Image via Paramount
We know the femme fatale archetype well: She’s sexy, cunning, lights out smart, and probably a stone cold murderer who’ll happily kill you dead. She’s the successful magazine editor who takes an obsessive interest in a male colleague, or the survivor hell-bent on retribution for the crimes against her (real or imagined). She’s skilled at using her sexuality to lure in her victims, and she’ll get what she wants if it means it kills you both, god damn it. She’s the black widow of film noir, and she’s one of the greatest figures in pop culture, from its earliest beginnings to present day.
Femme fatales hold a certain power onscreen; they captivate us with their prowess, and there's almost certainly an element of enchanting beauty to reel us into whatever scheme or plot they're hatching. Cinema's history is rich with dangerous female antagonists, be it Pussy Galore (the best Bond girl, played by Honor Blackman) in 1964's Goldfinger, or an apathetic Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) in Michael Lehmann's 1988 cult classic Heathers. But there's something especially compelling when a woman goes from "dangerous" to straight up psychotic—when her actions move beyond reasonable vengeance and into pure madness. These women are the ones who have made an impact long after the film stops rolling.
To trim the list of crazy femme fatales was tough, but we think these are the seven ladies who outdo them all, and rock psychotic like its going out of style.
Amy Dunne
Movie: Gone Girl
Director: David Fincher
Stars: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris
Psychopath Rating: 🔪🔪🔪🔪
Rosamund Pike was so peak psycho as Amy Dunne that Rob Kardashian referenced her to drag his sister Kim, describing her in an Instagram post as “the bitch from Gone Girl.” The ubiquity of David Fincher’s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel has likely familiarized even those who haven’t watched the film with its most basic plot points. After the disappearance of Amy (Pike), the wife of Nick Dunne (played by an impressively vacuous Ben Affleck), an investigation leads police to suspect foul play. And with good reason! Literally every admissible piece of evidence points to Dunne, who’s depicted in Amy’s own journal as a controlling, abusive partner. The thing is, it's all a ruse, set up by Amy herself. This psychopath constructed the perfect murder to frame her husband for his crime of being the Wonder Bread of domestic partners, and Pike’s performance as a malevolent woman unhinged earned her award nominations across the board.
While we’re here, hat tip to Return to Sender—yet another psychological thriller about a woman scorned—which solidified Rosamund Pike as one of the greatest actresses to ever play batshit crazy.
Alex Forrest
Movie: Fatal Attraction
Director: Adrian Lyne
Stars: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer
Psychopath Rating: 🔪🔪🔪
The seminal femme fatale of the ‘80s, Glenn Close delivers a heavy dose of psychopathy in one of her most memorable roles as Fatal Attraction's thirsty AF antagonist. Lest you’ve been living under a rock and have yet to watch our girl invent new uses for a kitchen knife, I strongly advise that you hit up your preferred streaming service to watch this ASAP. Close plays Alex, a magazine publisher and extramarital side piece to Dan (Michael Douglas), who is “happily” married with a young daughter. Alex becomes increasingly persistent in vying for Dan’s affection, going so far to claim she’s pregnant, abducting his daughter from her elementary school, and doing otherwise super murder-y things that should have been enough for Dan to cut and run. But because he is a man, he does not. Rather, he attacks Alex in her apartment, nearly drowning her in her own bathtub. In full bitch gone wild form, Alex reanimates with a vengeance, knife still in her grip. There are two endings to this film. Watch both of them.
Annie Wilkes
Movie: Misery
Director: Rob Reiner
Stars: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth
Psychopath Rating: 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
No one has earned their place on this list quite like Kathy Bates, a national treasure who we must protect at all costs. Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) is the biggest fangirl of Paul Sheldon (James Caan), a writer of romance novels. After Sheldon endures a near-fatal accident, breaking two legs and dislocating a shoulder, Wilkes manages to scoop him up and take him to her reclusive home, where she nurses him back to health on the pretext that she’s called for help. As with any good Kathy Bates-led villain, there's something more sinister brewing just below her Good Samaritan facade. Soon enough, Annie becomes enraged with the fatality of Shelton’s most recent protagonist in his newest novel Misery. She forces him to destroy the script, ultimately placing his life in peril should he refuse to rewrite a story with an ending of her own design.
