10 Max Cady, Cape Fear

Trust me. You'd rather have some giant psycho clutching a chainsaw in his metal hooked hand than get Maximilian Cady on your ass. Because Max Cady has spent fo'teen years in an eight by nine cell surrounded by people who were less than human. And he spent those years thinking about you and how he can most effectively and joyfully ruin your life. And your sexy daughter, too.

Better to get it over with by means of a jagged, whirring blade to the jugular. At the hands of Cady, you will suffer long and suffer deep. Few things are as menacing as a monster with slicked back hair and greasy, southern charm.

9 Damian, The Omen

He's a boy. No, wait! He's a monster! The fact is, Damian is both and that right there ought to send you screaming for a crucifix. Not that it'll do you any good, sissy. Damian is not a vampire, he's the second coming of Satan himself.

But he comes in the guise of a child and so your human intellect will war with your primitive instincts to flee. You want to nurture and care for the boy and frankly, you just can't imagine being afraid of 40 pound kid with a bad haircut. Then the little bastard levels those baby brown eyes at you and poof! You're up in flames. You had it coming.

8 Norman Bates, Psycho

Norman is one great killer because he's just like you. He's shy to the point of paralysis. Women make him nervous and he's prone to fidgeting. He's tall and lanky and he ain't much to look at.

You make fun of this kind of guy behind his back and the next thing you know, there's a knife in your eye and you're hanging out in the fruit cellar with momma.

7 Freddy Krueger, Nightmare on Elm Street

God save you from a fiend who will mock you even as he tortures your poor ass.

Here is a sleepy time baddy who attacks while you're eyes are closed and your thumb is tucked warmly in your mouth.

His witty one-liners make it over the sound of your screams and he knows what scares you. Put your jammies on and crawl into bed, sucker. Just don't go to sleep.

6 Randall Flagg, The Stand

The Jim Morrison of horror movie villains. The denim coat. The faded jeans and walking boots. But when Flagg says he's the Lizard King, you better not argue with him. He could turn your genitalia into garden fruit just by thinking about it.

His aim is no less than Lordship over the entire planet.

5 All old people, Rosemary's Baby

Yes, the old people collectively make up one fine villain. Sure, they smell like ointment and peppermint candy.

But these back-pained geriatrics have an earnest desire to see through the birth of the Devil and they'll do away with you faster than they put away their morning prune juice.

4 Michael Myers, Halloween

He never runs. He never says a word. He spent 15 years in abject silence just waiting for the night of all nights to arrive. And when it is upon us, Michael Myers will come and he will never break a sweat.

But chillax, my friend. Myers really only wants his sister. If you're not downloading lurid pictures of her on your mac or banging her friends, you'll probably be all right.

Unless you're a German Shepherd. He hates those.

3 Andre Linoge, Storm of the Century

"Give me what I want, and I'll go away."

People, it's just that simple. I won't tell you what the handsome, charming and exquisitely sinister Linoge wants because that's the thrust of this movie you've never seen. But for the love of God, give him what he wants because this dude can make your life miserable. He knows your dirty little secrets. He will kill half a town just to make a point. You don't really know who he is, but this cane-clutching stranger in pea coat, watch cap and deerskin gloves seems to enjoy what he does.

Linoge is such a great villain, I dressed as him for Halloween two years in a row (we have the same nose.) Few people recognized the character but those who did immediately lost control of their bodily functions.

2 Hannibal Lecter, Silence of the Lambs

He's intelligent. He's charming and witty. He'll eat the eyeballs right out of your head. Here is a bad, bad man who doesn't need to do any more than look at you with that wry, knowing smile and utter his chilling prognostications.

We're used to monsters that are bigger and meaner than us, but wiser and more sophisticated? Agent Crawford was right. You don't want this man inside your head.

For pure sinister presence, Hannibal Lecter could easily top any list of top villains. And he'd top this one were it not for:

1 Regan, The Exorcist

She's cute. She has chipmunk cheeks and a quivering chin. Then the Devil gets inside her and suddenly, she's puking on the priest and pissing on the stairs.

No beast from movie or literature past can unnerve me quiet like Regan. You can argue with this choice and say that Regan isn't the real villain here; she's only a vessel for the demon within. To which I say, ha!

Would you babysit her? Or even bring Linda Blair home if she threw herself at you tomorrow?

None for me, thanks. She may be only a hard working actress. But she was once the little girl who did that chilling floaty arm routine and whose tender flesh revealed wounds that opened by themselves. I'd rather contend with any of the horror movie freaks listed above than spend one minute on the same block as cute little Regan or her real world persona.