Movie

The Ex (1997)

The second film directed by Mark L. Lester to rank in the legendary tier, this movie shows a great villainess can overcome the burdens of a simple plot. Especially since Yancy Butler’s psychotic Diedre gets as much – if not more – screen time than the protagonist David Kenyon (Nick Mancuso). He’s another guy who made the mistake of marrying (and later divorcing) a murderous lunatic.

From the opening scene where Deidre stalks David’s wife Molly (Suzy Amis) and child Michael (Hamish Tildesley), it’s clear where the story is going. The villainess gives us a cold-eyed stare as she watches her prey drive away. These generic psycho moments happen a lot, as do montages of Deidre working out with weights. This is a woman who likes to show off her strength when she murders minor characters.

Deidre still has feelings for David and turns up at his workplace one day. As expected, he’s not happy to see his psycho ex-wife, but goes out for a meal. Deidre grips his hand tightly and makes a big deal of him turning around for one last look as he leaves. Still, this counts as rejection, so when another married guy comes onto Deidre, she has sex and drowns him in a bathtub. There’s only one man this villainess wants – everyone else is expendable.

It’s no surprise a woman with these issues has a psychiatrist, and Deidre impersonates Dr Lillian Jonas (Babs Chula) to get close to Molly. After small talk at the local gym, the psycho accompanies the unsuspecting woman and her son on a riverboat trip. Deidre contemplates throwing the boy into a waterwheel until his mother returns, forcing a warm and friendly act. Time to “introduce” herself to David, who goes along with the cover story and pretends he doesn’t know his ex.

If the villainess’ plan is to push David over the edge, it works because he shows up at her hotel and threatens her. Being a psycho, Deidre enjoys this and even stands in an open window daring her ex to push her. To add extra spice, the villainess claims she killed her sister, whom the younger David was in love with. David doesn’t believe it, but flashbacks of the murderess drowning the girl tell us otherwise.

David becomes increasingly stressed and shows his dark side by getting rough with Molly in bed – to the point she’s truly scared. Deidre is out for revenge, and she’s just getting started.

Villainess

Deidre Kenyon (Yancy Butler)

Determined to destroy David’s life, the villainess makes a false rape allegation to Molly. Deidre backs up her claim by describing a birthmark, but the husband comes clean and reconciles with his wife. The ex has other ideas and murders an unfortunate female tenant with a crowbar. She follows the kill with a cheesy postmortem line about a lease being terminated. This gives her access to an apartment across the street from her target’s place, and a perfect vantage point.

Dr Jonas confronts Deidre about her sister’s suspicious death. Talking to a suspected murderer alone is a surefire way to get yourself iced, but the doc evidently hasn’t watched too many made for cable thrillers. This intervention gives the villainess the excuse to drown a second minor character in a bathtub. And say another psycho one-liner. This is becoming a habit.

David asks his attorney for help, but Deidre turns the tables by showing the lawyer an old video of rough sex to make her ex appear the aggressor. The psycho makes sexual advances to David when he visits her new apartment and allows herself to be seen by Molly. Not content with destroying a marriage, Deidre visits a rough part of town in disguise and pays a guy to beat her up. This frames David for domestic violence, a story the cops are ready to believe.

With him out of the picture, Deidre breaks into his apartment (she copied the key earlier) and tracks Molly and Michael to a cabin. Just the spot for a finale, where the villainess knocks out Molly with a fire poker. David – released on bail – shows up to confront his psycho ex, and only love for his new family prevents him from killing Deidre. The villainess attacks again, and is so busy taunting David for letting her live she doesn’t notice Michael step up behind her with a flaming log.

Yes, the kid gets to be the surprise hero, and we’re treated to a lengthy scene of the psychotic Deidre ablaze. The log cabin burns down as the survivors watch from a safe distance.

