Movie Villainess 101 Rank #51

On April 13, 2026April 15, 2026 By Action Girl BooksIn Movie Villainess 101

Movie

Tick Tock (2000)

Most films in the 1990s and 2000s that featured lesbians had them be villainesses, and this twisty thriller is no exception. Tick Tock has a novel storytelling mechanic: a plot twist, time rewinds to an earlier point, and we witness events from another character’s perspective. The result is a cleverly evolving story set in Bakersfield, California.

Rachel Avery is a trophy wife to the domineering Holden (David Dukes), and her best friend and lover Carla is a scheming photographer. Initially, the theme appears to be blackmail, as Carla sets Rachel up with a guy named Travis Brewer (Linden Ashby). He demands money to keep the kinky snapshots secret, but doesn’t realise the two women are in cahoots to murder Holden and frame Travis for the crime.

Extra players are revealed through flashbacks, including a private detective whom Holden hires to follow Rachel and identify her secret lover. This is a ploy by the scheming women, who use the PI to create an alibi for Rachel while Carla commits the murder. She does the deed fully nude except for surgical gloves, which is an inventive way to keep blood off her clothes. The unusual murder weapon is an ivory tusk Rachel tricks Travis into handling.

The detective has an appointment at Holden’s place, where he’s supposed to discover the body. Rachel and Carla gloat in the restroom over successfully duping the two men. But like all brilliant plans, the diabolical murder plot comes apart in the middle act.

Villainesses

Rachel Avery (Megan Ward), Carla (Kristin Minter)

Carla is the planner and drives the most important events. Rachel is more reluctant, even though she will inherit her husband’s money. When the detective misses his intended appointment and Travis discovers Holden’s body, the fall guy cleans up the murder scene. Carla repeatedly claims, “This is even better than we planned” every time something goes wrong. And a lot does, so get ready to hear those words a lot.

Rachel and Carla have a narrow miss when they recover the corpse and get pulled over by a deputy sheriff. Rachel passes an alcohol test with Carla watching – in true smoking, femme fatale fashion – and the lovers keep the faulty trunk closed. Unfortunately for them, their joy is short-lived when they find the Avery residence occupied by Holden’s daughter Anne, who’s introduced by… another time rewind.

Rachel becomes increasingly stressed and angry as the plan falls apart. She abandons the frame-up plot when she sees Carla seduce Travis at a remote cabin. Then, an enraged Rachel knocks Travis out with a shovel. Things go downhill when Carla finds the dead body has fallen out of the trunk. Who said murder was easy?

While Rachel finds the missing cadaver, she runs into the private detective – now hired by Anne to investigate Holden’s disappearance – and he detains her. Carla comes racing to the rescue and runs down the pesky PI at high speed.

When the schemers attempt to frame Travis again, he’s ready and waiting with a revolver. Carla feigns an argument to gain the advantage, but Rachel’s patience with her co-conspirator runs out and she shoots Carla fatally in the chest. The finale has Rachel escorting the handcuffed Travis through the woods at gunpoint, only to find the gun she stole from the detective is faulty.

After a chase and struggle, Rachel bashes Travis’ head in with a shovel. However, the dying man freed himself from the handcuffs and secured her ankle to his wrist. Thus, the conniving murderess dies alone in a secluded woodland area. The epilogue features a news report that names Travis as a suspect in Rachel’s kidnapping. Months – or maybe years – later, the last shot shows undiscovered skeletal remains.

Honourable Mentions: Lesbians

Hourglass (1995) – Dara Jensen (Sofia Shinas), Kami (Colette O’Connell)

Another psycho-lesbian pairing, Dara and Kami are the highlight of this terrible thriller. C. Thomas Howell plays fashion mogul Michael Jardine (no connection to the detective from the Scottish TV series Taggart), who’s as unlikable as they come. Not good when we have to cope with his insane rants and crass attitude for the entire duration. Trust me – you’ll root for the mysterious villainess who murders everyone in his life.

The film borders on unwatchable with dull boardroom segments, difficult to follow dialogue, and bizarre sequences. This includes a house party where people dance around Jardine’s father as he sleeps on a life-support machine.

Dara is a scheming murderess skilled in martial arts, with a varied wig collection that comes in handy for her many disguises. Highlights include her sparring with Jardine in a health centre, the opening strangulation of his wife during sex at the beach, and a knife attack on a business associate. Jardine’s brother is also on Dara’s list, but that murder happens off screen.

If this antihero jerk weren’t so busy scolding his associates, he might spot the obvious killers in his midst. Assistant Kami reveals her treachery during the denouement, and Dara beats up her enemy while she taunts him about all the people she’s killed. The choreography is amateurish, but the scene is interesting enough to include as an honourable mention.

Jardine takes out Kami by throwing her off a balcony, but Dara survives, and he ends up in prison plotting revenge. Hard to feel any sympathy for the guy, so her Pyrrhic victory is welcome.

Listen (1996) – Krista Barron (Sarah Buxton)

Only one lesbian psycho this time, though any 1990s movie buff will suspect Krista for that reason alone. She’s the friend and on/off lover of Sarah Ross (Brooke Langton), a woman who enjoys listening to phone sex conversations via crossed telephone wires. Then she discovers one man she’s been eavesdropping on lives in her apartment building, and local women are being murdered. The serial killer collects earrings from the victims and could be someone in Sarah’s life.

Suspects include a sinister co-tenant named Randy Wilkes and her boyfriend, Jake Taft. Wilkes threatens Sarah after she shares her suspicions with the police, and Jake watches violent videos in a seedy screening room. He’s really into female mutilation, and waves his hands like an orchestra conductor as classical music plays for added effect. There’s also the weird apartment manager who has photos of women plastered over his bedroom wall… but he commits suicide after being falsely accused.

The finale is a double dose of fake suspect reveals and fatal shootings. Wilkes attacks Sarah and refuses to stop, even when the police show up. Then Jake acts all threatening, only for Krista to blow him away. This is part of the villainess’ frame-up plot, and she plants evidence to incriminate the dead boyfriend. With the competition all deceased, Krista now how Sarah to herself.

Compulsion (2024) – Evie (Anna-Maria Sieklucka), Diana (Charlotte Kirk)

Two dangerous women in love, while a female psycho slices up male victims. Is there a connection? Set in sunny Malta and directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent), this steamy thriller has a poor reputation, but earns an extended honourable mention for its gory murders, stylish masked killer, and an insane action-packed finale.

The opening scene sets the tone. An intruder breaks into a luxury home by climbing a drainpipe and slashes a naked man taking a shower. Dubbed the “Maltese Phantom” (get it?), the leather-clad killer in a lace hood leaves no forensic traces.

