7
It was difficult to think Dolores Umbridge, the teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts, could be any more evil after viewing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
6
Kathy Bates' portrayal of Wilkes in the film adaptation of Misery defined her career and won her an Oscar, the character was arguably more terrifying in the original novel.
5
Though Christian Bale's flawless portrayal of serial killer Patrick Bateman, an investment banker, will always be linked to American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis' novel's killer was far more terrifying.
4
The vile lead character in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita was even more evil than what was shown on screen.
3
Norman Bates as portrayed in Alfred Hitchcock's seminal 1960 adaption was a very different character from the one seen in Robert Bloch's original novel.
2
The 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian classic Nineteen Eighty-Four failed to fully convey the pervasive fear and ongoing surveillance of Big Brother, the novel's primary antagonist and supreme overlord.
1
One of the most evil villains to be brought to life on screen was the frightening Nurse Ratched from Ken Kesey's original novel. Surprisingly, she was even more terrifying there.