mistertim Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 11 minutes ago, TradeTheBeal! said: I’m sorry but I like my “psychos” a little bit more exciting to watch than Javier Bardem doing his German Shepherd face for two hours with the stupidest wig in cinema history. Yall are boring as hell. I think that's highlighting some of the differences between a "primary" and "secondary" psychopath. Secondary psychopaths (ASPD) tend to be much more interesting on film. Volatile, bad tempers, impulsive, self-destructive, violent. That's your Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet or Joe Pesci as Tommy in Goodfellas. Primary psychopaths are the ones you don't know about because they're very calculating and are often good at mimicking human emotion and empathy. Most of them aren't violent either, because it's usually not necessary,...but they'd feel nothing if they thought they had to hurt or kill someone for whatever reason. Empathy and remorse are things they simply aren't wired for. Sort of like someone being color blind. So yeah, primary psychopaths are sometimes a bit more boring on film, but IMO they're at least as scary as someone with more overt ASPD. At least with that ASPD person you know they're volatile and what sets them off. With the primary psychopath when you meet them they might be planning on shaking your hand and chatting with you or they might be planning on killing you, and you'd have absolutely no way of knowing which it is. I think Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman said it well in American Psycho: "There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman. Some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me. Only an entity. Something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours, and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable, I simply am not there." 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CobraCommander Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Honorary mention the the three kids that played Kevin in "We Need to Talk About Kevin". **** that kid was creepy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoCommiesGo Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 11 minutes ago, Jabbyrwock said: Javier Bardem is the winner !?! What people think is a psychopath and what is a real psychopath are very different. The question probably should have been, who played the best sadistic movie villain. That's matching up much better with the answers everyone is giving. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 12 minutes ago, Captain Wiggles said: And yeah De Niro plays great psychos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistertim Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 5 minutes ago, GoCommiesGo said: What people think is a psychopath and what is a real psychopath are very different. The question probably should have been, who played the best sadistic movie villain. That's matching up much better with the answers everyone is giving. Yeah, IMO another good example of a psychopath from film who is more realistic and isn't a violent hothead is Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. Superficially charming, manipulative, calculating, no empathy or remorse, little to no fear or anxiety. The epitome of the "Corporate Psychopath". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Nonsense Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsmarydu Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 (edited) Robin Williams in One Hour Photo or Insomnia. Stellar performances. Edit, add: Gary Oldman in damn near anything. The Book of Eli was particularly creepy. Edited June 1, 2022 by skinsmarydu 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 In case anyone is interested lol... Anton Chigurh from 'No Country for Old Men' voted "most realistic psychopath ever" https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/anton-chigurh-no-country-for-old-men-most-realistic-psychopath/ "...forensic psychiatrist Samuel Leistedt names the performance as the most realistic depiction of the mental illness in all of cinema. “They don’t know what an emotion is,” the psychiatrist stated in a real-life study that led Leistedt and his colleague Paul Linkowski to spend three years watching 400 movies in search of the most realistic depiction of psychopaths in cinema. Reporting that depictions of psychopaths have gotten more realistic over time, Leistedt and Linkowski reported in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, modern versions provide a “compelling glimpse into the complex human psyche”. Noting No Country for Old Men as containing the very best portrayal, the psychiatrist recognised that the character “does his job and he can sleep without any problems. In my practice I have met a few people like this”. Making a real-life comparison to two professional hitmen that he had previously interviewed, Leistedt stated that Chigurh reminds him of such a mental state, adding, “They were like this: cold, smart, no guilt, no anxiety, no depression”. With his own twisted set of morals, Chigurh kills without purpose or mercy, representing an insidious phantom of modern America who stalks the land with genuine psychopathic tendencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySkinsFan Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 One I forgot from 1982 Vice Squad, Wings Hauser as Ramrod, a real bad ass. Hauser is the father of Cole Hauser. I've been following this acting family for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 57 minutes ago, Metalhead said: Gary Oldman in Leon: The Professional. Never saw the film. But I've seen him in a few clips and