Two female neighbours come under police suspicion. Evie despises her wealthy stepfather, but is happy to live in his house with hi-tech security systems and a collection of Japanese swords. Diana befriends her to get close while she plans a heist and double-cross with her boyfriend, Reese (Zach McGowan). The opening half is slow-going and dialogue-heavy, with awkward voyeurism and uninspired erotica. Then the Phantom stabs a taxi driver who sexually harassed Evie… through the mouth with a katana.

Desperate for money, Reese gets aggressive with Diana, who stabs him with scissors. Her girlfriend enters the fray with a kitchen knife, and they attack together. A chaotic scene unfolds over five minutes, with over thirty attacks on the unarmed but resilient male. It’s almost comical as he crawls along the floor, refusing to die. When Reese finally goes down, Diana pauses for a smoke. Except he’s not dead, so the blood-drenched women continue their frenzied assault.

To dispose of the evidence, the murderers burn their clothes, strip naked, and bathe. A crude excuse for lesbian sex, and the women don’t seem worried by the brutal murder they committed. We get it: they’re psychos.

A pool attendant sees the couple dump the body, so he blackmails them. A stupid idea, and the killer slits his throat in a nightclub toilet. We learn Diana is a copycat who killed the cabbie to get Evie arrested and lure the rich stepfather to the island. Then she finds a severed female head in her fall girl’s luggage. Because Evie is the real Maltese Phantom, who wore a red wig at the club to frame Diana. Convoluted, but with two female assassins in leather, who’s complaining?

In a frantic climax, the treacherous women fight each other. Black-garbed Evie is an agile killer, dodging gun and sword attacks. She doesn’t hesitate to kill her stepfather, who chose this unfortunate moment to arrive. Diana needs his retina scan to unlock a hidden safe. Actually, she only needs his eyeball, which she cuts out. In the aftermath, crazy Evie ends up in hospital, while Diana sails off with the stolen money.

Movie Villainess 101 Rank #52

On April 13, 2026April 15, 2026 By Action Girl BooksIn Movie Villainess 101

*This treacherous beauty doesn’t like to share*

Movie

Der Clown: Payday (2005)

A continuation of the German television series of the same name, about a clown-masked vigilante taking on criminals above the law. Admittedly, I’m not familiar with the original material, but newcomers will appreciate the abridged intro outlining the key players. The native German audio is far superior to the English dub, but even basic language skills suffice since the film is an all-action affair.

After his former girlfriend and partner was killed by hockey-masked thieves, Max Hecker (aka the Clown) gave up his crusade and became a mall security guard. This is not purely remorse, as Max spies on the hiding spot where the big bad stashed stolen documents. Should the villain ever return, the Clown has his old mask and a small arsenal of weapons ready to exact vengeance.

The robbers turn the tables early and inform a reporter about an upcoming heist. This leads to the first of many action sequences, where we’re introduced to the villainess Mona. The masked female has a prominent role, gunning down police officers as her crew raids an armoured truck. The gang leader is a guy named Zorbek, but Mona is evidently his number two. Their true target is not the van, but the reporter lady, who’s the sister of the murdered woman the Clown wishes to avenge.

So begins a deadly game of cat and mouse, centred around a daring plot to steal gold bullion from a reserve vault. The pace rarely drops, which is good because this is not a movie to overthink. There are many ludicrous situations where suspension of disbelief is required. Perhaps having the hero wear a clown mask is a hint not to take things that seriously.

Villainess

Mona (Xenia Seeberg)

The villainess carries out the opening robbery wearing a hockey mask with narrow eye slits. It’s a great unisex all-black outfit, and if Mona weren’t shown masking up, it could have been a pleasant surprise female reveal. She’s a bloodthirsty lunatic and happily drops a grenade into heavy traffic to cause a massive Autobahn pileup. The effects team goes overboard, and police cars fly at all angles through dense smoke.

When things settle down – just a little – Mona shows a romantic interest in a fellow robber, a hunk who should know better than to mess with Zorbek’s lieutenant. The action is relentless and becomes even more intense when the heroes assault the villain’s base. They’re holed up in a swimming pool / leisure centre, an excuse to have a vehicle crash through the window and make a loud splash.

Xenia Seeberg also played a villainess in the action comedy Schwarz & McMurphy (2001) (also known as Die Großstadt-Sheriffs). Another tough henchwoman, but I’ve only seen clips and not the entire film, which is notoriously hard to find. Thankfully, we have Der Clown to make up for that loss.

Mona wears a black leather jacket, impractical high heels, and a short skirt. Her weapon of choice is an automatic rifle, which she loves to fire at every opportunity. And there are lots of opportunities, notably when she and Zorbek return to the mall to recover the documents. In a deadly game of hide and seek, Mona patrols the concourse and taunts the masked hero. And plenty of glass breaks in the crossfire that follows.

The stolen plans are essential to Zorbek’s scheme. The gold reserve’s access point is underwater and requires the villains to breach a dam with explosives. Despite the onsite military personnel, the thieves gain access with ease. It’s a shame that Mona doesn’t wear scuba gear, though. Mona is a woman who loves gold, perhaps too much from the way she runs her gloved hand over the stacked ingots. Think there’s a betrayal coming?

Time for more action set pieces. First up is a highway chase with the reporter woman strapped to a truck grille. The Clown pulls off a daring high-speed rescue with the help of his helicopter pilot assistant. Zorbek and Mona get frustrated with the vigilante hero, as he effortlessly dodges gunfire and explosions that would kill any normal person.

The finale takes place at an airfield as the villains attempt to escape on a gold-laden cargo plane. Actually, Mona and her lover robber decide to abandon Zorbek, but the guy should know better than to trust a woman in black leather. The fool gets a fatal lesson when Mona guns him down to claim his share of the loot.

There’s a long chase with Mona in the aircraft cockpit, laughing crazily as she orders the pilot to ram the reporter’s car. The villainess outlasts Zorbek, who’s seen off when the clown throws him from a helicopter. Just when Mona thinks she’s escaped, the hero dumps a stack of gold ingots onto the cargo plane. This triggers a fuel explosion, and the occupants are engulfed in flames.

Honourable Mentions: Treacherous Robbers

Wedlock (1991) – Noelle (Joan Chen)

Vaguely set “sometime in the future”, this sci-fi thriller moves at a snippy pace and offers an over the top, psychotic backstabber of a villainess. Frank Warren (Rutger Hauer) is an electronics expert betrayed by his partners, Sam and Noelle, after a diamond heist. Unfortunately for them, Frank stashes the loot beforehand and is transferred to a low-security unisex prison. No guards are needed because the inmates are fitted with Wedlock collars, which explode when separated from their partner by more than a hundred yards.

