Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Hell hath no fury like a woman period, but that’s beside the point. Cinema is a male-dominated medium, with the most exciting and well-rounded characters written for guys. Women are typically supporting characters used as plot devices (damsel in distress, worried girlfriend, or rebellious daughter). There are always exceptions to the rule, but a challenging part for an actress is hard to find. This article is not about cracking that paradigm. Instead, I’d like to keep exploiting the tradition.
One area good girls have had a chance to let loose on screen is in psychotic roles. The archetype bitch from hell can be seen in dramas, action, and comedies. However, nowhere is the trademark female villain more effective than a campy thriller. Inspired by teen terror The Roommate starring Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly, I’ve come up with a short list of five angry chicks you don’t want to meet in a dark alley.
Perhaps the most famous femme fatale is Alex Forrest, the knife-wielding fling from Fatal Attraction. Glenn Close portrayed the mentally fragile character across from Michael Douglas in the 1987 hit. Alex Forrest engaged in a hasty affair with Dan Gallagher only to find his booty call was pregnant and obsessing. After a suicide attempt and threatening phone calls to his home, Gallagher calls the police and confesses the affair to his wife Beth (Anne Archer). With an edge-of-your-seat ending, Alex appears in the Gallagher home with a sharpened blade she digs coldly into her own thigh before attacking Beth. Dan intervenes and seemingly drowns Alex in the bathtub. Evil never dies the first time and she pops out of the tub only to be shot by her former flame.
The Carnal Killer 
Basic Instinct
Weapon of Choice: Ice Pick
Sharon Stone put herself on the map for her depiction of a lustful murderess with a manipulative mind and great legs. Catherine Tramell was an indiscriminate lover, taking males and females into her bed with equal vigor. But it was a man who found himself lying dead in a pool of his own blood after a night of pleasure turned felony. The opening scene had to be edited adeptly to avoid an NC-17 rating. Even with the edits this steamy romance shows a fully nude blonde in the act of lovemaking tie up her lover and, while bringing herself and her date to orgasm, proceeds to hurl an ice pick into his skin until he lays limp.
The Callous Killer There are so many delectable kill scenes to choose from in this classic '70s revenge movie. A young woman goes to a quiet town where she proceeds to be hunted down, gang raped and left for dead. Traumatized and embittered, our heroine embarks on a now cult status road to revenge. She calculates torturous plans including one most memorable "death by motorboat." Jennifer encircles her prey like a hawk tracking a mouse in the desert before drowning him in a sea of blood by dragging the blades of the motor across his belly. Revenge is best served cold -- and wet.
The Cunning Killer
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle
Weapon of Choice: Glass
The most interesting and calculated killer of the bunch is Mrs. Mott, a vengeful nanny played in 1992 by Rebecca De Mornay. After her husband commits suicide due to allegations of molestation, Mrs. Mott assumes the name Peyton Flanders and becomes the nanny of the woman who lodged the first complaint. She then makes very deliberate efforts to destroy the woman and her family. She uses a few different weapons in the movie including a staircase, poker and asthma medication, but none bests the greenhouse scene. In an attempt to kill her mistress, Peyton props the ceiling of the greenhouse in an effort to bring it unwittingly down upon her rival’s head. Instead, Julianne Moore famously eats it after being tricked. Shards of glass slice her up in seconds. 
The Cyclical Killer
Single White Female
Weapon of Choice: Stiletto Heel
This 1990s number is the basis on which The Roommate was written. Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh play Allie and Hedy, two young women brought together by the dissolving of Allie’s relationship with her fiancé Sam. Hedy is a few donuts short of a dozen which allows her to kill innocent puppies when not pacified with her roommate. At first Allie dismisses Hedy’s odd behavior as self consciousness. But soon Hedy is imitating everything Allie does, right down to how she looks. After learning Hedy is not who she says she is, a deadly confrontation ensues. Though Allie makes it out alive, her boyfriend Sam is stabbed with a high heel, ending in death.
The Roommate opens in theaters tomorrow. Will we have another unforgettable crazy killing scene to add to the list? Let's hope so.