it sure looks like a performance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 (edited) I'm pretty fascinated with movie psychopaths for some reason...seeing "We Need To Talk About Kevin" and "One Hour Photo" listed got me thinking of lesser known characters I thought were done well, although they may not be clinical psychopaths but something definitely off with all of them (you can guess the movies for ****s and giggles lol): Can I also say that Michael Rooker has creeped me the **** out in every role he's done since seeing him in this movie lol... Edited June 1, 2022 by Califan007 The Constipated 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purbeast Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, FuriousD said: Javier Bardem - No Country for Old men Him and his CO2 tank... Cold, calculated and creepy AF! Read an article somewhere (may have been on here) saying that his portrayal of a psychopath is the best one in the history of Hollywood. It was written by a psychiatrist I believe. EDIT: Quick google search brings up a bunch of articles about it. Here is one. https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/movies/psychiatrists-studied-400-movies-to-find-the-most-realistic-psychopath-here-are-their-6-key-takeaways/slidelist/62342046.cms EDIT 2: Jesus christ I was beat by about 489032843 people. Edited June 1, 2022 by purbeast 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistertim Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 11 minutes ago, Califan007 The Constipated said: I'm pretty fascinated with movie psychopaths for some reason...seeing "We Need To Talk About Kevin" and "One Hour Photo" listed got me thinking of lesser known characters I thought were done well, although they may not be clinical psychopaths but something definitely off with all of them (you can guess the movies for ****s and giggles lol): This is another great one. Rosamund Pike as Amy in Gone Girl. Definitely a psychopath. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsmarydu Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Oh...and Edward Norton in Primal Fear. The scene near the end where Richard Gere "gets it" is absolutely bonkers, I damn near lost my own mind. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskinss Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Surprised nobody has brought up heath ledgers joker. Too cliché? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Is it just a coincidence that almost every psychopath listed on this thread gets away with their crimes? Does that make the character more memorable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistertim Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 3 minutes ago, redskinss said: Surprised nobody has brought up heath ledgers joker. Too cliché? His Joker was one of the best villains in movie history, but I think the thing for me with that character was that I thought of him more as a force of nature than an actual human being with a past (which I think is sort of what they were going for since they gave him no backstory). So less a human psychopath and more an anthropomorphic personification of chaos (which he even basically says in the hospital scene). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsmarydu Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 2 minutes ago, Califan007 The Constipated said: Is it just a coincidence that almost every psychopath listed on this thread gets away with their crimes? Does that make the character more memorable? Aileen didn't. I read about her in a book a couple of decades ago, but Charlize Theron brought her to life. That was really weird. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsfan4128 Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 3 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsmarydu Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 I don't want to spoil, but everyone should see Karen Black (as the psycho) and Bette Davis in Burnt Offerings. I saw it as a kid in the theater, and it freaks me out to this day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySkinsFan Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Yes, the Talented Mr. Ripley. Plus Robert Walker playing Bruno Antony in Strangers on a Train. A ripping story by Patricia Highsmith who also wrote the story The Talented Mr. Ripley and others including The Price of Salt made into the movie Carol about Lesbians (no psychopaths). I read The Price of Salt a long time ago, it's one of the several books that helped me realize the real me. Here's the trailer for Strangers on a Train. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purbeast Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 39 minutes ago, mistertim said: His Joker was one of the best villains in movie history, but I think the thing for me with that character was that I thought of him more as a force of nature than an actual human being with a past (which I think is sort of what they were going for since they gave him no backstory). So less a human psychopath and more an anthropomorphic personification of chaos (which he even basically says in the hospital scene). As far as psychopaths go, I'd say Joaquin Phoenix's depiction of Joker is "better" than Ledgers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 (edited) Deleted. The goal was to avoid politics. Edited June 1, 2022 by Larry 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySkinsFan Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Just now, Larry said: And, best actor to play the next psycho? He certainly come close! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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