearly every chance he got. If that wasn't bad enough, he is accompanied by four other black belt buddies who enjoyed it just as much. If that still isn't bad enough, his mentor is a crazed ex-Nam Vet teaching him all the worst behaviors, "strike first, strike hard, no mercy."

6. Captain Hook - Hook. Don't let Spielberg's light-hearted children's movie about a sequel to Peter Pan fool you. Captain Hook is as evil as they come. Kidnapping children, brainwashing one against his father, and actually killing a child on screen. Not even Freddy or Jason were that heartless.

5. Edward R. Rooney - Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Not all villains are machete-carrying psychos.  Rooney is an obsessive compulsive school principle and disciplinarian. When word gets out that a student is skipping school, this unrelenting authority figure goes on a city-wide manhunt worthy of Dog the Bounty Hunter. 

4. John Doe - Se7en. While not offering a high body count, his depraved acts of carnage and murder make him one of the most chilling villains going. His calm demeanor and quiet voice betray the unholy beast within. And he does this all in the name of the Lord.

3. Clubber Lang - Rocky III. Clubber was from start to finish a complete menace. The only one in six films to ever score a K.O. on Balboa. He even kills Rocky's manager Mick. This was Mr. T. at his best. Every line he delivered is pure villainous gold. He is intimidating and evil in his unrelenting quest for the title and respect.

2. Dr. Decker - Nightbreed. Just another mask-wearing psychopath you ask? Sure, unless you forget this psycho hunts monsters. Nightbreed offers a cornucopia of monsters, some vile, some sympathetic, but it's David Cronenberg's eerie restraint that up's the creep factor on this character. Not content with merely killing families, Decker wants to prove he's more monster than those that dwell in Midian. Ohh yeah, he's also a clinical psychiatrist. Go figure.

1. The Kurgan - Highlander. A favorite among sci-fi fantasy geeks, The Kurgan has all the qualities of a good on screen villain, yet you can't help but love him. Centuries old, he does not wait for the time of the gathering. He quests for the heads of the immortals from the beginning, looking to steal their power and become master of the universe. Deliciously played by Clancy Brown, he is creepy, sinister, imposing, and deranged. Don't forget what Ramirez said, he tosses babies to hungry dogs.