The Dark Knight has yet to hit theaters, yet it’s already shaping up to be Heath Ledger’s greatest flick. Critics are raving, the trailers primarily feature him in grotesque make-up, and Moviefone has added him to their list of great on-screen villains. There’s only one problem: I don’t agree with Moviefone’s list.

The list of Top 25 movie villains includes old favorites like Khan (Star Trek II), Cruella de Ville (101 Dalmations), Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford (Mommie Dearest), Jimmy Cagney as the Public Enemy (love, love, love Cagney), Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers. On Moviefone’s list, Heath’s Joker comes in at Number 5, trumped by Hannibal Lecter, the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz), Darth Vader and Lord Voldemort.

And I think Moviefone is wrong. While there were some on the list who were truly chilling - Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery, for instance - others were left off the countdown completely. So with no further delay I will name the on-screen villains I found the most frightening and fearsome in big-screen flicks. None of my villains made it to Moviefone’s list and I can’t imagine why.

“Baby Jane” Hudson - Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962): This movie came along a bit later in Bette Davis’s already stunning career, but she played the part of an alcoholic sociopath to the hilt. The fact that her cruelty was taken out on a handicapped sister (winningly played by Joan Crawford) made her character all the more chilling. The manic singing, the spot-on impersonations and the cold-blooded murder made Baby Jane a force to be reckoned with that can still creep anyone out to this day.

The Blair Witch - The Blair Witch Project (1999): You never saw this villain and maybe that’s why she gave me nightmares. Graphic descriptions, off-screen noises and the compounded problem of being utterly lost in the woods made this movie incredibly chilling. And when the final scene arrived, it was better in the end that we didn’t even get a glimpse of the witch. I was already so terrified by that point, I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to take it.

Nurse Ratchet - One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975): She was left off the Moviefone list in its entirety, and I think this is a grave mistake. Chillingly remorseless, Louise Fletcher’s Ratchet is the stuff of movie legend. Her cold eyes, her stern expression - I want to hide under the bed just thinking about her. This particular role was turned down by six other actresses, including Anne Bancroft and Jane Fonda, before Fletcher made Ratchet into the scariest female villain ever to grace the silver screen. Ever.

Emperor Palpatine - The Star Wars movie franchise (1977-present): I cannot imagine why the Emperor wouldn’t make the list. Sure, Darth Vader was scary with James Earl Jones’s voice, but take off the helmet and he’s done for. The real frightener of this franchise is and always will be Palpatine - polished and urbane, he’s the villain you don’t know is evil until it’s already far too late. He made Anakin Skywalker into a monster and damn near destroyed the universe. As soon as he put on the black hood, it was all over. Now, that’s a villain.

Norman Bates - Psycho (1960): Anthony Perkins remains the greatest movie villain of all time, hands down, no exceptions. Sure the film is in black and white. Sure there was a 1998 remake of the movie that was so terrible it somehow managed to undermine every success Alfred Hitchcock ever gained. Even this doesn’t take away from the terror Perkins managed to inspire as the shy, self-effacing motel owner who just happened to be completely and utterly psychotic. That so unassuming a man could be a cold-blooded killer is a frightening shock, and Perkins plays the role to the hilt throughout the film. If Bates can’t give you a chill, you cannot be scared.