The early portion plays out like a typical prison thriller, and Frank falls foul of the local thugs. Scheming Warden Holliday wants the diamonds and puts Frank in solitary when he doesn’t co-operate. In this place, that means sensory deprivation in a sealed tank, but the anti-hero is a tough nut to crack. Not one to give up, Holliday allies with Sam and Noelle and hires Frank’s Wedlock partner Tracy (Mimi Rogers) to stage a dramatic getaway.

As expected, the central gimmick comes into play. Frank and Tracy have many near misses where they end up separated, but return within the distance limit just in time. Sam and Noelle assist the escapees, hoping Frank will lead them to the loot. The villains corner the fugitives in a brewery and eliminate Frank’s friend to remind us they’re dangerous psychos. Noelle shoots the wounded Sam purely for thrills and a greater share of the take.

Being an electronics whiz, Frank defuses the collars before the finale. Which is handy because Holliday has a remote detonator to blow them up whenever he chooses. Instead, it’s the warden and Noelle who fall victim to their own treachery since Frank plants the bombs on them instead.

Reindeer Games (2000) – Ashley / Millie (Charlize Theron)

A Christmas heist thriller with far too many plot twists, Reindeer Games starts off intriguing but becomes a mess by the climax. On the upside, Charlize Theron stars in an early villain role, and playing a cold-hearted bitch is her forte.

Convicted felon Rudy (Ben Affleck) and his cellmate Nick are two days from release when Nick is stabbed during a prison riot. Against his better judgement, Rudy assumes Nick’s identity and gets romantically involved with the dead man’s pen pal, Ashley. A bad idea, because Ashley’s brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise) shows up and forces Rudy to assist with a casino heist. The dangerous psychos want “Nick” to provide insider knowledge, so the impersonator must improvise to keep himself alive.

Ashley seems to be a timid and vulnerable woman, but this is all an act, and she reveals herself to be Gabriel’s girlfriend and not his sibling. The heist – when it finally happens – is a complete disaster. The Santa-suited crew are amateurs who’ve never committed a robbery, the inside info is bogus, and the body count high. Ashley arrives after things get messy, now in full-on villainess mode. She’s an equal partner to Gabriel, who gives the gang orders and is just as psychotic.

It’s then revealed that Nick faked his death and orchestrated the whole thing. His master plan: go to prison for two years, set up an unknown felon with Millie, and hope his patsy remembers their late-night chats about casino security. Why not forgo the prison sentence and hire a professional heist team? Because we need a final act twist, and it doesn’t matter how ludicrous it is.

Charlize Theron has some decent moments to make this tosh bearable, such as shooting Gabriel in cold blood. There’s also a satisfying demise where Rudy hot-wires a car and rams the treacherous Millie off a cliff.

Movie Villainess 101 Rank #53

On April 13, 2026April 15, 2026 By Action Girl BooksIn Movie Villainess 101

*This Russian sharpshooter has an old foe in her sights*

Movie

Last Run (2001)

This post-Cold War spy thriller is as routine as they come, but still offers action aplenty. And the primary antagonist, Kerlov, is a deadly Russian sniper and mistress of disguise rolled into one. Frank Banner (Armand Assante) is a former extraction specialist who led a failed mission during the last days of the Soviet Union. A fellow agent – his wife – was killed during that operation, so Banner is not eager about returning to the field. That’s until an ex-colleague falls victim to the nemesis sniper, giving Banner the opportunity for payback.

Get used to dead bodies, because many supporting characters – and a high percentage of the main cast – bite the dust. All the spy tropes are in force: items concealed in bibles (twice!), ambiguous motives, shifting allegiances, and impersonations. Any espionage fan will feel right at home. Except for the sniper (who goes missing for the entire middle act), the villains are forgettable. Middlemen in suits and a politician seen only on TV are hardly formidable opposition.

Banner’s mission to extract former KGB agent Bukarin (Jürgen Prochnow) takes him from Austria to Ukraine, with attractive scenery along the way. A pleasant distraction while we wait for Kerlov’s return, and lots of potential vantage points for a lurking sniper. Camera shots of high windows and church steeples suggest an imminent attack. These are bluffs, and the grand confrontation doesn’t happen until the last ten minutes.

Villainess

Kerlov (Viki Kiss, Edit Illés)

No mistake – two actresses play the female villain, and even share a curly bracket on the end credits. One could be an action stunt double or another performer to portray Kerlov in disguise, and it’s unclear who the lead is. Hence, I’ve credited both on my ranking list.

The female assassin makes an impact during the opening sequence, gunning down Banner’s team and the love of his life from an apartment window. During this attack, the sniper is masked, and it’s not obvious she’s a female. This unseen villain tactic continues into the next sequence, where a former colleague approaches Banner in a cemetery, and they are targeted by their old foe.

The shootout among the tombstones is suitably dramatic and well staged, with Kerlov disguised as a priest. The sniper’s weapon is superior at long range, but Banner uses cover to close the gap. With this still being early on, the shooter vanishes, leaving only shell casings behind. It’s then that the “priest” discards their cap and cloak to reveal long hair and a woman’s bra. Before that, we’d been given mild hints such as smooth hands loading a sniper rifle, but now Kerlov is confirmed to be female. Like any decent tough girl, she rides a motorcycle and makes a speedy getaway.

The next encounter comes within a few minutes, when the assassin disguises herself as a policeman (the gender flip is intentional) and attacks from a speedboat. Banner gets within range this time, but Kerlov eludes him once again. After all that excitement, viewers hoping for a film-long duel will be sorely disappointed. In fact, we only see the disguised assassin once before the finale: when she watches Banner in a restaurant. Instead of a latex mask, she adopts a spectacled “Clark Kent” approach to remain incognito.

Kerlov is masked for the final shootout, and her face covering suggests a stunt double. The action is amateurish, and people stand in the open waiting for the roaming sniper to pick them off. Bukarin joins the long casualty list, leaving Banner to chase and fight the assassin alone. Long-distance shots make the encounter feel anticlimactic, and there’s an obvious actress switch when Banner unmasks his foe. First, Kerlov is a brown-haired woman, then a brunette wearing a white wig.

Banner quickly disarms Kerlov, who’s swapped her rifle for a combat knife, and drops the villainess off a rooftop. Usually there’s a body shot to confirm the kill in moments like this, but the camera remains on the hero.

