Cruella de Vil, Voldemort and the 25 greatest movie villains of all-time

4. Pennywise

There are some movie villains that do not need much explanation to get across why they are one of the greats. And in this case, it feels like Pennywise might be one of them.

A murderous clown who eats children, sounds like an ultimate villain to me. And yet, there are plenty of reasons why this character is one of the greatest movie villains to ever grace the big screen.

Pennywise might appear as a murderous clown, but the reality is that he is the embodiment of evil and fear. The character is essentially a monster who can take on whatever you fear the most. And in this case, clowns are the biggest fear many of the innocent victims fear.

But it is not just fear that Pennywise is a personification for, as he is also the epicenter of hate, violence, and bigotry. He might be a villain because he has no problem eating children, but there is more to the character than just that.

Ultimately, Pennywise is an unsettling character who inspires the very worst in people. And that is enough to make him a truly great villain, because he is not only a killer, he is also the kind of monster that feeds on the worst of humanity and makes it worse.

And with two different versions of this character now gracing our screens, we have concrete proof that Pennywise is not only memorable as a villain, but also truly unsettling.