Evil is most terrifying not when the perpetrator doesn’t realize the error of their ways, but when they have complete and total awareness of the darkness of their souls. They wear it like a second skin. They know what they’re doing is considered wrong by conventional standards, and that’s what makes it feel so right. When a movie villain first cracks an ear-to-ear smile is when viewers realize how demented that character really is.
Semih Okmn poured over footage of movie bad guys and gals from throughout the course of cinema, and compiled their toothy grins into one creepy video titled When The Evil Smiles, which is made all the more unsettling thanks to Barry Manilow’s melancholy “Can’t Smile Without You.” Voldemort is creepy, sure, but even his levels of unease are bolstered when he’s placed alongside the diabolical joy of Agent Smith from The Matrix, Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange, Hans Gruber from Die Hard, Jack Torrance from The Shining, and so many other antagonists who have made our lives a touch more creepy over the years.