Honourable Mentions: Yancy Butler / Drowning Kills

The Last Letter (2004) – Ms. Toney / Alicia Cromwell (Yancy Butler)

A thriller centred on a jury deliberating a verdict, with the twist that things aren’t as they first seem. Jack Hamilton is on trial for murdering fourteen people, and there are flashbacks of nearly every killing. This ought to be a treat for villainess fans, given that the serial killer is female, but historic events have a sickly yellow tint and a second twist that puts everything in doubt.

Jury members don’t seem to have been selected for their mental stability, which is at odds with the instruction that the verdict be impartial. For diversity, there’s a racist, homophobic bigot who abuses the others, an ill man who can barely speak, and shy people afraid to speak up. Ms Toney offers little to the discussion but becomes more vocal when the foreman (William Forsythe) presents the evidence.

The methodical killer wears a wetsuit and cloth mask to avoid spreading their DNA. Thanks to the foreman’s summary and crime scene photos, we learn the murderer is brazen enough to kill people in their own homes. They also slay an advertising executive at her office and a police detective. Other than a fire and two accidental deaths, the MO is to drain the victim’s blood and paint a letter on their forehead. The foreman writes these on a whiteboard in a certain order, which gradually spells out a cryptic message.

After Hamilton commits suicide, Toney rants at the foreman, but mentions one victim was deaf. A mistake, as this information was never made public. The other jurors then reveal the truth. They are all police officers, and the entire trial – plus the arrest and suicide – was staged to trap the murderess, Ms Toney aka Alicia Cromwell. The foreman is Dr Markley, a criminal psychologist hired as a consultant. This explains his obsession with profiling the killer and the stereotyped jury.

Cromwell murdered four people in London, which gives sixteen alphabet letters. Markley speculates the last letter is Y, and the message is KILLER WAS ME O TONEY. However, the villainess grabs an officer’s gun, scratches the letter G on her head, and blows her brains out. After the jurors leave, Markley discovers Toney has no scars on her body, which contradicts his theory of a struggle.

The doctor deduces the true anagram solution – ONE GAME TWO KILLERS – before an unknown person attacks him. With one of those annoying cliffhanger endings that will never be resolved, we’re left wondering who the villainess actually killed.

Eisfieber (2010) – Daisy Mac (Anneke Kim Sarnau)

This honourable mention is covered here since its villainess also gets a memorable drowning scene. A two-part miniseries released as a movie, this thriller is set in Scotland at Christmas, a good excuse to feature medieval locations with a snowy backdrop.

My source is a German DVD release, but the familiar plot doesn’t require translation. Scientists have developed a deadly virus in a “secure” lab, and terrorists devise a plan to steal it. One of them is a hacker who’s overconfident until the blonde henchwoman Daisy teaches him a lesson in humility. She’s not that tall or muscular, but still dunks the guy in a swimming pool and holds him underwater. Normally, that would herald a premature demise, but the hacker is essential to the heist. He emerges from the ordeal alive, though drenched and far more afraid.

The first part of Eisfieber is mainly padding, focusing on a family get-together where the hacker is also a guest. That gives him access to a scientist’s keycard, so he works his techno magic and disables the lab security. Daisy wears a brunette wig for the raid, but is mostly a silent player while the villains disguise themselves as maintenance crew. This woman enjoys violence and takes out a security guard with a baton. A well-executed plan, until a road accident forces the terrorists to improvise and find shelter in the local mansion.

As the snowstorm intensifies, lead scientist Toni Gallo (Isabella Ferrari) tracks down the villains and teams up with two family members who escape. Toni gets to be the heroine, and the hacker swaps sides when things look bad for him. With the blizzard raging, no outside help is coming. The tech guy rejoins the villains (!) after a big scuffle with Daisy and everyone else in an all-out brawl. More hostages get away, leading to a shootout and frustration from the henchwoman.

Toni confronts the main villain and isn’t afraid to use a gun. After Daisy has a disappointing non-confrontation with the escapees, they run the henchwoman over and leave her bleeding and cursing in the snow. The villain also ignores Daisy’s cries and rides off with the hacker and the stolen virus. He should have followed the bad guy rulebook and executed her for failure, because the vengeful woman uses her last action to shoot the boss through the rear windscreen.