Honourable Mention: Snipers

Dragon Heat (2005) – Yuet (Maggie Q)

A shootout with the hero in a cemetery. Sound familiar? Rest assured that Maggie Q’s turn as a deadly sharpshooter is well worth a watch. The plot is straightforward: a team of cops against an equally well-trained criminal group. A microfilm contains financial information, but the plot device is barely mentioned. It’s an excuse for blood and bullets, and a series of one-on-one battles.

Character backgrounds are established with flashback images, which become distracting once shown multiple times. Many action regulars feature, including Sammo Hung and Michael Biehn. The unnecessary drama sections drag on, but the combat set pieces are relentless. Early on, the masked gang attacks a police convoy. Yuet makes only a fleeting appearance, but things improve quickly. The villainess is proficient in martial arts (she is played by Maggie Q) and kicks ass in a nightclub.

Since there’s a sniper on the police team, it’s no surprise he and Yuet go head to head. The first of two epic encounters takes place in an alleyway and on the overlooking rooftops, with casualties on both sides. Maggie Q has a great screen presence and knows how to sell an action role, so it’s little wonder the DVD cover features her prominently. There’s a glorious moment where a policewoman acts all tough and blows away a baddie, only for Yuet to show her who the most dangerous female is.

Then comes the final confrontation in a cemetery. For the battle of wits and accuracy, Yuet strips down to a combat vest and screams furiously as she charges headlong into battle. The cop emerges the victor and kills his foe with a close-range shot. Then another cutaway to past images ruins the villainess’ death scene.

Movie Villainess 101 Rank #54

On April 13, 2026April 15, 2026 By Action Girl BooksIn Movie Villainess 101

*Even aliens need muscular henchwomen to do their dirty work*

Movie

Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion (2000)

A cheap sci-fi production with a storyline to match. The main character is a police detective (Dondré T. Whitfield) who investigates a murder, only to stumble across an impending alien invasion. Alien Fury was distributed by Paramount Pictures and notable cast members include Paul Shulze and Stephen Tobolowsky. Hiring them probably exhausted the budget, but the terrible special effects are mercifully sparse.

The plot starts off simply but quickly becomes convoluted. A shady military agency fakes an alien attack to avoid funding cuts, except there really are extraterrestrials out there. The infiltrators look like humans (of course they do) and act normally. Except they need extra nitrogen to survive, so they carry inhalers. Cue a mini-mystery with multiple asthma sufferers suspected of being aliens, complete with bluffs and counter-bluffs.

The detective doesn’t know who to trust and is the only person who can expose a splinter group’s scheme to trigger an interplanetary war. Despite the story being a mind-boggling mess, the movie is never dull, and a muscular henchwoman is a definite bonus. Ava is a villainess who sticks around for the duration and doesn’t need male assistance to kill people.

The movie is hard to find, with no official DVD release and few VHS copies. An uncut version aired on the Horror Channel in the UK (now defunct), which provided the source material for this review.

Villainess

Ava Zurich (Chyna)

This professional wrestler / actress was slated to play the T-X in Terminator 3. While that never happened, Chyna’s relentless security officer offers a taste of what might have been. The movie begins with a nerd attempting to escape an office building while pursued by a shadowy female figure. It’s not long before Ava mounts a motorcycle and cuts off the man’s escape. The villainess shows off her physicality by dragging the wounded employee into range of a high-voltage hand taser. And rather than stun her victim, this weapon is lethal.

The inquisitive detective has a few run-ins with Ava before another guy smuggles out incriminating evidence. The villainess pursues him, though it’s an unfair contest since she chases a pedal cycle on her motorbike. A woman in black leather, racing through the city streets, is a menacing foe. The employee proves more elusive and escapes the assassin thanks to a convenient tram crossing.

The main villain is an alien called Templer, but he mostly talks and leaves the physical stuff to his Ava. She enjoys killing people – all in a day’s work for this ruthless woman. Given her wrestling background, Chyna is well cast as the muscular brute. Fittingly, she outlasts the other villains and is the detective’s final opponent.

After Templer is killed by his wife (later revealed as an alien herself), we get the fight that’s been coming the whole film. First, Ava tries to kill the troublesome cop with her sidearm, then we get the usual heroic gusto when he challenges her to a fair fight. Ava happily accepts these terms and pummel the detective. The muscle woman has the upper hand throughout and is only defeated after the cop grabs Ava’s taser and uses her own weapon against her.

Honourable Mentions: Motorcyle Assassins

Romeo Must Die (2000) – Motorcycle Fighter (François Yip)

A stylish villainess in an otherwise forgettable affair, Yip’s leather-clad killer still merits a mention. The movie is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, set in modern-day Oakland. Jet Li is Han Sing, a man out for revenge after his brother is murdered in an ongoing gang war. Aaliyah – in her debut, and one of only two films she made before her death – is an innocent woman caught in the crossfire.

As expected, there are plenty of martial arts, with a pacifist hero and inventive fights to add originality. The unnamed villainess is a biker assassin who attempts to eliminate the heroes after they uncover the villains’ plot. For the first part of the lengthy chase scene, the rider wears a dark-visored crash helmet, but genre-savvy viewers will know it’s a woman.

After another biker is taken out, the second puts up more of a struggle, surviving a crash to confront Han on foot. Once she’s revealed as female, the good guy gets all chivalric and refuses to hit her. Fortunately, the heroine provides an inventive solution and acts as a proxy fighter to strike the blows. The assassin’s brief appearance ends when she’s knocked back onto a wooden stake and impaled through the heart. We see her death in graphic detail thanks to a bizarre X-ray shot, but that’s it for female villains in this one.

Crusader (2005) – Leila (Laia Blanch)

A European production set in Barcelona, this conspiracy thriller has plenty of star power, including Michael York and Bo Derek. The plot is fairly standard, but the villainess is above average and plays a larger part in proceedings than you might expect.

Hank Robinson (Andrew McCarthy) is an ambitious television reporter who pilfers footage of a terrorist attack from a dead rival. This gets him in the good books with media mogul McGovern (York), who offers him a dream job with his major network. Too bad he’s a pawn in a much larger game involving a frame-up, fake anarchists, and a hostile takeover. Be careful what you wish for.

Hank’s most prominent adversaries are two motorcyclists who eliminate loose ends. One of the “hitmen” is revealed to be female early on. The second doesn’t show their face until much later, but sadly – from a villainess perspective – is a male. Hank’s informant (the titular Crusader) uses a voice disguiser, but don’t get excited. It’s just the same guy playing both sides.

Leila gets several merciless kills in the opening attack, plays the femme fatale, and pursues Hank through a dark room with a silenced weapon. Her contributions get worse as the movie goes on, and what should be a tense stadium encounter is ruined by cutaway shots to prerecorded sports action. Whenever important side characters die, it’s the male assassin who does it. Leila is seen only briefly. Often she taunts Hank and shows a nasty streak, but more action would have been preferable.

