9 great female villains.

Most villains lists I see are very testosterone centric. But the fairer sex has given us its share of hissable bad persons, look below for the customary countdown. SPOILER POSSIBILITY

1) Nurse Ratched, One flew over The Cuckoo's nest

Calm and serene on the surface, sadistic bitch underneath. A terrific performance by Louise Fletcher that almost upstages Nicholson in his best performance and you'll never want a mental patient to strangle his nurse as much as this again.

2) Bridget Gregory, The Last Seduction

There are enough femme fatale's from the black and white days, but 90's incarnation Bridget Gregory is the one to stay with you. Turning what is a standard pot-boiler neo-noir into a modern classic just by the strength of her performance, Linda Fiorentino deserved a much better career on the evidence of this.

3) Mitsuko, Battle Royale

In real life Mitsuko would probably have all 67 beanie babies and posters of Zac Efron on her wall, yet in Battle Royale she is a mousy badass and is quite possibly the most memorable thing in this Pinnacle of high-concept exploitation.

4) The Queen, Snow White and the seven dwarfs

Snow White is some scary shit. Mostly thanks to the Queen, who you will remember long into you're adulthood. One of the oldest female villains, but still one of the best.

5) Ms Danvers, Rebecca

Not in the film that much, but makes the most of it when she is. As immensely devoted as she is immensely insane, gives the ghost of Rebecca a living, breathing embodiment.

6) Suzanne Stone, To Die for

Another uber-bitch who only cares about her own success, and will do anything to get it. Not original then, but this is a prime example of how good it can be when you do an old thing well.

7) Tracy Flick, Election

Interestingly Election is written by a man, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Tracy represents the male fear of the successful woman, our fear of being surpassed both intellectually and academically thus starting the feminisation of society. That's why female over-achiever's are always such bitches in movies.

8) Ms Robinson, The Graduate

A bit of a stretch, but toward the end of the film she is the antagonist so in your face. A terrific performance by Anne Bancroft and much more memorable the then younger but considerably blander Katherine Ross.

9) Myra Langtry, The Grifters

I wasn't the biggest fan of the Grifters, but Annette Bening really did stand out in a career making performance as a crazy whore bitch. To continue our feminism for dummies theme, she quantifies the male fear of the sexual woman, who dares to enjoy sex and use it for her own ends. Only men are supposed to do that dammit!