The Greatest Aussie Movie Villains

Some of the best antagonists to ever grace our sunburnt screens

Mar 15, 2025

Welcome to your Sunday Fluff at The Drip Tray: a weekly treat of fun and fandom to indulge your sweet tooth, like an artsy latte.

Australia has produced a number of great things throughout history. AC/DC, Bluey, Ian Thorpe, Arnott’s biscuits, the black box. But one thing that we’re particularly good at is making movies – more specifically, crime dramas. We love knowing what the baddies get up to in our own backyard when we’re not looking.

After recently having an Aussie crime binge while stuck at home, I thought it would be fun to remember some of the creepy crims from the big and small screen over the years.

I’ve loved Australian cinema ever since I first saw Animal Kingdom (2010) as a teen on SBS one night. Hearing my native tongue from characters who looked like me and did their dirty work in familiar settings made it that much more grounded and relatable. It’s a feeling that stayed with me as I sought out other local films and learned to appreciate the value in supporting my peers, many of whom would become my idols.

These films are among the country’s biggest cultural exports and have even been adapted for television. Many of them are either based on or inspired by true events, which adds to the eerie sense of realism. Some characters have developed a sort of cult fame from morbid curiosity, as evidenced by the success of the series Underbelly (2008) and notorious criminal Mark “Chopper” Read becoming a bestselling author.

Here are some of my favourite Aussie movie villains, in chronological order of the film’s release.

Toecutter – Mad Max (1979)

Hugh Keays-Byrne plays the barbaric leader of an outlaw biker gang in this dystopian action classic fuelled by diesel and dust. Toecutter and his rowdy crew seek revenge against the titular hero for killing one of their members, the Nightrider, in a police chase on a stretch of highway that they claim as their own. He is softly spoken – you’ve got to watch the quiet ones! – with feministic hair and makeup and a pelt garb that makes him strangely intriguing.

Hando – Romper Stomper (1992)

Perhaps this audacious role is why I can’t take Russell Crowe seriously as a businessman. In this gritty exploration of multicultural society, he heads a group of neo-Nazi skinheads terrorising local Asian residents in an attempt to rid the city of the “impure.” It features brutal fight scenes and an unpredictable cast of followers, but Hando is the most intimidating by far. His ideological commitment and squalid lifestyle are enough to make your skin crawl.

Brett Sprague – The Boys (1998)

I knew David Wenham as Carl from Van Helsing and Faramir from The Lord of the Rings, so seeing him as a bogan returning to his childhood home after being convicted of armed robbery in this was quite a shock. The Boys was adapted from a play of the same name by Gordon Graham and follows the moral decay of three brothers over the course of a day. The way that he goes from cajoling to abusing the women in his life at any second is unsettling.

Mark “Chopper” Read – Chopper (2000)

Eric Bana is Chopper. It helps that he spent time with the actual man in preparation for the role to get the iconic vernacular and mannerisms – that laugh! – down pat. Uncle Chop Chop became somewhat of a celebrity after his extensive rap sheet landed him a book deal and television spots in the 1990s. Complete with severed ears, a handlebar moustache, gold teeth and patchwork prison tattoos, he’s so damn charming that you can’t help but like him!

Mick Taylor – Wolf Creek (2005)

A generation was traumatised by John Jarratt of Better Homes and Gardens starring as a ruthless outback serial killer. What makes Mick Taylor particularly scary is how he comes across as the everyman – red flannel, blue jeans, beaten Akubra – before showing his true nature, not to mention having the creepiest laugh of any horror villain. He hates tourists and exterminates them like vermin to keep his land clean, although his victims never die quickly.

Andrew “Pope” Cody – Animal Kingdom (2010)

I’ve spoken about Ben Mendelsohn in this role before, but he deserves all of the praise for his brilliantly chilling performance in one of my favourite films. The oldest son in a Melbourne crime family, Pope is not welcomed home by everybody in the household – least of all his 17-year-old nephew J who lacks any parental figure. Pope is unhinged and eerily calm in the face of danger, which is exacerbated by his paranoia and need for control.

John Bunting – Snowtown (2011)

It’s strange to think that this is the same Daniel Henshall who played the compassionate colleague in The Babadook. Similar to Chopper, John Bunting is almost respectable, at least for his values and charisma. This is one of the hardest films to watch that I still enjoy, but it’s an interesting character study of how much influence a dominant personality can have on an impressionable teen. But John’s extreme methods don’t always explain his madness.

John White – Hounds of Love (2016)

I’ve always thought that comedians make great horror villains and one of the most compelling affirmations is Stephen Curry as John White. John, with his wife and accomplice Evelyn, kidnaps a teen girl in 1970s Perth and subjects her to sexual violence until she convinces Evelyn to escape his emotional stranglehold. I hate watching any kind of rape, but the display of love between John and Evelyn as they torment their victim is indelible.

I’ve noticed a few connections between these films after exploring their memorable antagonists. Half are recently released from prison and set out to restore order in a family or “business” environment. Two take a teen boy under their wing as a means of protection, but quickly use them as pawns in their nefarious activities. Most are also racist and/or homophobic, even when they say they aren’t.

Chopper, Mick Taylor, Pope, John Bunting and John White are all either real people or inspired by real people, which is disconcerting in itself. So, based on this brief analysis, the greatest Aussie movie villains are racist, homophobic, lower-middle class white men on parole with a young apprentice whom they can teach their bad habits to. Perhaps the scariest part is knowing that those teen boys will soon repeat the cycle.

Nonetheless, these films are well worth the watch. Some I’ve only seen once and don’t intend to ever again, but I’m glad that I did. If you’re not into the squirmy stuff, I’d at least recommend Mad Max, Chopper and, of course, Animal Kingdom.