For the finale, it’s the male again who gets the most screen time. Earlier in the movie, we’d been shown a malfunctioning camera crane. So it’s no surprise this machine is used to defeat Leila after an all-too brief catfight with the heroine. Familiar stuff, and another villainess who deserved a better send-off.

Movie Villainess 101 Rank #55

On April 13, 2026April 15, 2026 By Action Girl BooksIn Movie Villainess 101

*A decoy makes for good target practice*

Movie

Decoy (1995)

Moderate budget action with two name actors – Peter Weller and Robert Patrick – each known for a star-making film franchise and a career’s worth of direct to video roles. Jack Travis (Patrick) is a tough mercenary who survived a bullet to the head thanks to some rich guy named Wellington. The shady benefactor has now called in that debt and wants Travis to babysit his daughter while a billion-dollar business deal goes down.

Naturally, things aren’t what they seem. And the title is a clue for those slow on the uptake. Travis enlists his pal Baxter (Weller), an equally crazy guy who’s into the spiritual meditation thing. The two heroes spend most of the movie trekking in the woods and protecting the young woman. Cue annoyingly dark scenes and blurry action shots of people running past trees. But there’s a lot of action for genre fans to enjoy, with few distractions. Decoy is a movie that doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not.

Travis and Baxter discover the woman they’re guarding isn’t really Wellington’s daughter (big surprise), and the whole charade keeps a business rival occupied. That opposition is an even nastier man called Jenner, who takes things by force and has a personal hit squad – and a leather-clad henchwoman – to deal with such matters.

Villainess

Katya (Charlotte Lewis)

Before she dons more appropriate bad girl attire, the villainess shows up at Wellington’s estate in a sexy evening dress. Guards should never trust a beautiful woman, a mistake the front gate sentry learns the hard way when Katya fires a dart from a wrist-mounted contraption. The clever and rather unique device sadly becomes an ornament, since it’s only used in the prologue.

Katya and her team dispose of Wellington’s thugs with ease and leave a video message that sets the main plot in motion. The villainess is obviously Jenner’s “go-to” woman, since he hires her squad to retrieve the daughter. And the savvy operative uses the “minor complication” of Travis to negotiate a higher price. By now, she has changed into black leather, the standard for any self-respecting henchwoman.

To show how ruthless she is, Katya offs a mole in Wellington’s camp with a high-powered automatic rifle. That weapon is useful for clearing dense forestry, and during the prolonged chase that follows. Katya is a female villain with plenty of screen time who prefers violence to talk, though she makes a few snide comments in a posh English accent. Some of her combat tactics are questionable. She often stands in the open and makes herself an easy target, but the chief henchperson is immune to return fire.

The best scene is where the female mercenary and her crew attack a bus the heroes have commandeered. Plenty of bullets are fired with no notable casualties, which only happens in action movies. Katya mixes up the weapons, tossing grenades in a skirmish and a weighted lasso to capture the decoy daughter. She’s a good match for Baxter and Travis… until the disappointing finale.

After resolving a complex romance / revenge subplot, which ends when Baxter offs Wellington, attention shifts to a nondescript office building. This location provides a lot of glass to shatter once the bullets fly. While Travis deals with a lesser thug, Baxter gets the honour of fighting Katya. Don’t expect too much, because the final encounter is bizarrely shot and rather lame.

The villainess is wearing a weird cloth and strap outfit, which looks plain silly. After a brief tussle, the action switches to first person with shots of Baxter throwing punches and Katya kicking towards her off-screen target. After that broken mess, the hero takes the villainess down with a single blow. A pity, because Katya was headed for a much higher ranking spot.

Honourable Mention: Female Assassins / Mercenaries

Timebomb (1991) – Ms. Blue (Tracy Scoggins)

A solo female mercenary on an otherwise all-male team is a common occurrence. While many roles are token, occasionally a villainess stands out. This action thriller stars Michael Biehn – another Terminator actor turned B-movie star – as Eddie Kay, a watchmaker with mental health issues. Turns out he was part of a military experiment to create assassins with false identities, and his former teammates want to silence him.

The programmed killers have code names based on colours, and Ms Blue is as beautiful and deadly as you would expect. Action scenes with the female assassin are rare, but decently staged when they happen. Her best attack is in a parking garage, where she gets into a knife fight with Eddie. She also shows her sadistic side when confronting the heroes in a hotel room.

Ms Blue’s fate is ambiguous, and she’s absent from the final showdown. But Tracy Scoggins has a great screen presence – even for sections with no dialogue – and so earns an honourable mention.

Movie Villainess 101 Rank #56

On April 13, 2026April 15, 2026 By Action Girl BooksIn Movie Villainess 101

*Think twice before choosing this woman for a partner*

Movie

Blood Run (1994) (aka Outside the Law)

In the wake of Basic Instinct (1992), many erotic thrillers were produced, almost always themed around male detectives getting too close to female suspects. This one has the bonus of a masked villainess, if only for the opening murder scene. When a mystery psycho stabs a woman to death, douses her in gasoline, and sets her aflame, suspicion falls on her drug-dealing boyfriend. But once that red herring is cleared, the next candidate is the victim’s lesbian lover, Tanya (Anna Thomson).

The lead detective is Brad Kingsbury (David Bradley), who has a distanced relationship with his ex-wife (don’t they always), and a school-age daughter he doesn’t see much because of work. Brad’s partner Paige has a thing for him, but not vice versa. Yes, everything happens pretty much as expected for this type of movie. Cops come to blows as the evidence mounts against Tanya, but that doesn’t stop Brad from getting in too deep. A couple of dates, followed by passionate sex. Things move fast in Los Angeles.

Another victim shows up: a Russian guy killed off screen with little fanfare. He exists only to move the plot forward, since he also knows the prime suspect, but he’s barely mentioned afterwards. Of course, there’s an interview scene where femme fatale Tanya smokes a cigarette.

She looks increasingly guilty once the police uncover a backstory involving suspected arson, which fits the MO of the recent killings. Kingsbury protests her innocence, but his conviction wavers as all other plausible suspects are dead. Another cop called Geoffreys is determined to prove Tanya is the killer, and even breaks into her house to compare a button recovered from a crime scene with her clothes.

Villainess

Paige / Felicia (Ashley Laurence)

It’s easy to figure out who the masked killer is given everyone else is too minor a character or likely too obvious. When we find out the arson victim had a sister named Felicia, Paige becomes the prime suspect. There’s an attempt to throw the viewer off by claiming Felicia is dead, but since this comes from Paige anyway, it’s unconvincing. Kingsbury finally pieces things together when a witness contradicts his partner’s story, which leads to an exciting if predictable finale.

