MARCH MADNESS: My Favorite Psychos

It’s been too long since I’ve done a themed month and I think March is the right time to start it up again. I’ll be preparing several posts with a “madness” theme. The first is all about my favorite filmic nutcases. I’m talking about the kind of crazies that are so delusional, they exist in their own fabricated world where everything is turned upside down. This will not include calculated sociopaths, evil figures, supernaturally-influenced people, or thrill-killers. Instead, I want to shine light on true madness—the lunatics with motives that don’t make any sense, the weirdos who have no idea who they are, and the psychos who really make your stomach churn.

Norman Bates – Psycho

Well duh. You knew he was going to be in here, didn’t you? He flat-out says, “We all go a little mad sometimes.” And perhaps there is no more famous a person who goes mad than the cute, quiet Mr. Bates. Maybe it’s the odd taxidermy habit, or the obsessive peeping, or…oh I know what it is: the fact that he dresses up like mommy dearest and stabs his love interest countless times—all while maintaining two separate identities who fully believe in the existence of the other. Alfred Hitchcock could not have titled the film any better.

Patrick Bateman – American Psycho

Is there a coincidence between this selection and the previous? Bates…Bateman. Psycho…American Psy—Oh, I get it! By far the most attractive loony on the list, Patrick Bateman is all kinds of crazy. He’s so convinced of his own world that not even the audience knows what was real and what was not by the end of the film. Plus, he puts the term "egomaniac" into perspective.

Annie Wilkes – Misery

My legs still hurt after watching this movie…and that was a couple years ago! Annie, simple in a country sort of way, is one of the most brutal psychopaths to ever hit the screen. Isolated and lonely, she has constructed a new reality where the fictitious world of her favorite book series is most important. She will do anything to keep her literary characters safe, even if it means torturing the beloved author of the words she adores.

Pamela Voorhees – Friday the 13^th

Talk about motives that make little sense. Mrs. Voorhees is so caught up in a murderous revenge plot that she continues to re-enact the killing of camp counselors over and over again (despite them not having any real connection to the death of poor Jason). We are treated to a creepy display of insanity, as she calls out, “Kill her mommy” as if she were her son. This cookoo gives Bates a run for his money.

Agnes White and Peter Evans – Bug

While I wasn’t necessarily a big fan of the film, it boasts some truly crazy performances. The slow decent into paranoid delusions is absolutely convincing. Evans’ paranoia becomes contagious, spreading the madness over to White. Soon, they both believe microscopic bugs have been planted into their skin by the government. These crazies believe in their delusion so fiercely that they physically manifest evidence upon their skin to further influence themselves of their alternate reality.