Not signed in (Sign In)

Culturegasm: Scariest TV and Movie Gangsters?

Bottom of Page

21 to 40 of 46

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. >
    •  
      CommentAuthorlgenius
    • CommentTimeJul 19th 2011
     (10047.21)
    Ian Mc Shane in Deadwood
  2.  (10047.22)
    Luther Mahoney, from Homicide: life on the street
  3.  (10047.23)
    definitely upping Ian McShane in Deadwood--the scene where he stares down Calamity Jane to get to the little girl is one of the best moments in the show.

    How about Steve Buscemi as Mr. Shh in Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead? Technically an assassin, but an assassin for the mob nonetheless.
    • CommentAuthorIsaacSher
    • CommentTimeJul 19th 2011
     (10047.24)
    Heath Ledger's The Joker in The Dark Knight.

    Harvey Keitel's The Wolf from Pulp Fiction. With this character, it was the fact that he was so precise and understated that made him scary -- he would have absolutely no problem tossing you into the garbage compactor if he felt it was necessary or if you annoyed him.

    David Carradine's Bill and Michael Parks' "Esteban" in "Kill Bill." What made them so scary for me was how quietly seductive they were. They were both so calm and personable, friendly and erudite, that you could easily be lulled into forgetting that they were vicious bastards who maim and kill for fun, profit, and thrill.

    Terrence Stamp's "The Limey".

    My roommate also suggests Edward G. Robinson in general, who was so good at conveying malevolence.
    •  
      CommentAuthorrazrangel
    • CommentTimeJul 19th 2011 edited
     (10047.25)
    Hey @Lazarus99 - I immediately started thinking Jack Nicholson in Scorsese's The Departed. (I haven't gotten to see Infernal Liaisons yet but heard that was brilliant.) I once caught myself describing Nicholson's character in Departed as the Joker if he existed in real life. Heh. As it is, Nicholson's Departed character was based on a real Boston gang boss and apparently was true to form in how maniacal and ruthless he was.

    Oh yeah and definitely Ledger's Joker was terrifying - it's just that I'm not sure it's so much the same when the excitement of watching an evil human-thing do his frightening best overtakes just how scared of him I feel. But the question is for scary, not for "holy crap, wow, he just slammed that stupid guy's head on a pencil! Holy shit!!" then again, when Ledger's Joker set about pitting Gotham against itself "just to watch it burn" that did chill me to the core....
    • CommentAuthorFlabyo
    • CommentTimeJul 19th 2011
     (10047.26)
    Christopher Walken in True Romance was pretty damn creepy. But then, when is Walken not?
    • CommentAuthoricelandbob
    • CommentTimeJul 19th 2011
     (10047.27)


  8.  (10047.28)
    Henry Fonda as Frank in "Once Upon a Time in the West":


    • CommentAuthorFishelle
    • CommentTimeJul 19th 2011
     (10047.29)


    Does Dennis Hooper in Blue Velvet count as a gangster?
    •  
      CommentAuthormister hex
    • CommentTimeJul 19th 2011
     (10047.30)
    TERRENCE. STAMP.

    SUPERMAN TWO.

    KNEEL BEFORE ZOD.

    Also, the Limey. And Priscilla. And did you ever see him when he was young? JESUS.
    •  
      CommentAuthorLazarus99
    • CommentTimeJul 19th 2011
     (10047.31)
    @razrangel

    I definitely meant Heath Ledger's Joker over Jack's. I mean, Jack's was scary, but funny too. Heath's was just terrifying...
    • CommentAuthorrichwilson
    • CommentTimeJul 20th 2011
     (10047.32)
    I always liked Michael Caine in Mona Lisa. There's a scene where he just explodes at Bob Hoskins, says he want's "something, dirty, slimy, nasty, kinky" that is chilling. Hoskins reaction sells it, but Caine is fucking nasty in the kind of role you don't see him play much. Excellent film, too.
    •  
      CommentAuthortaphead
    • CommentTimeJul 20th 2011
     (10047.33)
    Oh, speaking of Caine:

    GET CARTER.
    •  
      CommentAuthorKorakas
    • CommentTimeJul 20th 2011 edited
     (10047.34)
    Surprised no one has mentioned this:

  15.  (10047.35)
    Eric Bana as "Chopper":



    http://youtu.be/eSftS2XK_bM
  16.  (10047.36)
    James Cagney - The Public Enemy and Angels With Dirty Faces
    Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris and William Hurt all get equal billing for A History of Violence
    Gabriel Byrne and Albert Finney - Miller's Crossing
  17.  (10047.37)
    Eric Bana hung out with Chopper Reed while preparing for the role, and wouldn't talk about it afterwards.
  18.  (10047.38)
    Chopper Reed isn't technically a gangster, He's a standover man, and generally is treated by the gangland community as public mental case number one, still, a genuinely terrifying man. I'd forgotten Terrence Stamp in the limey, and of course, Ben Kingsley as Don Logan. I've had the dubious pleasure of knowing someone with exactly the same degree of sociopathy as Don Logan, and quite frankly remembering it makes my guts curl.
  19.  (10047.39)
    I think it's funny that Kingsley based his Don Logan performance on his grandmother.
    • CommentAuthorJigsy Q
    • CommentTimeJul 21st 2011
     (10047.40)
    I know it was a comedy, but Spats from "Some Like it Hot" was pretty evil. He scared me as a kid.

21 to 40 of 46

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. >