Before that, Paige gets a great “unmasking” scene when Geoffreys visits her house hoping for sex, only to discover a buttoned coat that matches his evidence. Too bad the murderess expects this and removes the bullets from the cop’s revolver in advance. No masked killer, but a woman with a silenced pistol who gloats before pulling the trigger is an effective substitute.

Paige breaks into Tanya’s house, takes her hostage, and sets up a sadistic birthday party for the daughter. Kingsbury arrives to get the expected twisted monologue from the killer. The last encounter is rather tame. Tanya recovers the disarmed hero’s weapon, shoots, and misses despite being at close range. All rather contrived, setting up a confrontation where the hero takes down the psycho with a thrown knife.

Honourable Mentions: Silenced Pistol Kills

Act of Piracy (1988) – Laura Warner (Nancy Mulford)

Yet another waste of a great villainess, this is a ponderous action thriller with little action or thrills. Gary Busey – playing a good guy for once – is a Vietnam veteran searching for his children after modern-day pirates kidnap them from his luxury yacht. Arnold Vosloo shows up as a henchman, but the adversaries are unremarkable and the excitement stalls after the opening half hour.

The best character – the treacherous lover – is killed off far too soon. Before that, Laura gets a memorable sequence when she eliminates the yacht’s entire crew with a silenced pistol. Starting with a perplexed guy whom she offs in her cabin. This scene lasts several minutes, with the white-dressed professional assassin sneaking about below decks and showing plenty of intelligence and skill.

Laura single-handedly captures the vessel and almost caps the hero when she surprises him on deck. Sadly, he survives, which gives the chief villain an excuse to toss his henchwoman off a hotel balcony. A stupid course of action, since it brings the police – and eventually the hero – to that location anyway.

Professional Affair (1995) – Heather (Kim Stetz), Sophie (Shannon Elliot)

This review is light on detail, as I could only source a German-dubbed DVD. The plot is easy to follow, with a private detective hired by a mob boss (Robert Z’Dar) to recover money stolen from a henchman. That scene – where a scantily clad escort undresses, pulls out a silenced weapon, and pumps the guy full of lead – is enough to put the film in honourable mention territory.

The prime suspect is a woman named Heather, and inevitably the detective falls in love with her. This is despite her revisiting the crime scene in the same outfit worn by the murderess. She also shows off a silenced gun to her co-worker Sophie (as the detective watches via a hidden camera) and seduces men at every turn. Heather seems to be exonerated when a black-clad figure attacks the PI in his motel room, and that person – after a fight and shootout – is revealed to be Sophie.

However, Heather is the killer after all. She and her detective lover keep the cash after they blow away the mob boss in a poorly staged finale. Guess the money and sex make up for letting a murderer off the hook.

Movie Villainess 101 Rank #57

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Movie

The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016)

This follow-up to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) is superior entertainment, and offers more lively action and likeable characters. Charlize Theron can always be relied upon to provide a great villainess, but the first movie was as dull as her evil queen’s barren landscape. Kristen Stewart’s title heroine doesn’t return, which might have something to do with her lacklustre performance. Chris Hemsworth is promoted to hero, which is no bad thing.

Fans of strong female characters will find much to enjoy in Winter’s War, which serves as both a prequel and a sequel. Besides the two evil queens, the Huntsman gets a warrior companion and lover in Jessica Chastain’s Sara. A ratio of 3:1 of female to male top billing is welcome, considering the token roles for women in decades gone by.

The movie begins approximately ten years before Snow White, with the Huntsman and Sara as children captured by Queen Freya. She’s the sister of Ravenna and rules her own icy kingdom. It will come as no surprise that the romance, like so many in fantasy worlds, ends tragically. The focus then shifts to events after the first movie, with Ravenna defeated and Freya searching for the fabled magic mirror.

Villainesses

Freya (Emily Blunt), Ravenna (Charlize Theron)

Freya is the main villain for acts one and two, and the prequel section does a good job of establishing her character. This lady is literally an ice queen, whose magic powers awaken after her child is murdered. The person responsible is seemingly her lover, but most viewers will deduce early on that Ravenna is behind it. Especially since she lurks in the corridor beforehand, but the proxy killer is enough to deceive her naïve sister.

Freya has a cold attitude toward love and human life. She captures young children to train as her personal army, which includes the Huntsman and Sara. Years later, the queen learns of their forbidden romance and disobedience. So she orders Sara’s execution, and forces her lover to watch through an impenetrable wall of ice.

Shifting forward in time, the Huntsman – now a lone wanderer – is rescued from attackers by a masked figure. The audience will probably guess their identity before the reveal, but Sara gets a badass unmasking scene. Freya’s wall of ice created different illusions for the two lovers, but neither died. And guess what? They team up to track down the magic mirror and save the world.

Freya’s army captures the heroes, and the queen tests Sara’s loyalty. The heroine appears to betray the Huntsman by shooting an arrow through his heart, but anyone hoping for three female villains will be disappointed. He survives because of the old “concealed object obstructing a projectile” trick. The life-saving item is a pendant that signifies their love is well and truly alive.

Freya’s delight at acquiring the mirror proves short-lived as it responds to her inevitable query, “Who is the fairest of them all?” by summoning her evil sister back from the dead. She’s now a shapeshifter construct made from gold, which makes this incarnation of Ravenna especially hard to kill.

In the climactic battle, the Huntsman and Sara attempt to assassinate Freya, only to discover the original evil queen has returned. Ravenna can’t resist revealing her involvement in the murder of Freya’s child, so everyone teams up against the big bad for the denouement. Even those odds prove a challenge until the Huntsman targets the source of the power – the magic mirror – and shatters it.

In a spectacular death scene, Ravenna solidifies into an inanimate golden shell and breaks into tiny pieces. Fans of the 1996 Tomb Raider game will find this reminiscent of Lara’s fate should she step on Midas’ hand. Freya’s death and her overall character arc are much more tragic. She perishes from a mortal wound, with just enough energy to acknowledge the heroes’ true love.

Movie Villainess 101 Rank #58

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Movie

Lady Bloodfight (2016)

If the title sounds like Bloodsport – the 1988 martial arts movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme – that’s probably intentional. This is basically a female fighter remake with Amy Johnston as Jane Jones, an American who travels to Hong Kong to find out what happened to her father. Since this is a movie, it could never be a simple disappearance. He vanished after fighting in the kumite, a brutal fighting contest, and a shady businessman is involved.