When seeking a Bates-level thriller, tread lightly. There are spine-chilling (read: literal bone-crushing) scenes in this one to haunt your dreams forever. But Kathy Bates delivers as always in a psychopathic role for the ages.
Hedra Carlson
Movie: Single White Female
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Stars: Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Steven Weber
Psychopath Rating: 🔪🔪🔪🔪
Nothing screams crazy quite like stealing the identity of your roommate and casually fucking their significant other (it was technically a blowjob, but semantics). Such is the premise of this iconic thriller, which follows a troubled woman (a young Jennifer Jason Leigh!) who takes an obsessive interest in her new roommate Allie (Bridget Fonda) after answering an ad for an apartment. This film has all the makings of a cult classic: lonely introvert with a sordid, mysterious past, the backdrop of a major metropolitan city, and attractive, successful young people who are all surely going to die. Jennifer Jason Leigh is fabulous opposite Bridget Fonda, and you’ll be hooked right up until the film’s final moments.
Tip: If you're dying for more after watching Single White Female, try The Roommate, its contemporary remake starring a wicked Leighton Meester.
Catherine Tramell
Movie: Basic Instinct
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Stars: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza
Psychopath Rating: 🔪🔪🔪🔪
If there’s anything to be learned from this list, it’s that Michael Douglas has terrible taste in women. Starring opposite a painfully sexy Sharon Stone as Catherine, Douglas finds himself lured by yet another cunning and beautiful woman with a penchant for murder. While Basic Instinct will keep you on your toes right up until the credits, that iconic, scandalous leg-crossing scene that flashes Stone’s vagina is enough to make anyone sweat. Stone plays a bisexual novelist with a coke habit and predilection for true crime and murder scenes, as one does. Douglas plays the detective, Nick Curran, investigating her—both in and out of the bedroom (never fuck a writer!). The game of cat-and-mouse is too juicy to reveal here, but let’s just say that Catherine is a wolf in some very expensive stilettos, which is goals AF honestly.
Madison Bell
Movie: Swimfan
Director: John Polson
Stars: Jesse Bradford, Erika Christensen, Shiri Appleby
Psychopath Rating: 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
Remember Jesse Bradford, beloved heartthrob of the early aughts? Consider this film one of his finest (we’re talking peak Jesse Bradford as a popular varsity swimmer with an affinity for buxom blondes). Also starring in her greatest role to date, Erika Christensen (homicidal side piece suits you well!) stars as Madison, a shy but beautiful musician with whom fellow student Ben Cronin (Bradford) develops a friendship. Following an evening during which the two have a one-night stand in their high school gym’s swimming pool (which, gross), Madison begins an obsessive barrage of requests for Ben’s attention via calls, email, and instant messages. Because this is a teen drama with few unforeseen surprises, Madison turns out to be out of her fucking mind. But the plot twist at the end makes nearly 60 minutes of teen hormones somewhat tolerable. I highly recommend it if you’re interested in reconnecting with your AIM roots.
Lisa
Movie: Girl, Interrupted
Director: James Mangold
Stars: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy, Elisabeth Moss
Psychopath Rating: 🔪🔪
Angelina Jolie, quite possibly the progenitor of accessorizing with human blood on a red carpet, joins this list for her role in Girl, Interrupted, a dark comedy about being a woman during the mid-20th century (kidding). Jolie stars opposite Winona Ryder in this adaptation of Susanna Kaysen's 1993 memoir, which recounts her 18-month admission to a psychiatric hospital. While Susanna (Ryder) and her fellow Claymoore charges (Brittany Murphy and Elisabeth Moss among them) all suffer their own mental illnesses, Jolie’s character is diagnosed a straight up sociopath—and a really, really convincing one to boot. Set against the backdrop of the radical tail end of the 1960s, Susanna and Lisa (Jolie) forge a friendship within the walls of the ward. But when the two escape and Lisa’s emotional manipulation results in the death of their friend, a former patient at Claymoore, Susanna realizes she’s made a dire mistake.
Jolie’s been cast too frequently in manic, hyper-sexualized roles. But this one is truly unforgettable—a must-see in the realm of iconic female antagonists.