In a familiar storyline to any martial arts fan, Jane becomes the student of Shu. This enigmatic woman has an ongoing feud with another trainer over a dead relative and who’s responsible. Since their kumite duel ended in a draw, both women accepted the compromise to train a fighter for the next tournament. Shu’s rival takes on Ling, a young thief who’s also nimble in combat. This proxy battle becomes the focus, though Ling is not evil enough to qualify as a villainess.

Lady Bloodfight fares better than other female-led martial arts movies because the producers had the sense to include some actual fighting. This may sound obvious, but there are many films that don’t make good use of a talented cast. The fights are bloody, and apart from the bizarre magical / fantasy elements – such as Shu’s healing water dance (!) – this is a brutal depiction. Tough females in action, and many deadly encounters before the credits roll.

Villainess

Svietta (Ng Mayling)

Ling is an antagonist with a heart, and while she has barbed verbal exchanges with Jane, there needs to be a brutal, sadistic opponent in a film like this. Enter Svietta, a former Russian convict covered in tattoos. Mercy is not a word in her vocabulary, and she has no qualms about killing her outmatched foes.

Most of the key female characters get establishing fights: the two trainers in the previous kumite, and various young women turning the tables on attackers in spectacular fashion. Jane disposes of unwanted male attention when she knocks down a guy in a diner, and again after he foolishly comes back for more. Svietta doesn’t need to fight. Her fellow prisoners give her a wide berth in the shower, deciding it best to leave this psycho alone. A wise strategy, because losing to this woman is deadly.

After forty-five minutes spent setting up the plot, the kumite gets underway, and a nervous Jane fights first. Despite nearly stepping outside the ring, she wins her bout. Ling also shows her fighting prowess while Svietta watches in silence. The Russian brute beats her first opponent to a bloody pulp, despite the contest being over long before that. Psychological warfare? It certainly has the desired effect on the audience.

As eliminations – including some literal ones – continue, Jane befriends a cocky Australian fighter named Cassidy. Anyone familiar with tournament movies will know what’s coming. Next up is the weapons round, which provides plenty of opportunity for injury and death. Jane knocks her opponent out with a bladed staff, but Svietta isn’t so lenient with Cassidy. The Aussie’s fighting skills don’t match her boasts. The evil woman wins this one easily and slits her beaten foe’s throat before she can crawl to safety.

That sets up a semifinal encounter between Jane and Svietta. The Russian is so despised by the other competitors that Ling finds time to give the heroine a pep talk. That all seems pointless when Svietta overpowers Jane. The judges are about to call the result when the “defeated” fighter rises to her feet. Revenge is a powerful motivator, enough to give Jane the adrenaline she needs to take her opponent down.

After mystical healing from Shu, the heroine defeats Ling in the final. Then, the shady businessman gets his comeuppance, and since he was behind the death of Shu’s boyfriend, the trainers and their students make amends and found a martial arts school. Routine and predictable, but the well-staged fight scenes make the movie worth watching.

Honourable Mention: Tournament Fighters

Pushed to the Limit (1992) – Inga (Christl Colven)

Before Lady Bloodfight came along, naming a decent all-female tournament film was a challenge. Women usually appeared as fighters in otherwise all-male fields. Quite telling that the “best of the rest” is this mediocre offering with wrestler Mimi Lesseos as… herself. She enters the kumite for revenge after ruthless drug traffickers kill her brother. One day, there will be a fighter with a more original background.

Action is limited, with all kinds of filler involving dancing in Las Vegas and boring family scenes. When we get some fight sequences, they’re poorly choreographed with frequent cutaways to mundane side events. The villainess is an Amazonian henchwoman who breaks her opponent’s spines by standing on them after her victories.

Sadly, Inga sounds more interesting than she is. Things liven up when Mimi snoops around the main villain’s house, but she inevitably ends up back in the ring and defeats the henchwoman in the marquee fight.

Movie Villainess 101 Rank #59

On April 13, 2026April 15, 2026 By Action Girl BooksIn Movie Villainess 101

*In 1970s New York, prostitution is a deadly sin*

Movie

Stone Cold Dead (1979)

If a movie stars Richard Crenna and it’s not Rambo, the chances are he’s playing a cop. The actor played Frank Janek in a series of TV movies, and the lead role in this 1970s thriller about a sniper who targets prostitutes working the sleazy streets of New York. It’s a well-paced tale with a dark atmosphere and enough mystery and red herrings to puzzle armchair sleuths.

The movie is available on Blu-ray – with a very good picture transfer – but there are differences with the version that previously aired on UK TV. The biggest change is the opening murder of Linnea Quigley’s character in the shower, which now doesn’t occur at all (but still makes it onto the front cover!). That scene wasn’t in the original version and was added later for sensationalism. There’s no missing sniper footage, because the killer was off screen for the axed pre-credits sequence.

To pad out the runtime, there’s a subplot about Sergeant Boyd (Crenna) pursuing a pimp named Kurtz. This bad guy is a 1970s caricature with oversized glasses and a messy blond haircut, and oozes sleaze every time he appears. To bring him down, Boyd enlists help from an undercover policewoman, and since she’s not the main female character (Monica Page played by Linda Sorensen), it’s not too hard to guess she bites the dust. Ironically, it’s a sniper who kills her after a bent cop sells her out, but not the sniper terrorising the red-light district.

The pimp plot is wrapped up a bit too neatly. Rather than a showdown between Boyd and Kurtz, we simply see him arrested after the fact and rotting away in a prison cell. Thankfully, they’re saving the drama and thrills for the climax with the main villain.

Villainess

Olivia Page (Alberta Watson)

For someone who ends up being the murderer, Olivia has little screen time until the last twenty minutes. This keeps the actual killer under the radar while her photographer boyfriend is made out to be guilty, but some extra backstory before the reveal would have better established her character. Instead, we get second-hand accounts from Olivia’s mother, a woman Boyd is on/off dating and a potential suspect.

Olivia still makes my list because the film and its antagonist are relatively unique among the horde of serial killer movies that plagued the era. Instead of the usual knife-wielding slasher, we have the “sin sniper”. This psycho lurks around fire escapes, wearing a trench-coat that conceals a sniper rifle with an attachable camera. The obvious Canon product placement is questionable, as the killer photographs victims and taunts the police with the pictures. And yes, there’s a threatening message made from cut-out newsprint letters.

With plodding police work by Boyd, it’s good that scenes where the shadowy sniper assembles her weapon are so effective and accompanied by creepy music. The killer takes out three prostitutes before the climax, which effectively rules out Kurtz. What pimp would murder his source of income? The desperate Boyd enlists Olivia’s help to trap her boyfriend, unaware she’s the assassin.

The climax begins at a cemetery when Olivia reveals herself as the sin sniper to her shocked mother. Boyd and the police show up to arrest her, and the murderer shows off her sharpshooting skills. Cops should use cover more effectively, considering she’s a sniper.

The final chase sequence is suitably long, with Olivia proving a slippery opponent. The sniper ditches her raincoat for an all-black outfit and her trusty rifle for a sidearm. After a shootout in a tunnel, Boyd corners his quarry on a rooftop. Unwilling to surrender, the villainess takes her own life. By the end, everyone Boyd cared about is dead or badly injured. No happy resolution, which suits the dark tone just fine.

Honourable Mention: Richard Crenna Movies

Terror on Track 9 (1992) – Leslie Renner (Joan Van Ark)

Crenna TV movies are hard to find, as most were never released on DVD or video streaming sites. The only sources are VHS tapes and third-party footage… and hoping the footage is watchable. Fortunately, I found a passable version of this Frank Janek film that features the series’ best villainess.

A murderer dresses up as a prostitute and stalks women in the eerie confines of Grand Central Station, New York. This high-heeled psycho injects their victims with heroin and spreads golden glitter around their bodies. Why do serial killers have to be so weird?

Janek is hindered by an inquisitive TV news reporter who paints the police in a negative light and internal office politics. And a female FBI profiler who starts off hostile, but finishes in romance territory. Procedural describes this movie, with the usual false leads that don’t play out. One suspect is a wig maker who sold his goods to the killer and now knows too much. Cue a visit from the shadowy woman in red, an off-screen lethal injection, and a sinister “Too Late” message in glitter.

Eventually, Janek identifies the killer as an Amish woman abused by her father. She’s Leslie Renner, the same news reporter who’s been hounding him. After a great setup, the weak finale has the murderess mentally break down live on air. But the movie deserves an honourable mention for its creepy stalking scenes, and a female clothed killer that’s not a male cross-dresser.

Movie Villainess 101 Rank #60

On April 13, 2026April 15, 2026 By Action Girl BooksIn Movie Villainess 101

*Since Indy hates snakes, she should be careful*

Movie

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Another iconic franchise with a patchy record for female villains. There are very few women at all in the series, let alone baddies. The timeless classic Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) features a feisty companion in Marion Ravenwood. Despite many damsel in distress moments, she also proves capable and resourceful. The prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) has the much more annoying Willie Scott, a lukewarm romantic interest who screams whenever the situation calls for it. In fairness, that happens a lot.

For the third film, we got a Raiders redux of sorts. Indy battles Nazis in the late 1930s and chases around the globe after another legendary religious treasure. This time out, it’s the ultimate prize: the Holy Grail. The gift of eternal life is handy when almost everyone wants to kill the hero, whether they be German troops, a religious sect, or double-crossing backstabbers. Locations include Utah for the teen Indy prologue, the scenic city of Venice (and not so scenic catacombs), an Austrian castle, Berlin, and Hatay.

Such an epic quest deserves a companion, and since the female is a villain, Indy works with his father, Henry (Sean Connery). Their relationship, which starts frosty but develops into mutual respect, is a highlight.

Villainess

Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody)

After the exciting prologue, the main plot kicks in with the hero tracking his father, who disappeared while in Venice. For the opening third, Elsa is Indy’s companion as they search the catacombs for the tomb of a Crusader knight. The “helpful” woman is thankfully less wimpish than Willie. There’s also some expected romantic tension and an exciting boat chase along the city’s famous canals.

It’s only after Indy finds his father in Austria that Elsa reveals she’s in league with the Nazis. Her villainous turn is surprising, given it’s rare for the lead female in a 1980s movie to be bad. While there’s clearly a traitor involved, we’d already been introduced to a man called Donovan. Being played by Julian Glover, it’s no surprise he ends up being a villain. The twist is that there are two traitors for the Joneses to contend with.

Indy has his father for backup, though he’s lacking in encouragement and proves a hindrance on more than one occasion. Returning from Raiders are Marcus Brody (even less helpful) and Sallah for comic relief. The heroic quartet has many perilous encounters, and the action sequences are well done.

Elsa seems to work with the Nazis out of personal greed, but shows distaste for their more barbaric methods, especially book burning in Berlin. Despite some reluctance, Elsa shows no remorse, and anyone fearing she might turn good should perish the thought. This villain is a woman of intelligence rather than action, which she leaves to the guys, but while Elsa is Donovan’s lackey for much of the film, she’s a lot more evil in the finale.

After Indy guides the villains through booby traps to save his wounded father, they find a twelfth-century knight guarding the grail. Or rather, grails, since there are many fake ones on display. Elsa offers to help Donovan choose, but his trust is misplaced since he drinks from a false chalice and disintegrates. The villainess’ screams won’t generate much pity. She knows her history, and this was likely an intentional double-cross to keep the prize for herself.

Elsa’s greed gets the better of her, and she ignores the knight’s warning not to remove the cup from the temple. As the structure collapses, Elsa falls into a chasm. Rather than take Indy’s generous outstretched hand, the villainess opts to reclaim the grail and plummets to her doom. A nice parallel follows with Indy in the same position. Fortunately, he listens to his father and chooses life over glory.

Honourable Mention: Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) – Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett)

The divisive fourth instalment gives us a female main antagonist for the first time… and the longest movie title on my ranking list. Cate Blanchett is back on mature villainess duty as evil Soviet psychic Irina Spalko, leading KGB agents on a mission to find the lost city of El Dorado. That’s the place in South America with streets and buildings built from solid gold, for anyone not versed in treasure hunter myths.

The film is a mixed bag with inventive sequences and… some not so good parts. The opening shootout in Area 51 gets things off to a thrilling start, with a battle in the secret warehouse where the ark from Raiders is stored. Marion Ravenwood makes a welcome return, and the Peruvian jungle section is decent. Then Indy escapes a nuclear blast by sealing himself in a fridge (yes, that infamous sequence). And there are alien beings with magnetic crystal skeletons (!) that somehow defy the laws of physics.

Spalko is an expert sword fighter, so naturally fights Indy’s son, who’s also had fencing lessons. Blanchett’s role is surprisingly physical – with a fantastic jungle jeep chase – but she’s absent for much of the movie and doesn’t generate the expected menace. When she tries to mind control Indy, he resists her easily, and the titular crystal skull is more threatening than the villainess.

In the end, Spalko stands in the lost city demanding knowledge and gets sucked through a dimensional portal. If this sounds vague, it’s because the last twenty minutes are utter gibberish plotwise. Repeat viewings don’t improve the weak conclusion.

Spalko is an intriguing foe, but had the potential to be so much more. And since Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) only gave us a misguided female CIA agent, Elsa remains the top female villain.