"Listen to him, the child of the night, what music he makes!"
- 101 Dalmatians (1996): Glenn Close's performance as Cruella is highlighted by her signature manic, insane laughter which she delivers throughout the film.
- Adele Hasn't Had Her Dinner Yet: Baron Rupert von Kratzmar (Miloš Kopecký) is a Mad Scientist archetype and he has one of the greatest examples of this trope in Czech movie history, and perhaps one of the greatest Evil Laughs ever. It's really devilish. When a policeman on the street hears it, he just crosses himself and quickly runs away.
- In Airplane!, airport employee Johnny offers up one of these after his For the Evulz prank involving the runway lights.
- Maltazard gives a pretty good sample at the end of Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard.
- Brad Pitt, of all people, lets out a truly impressive cackle as Jesse James, in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, after threatening Ford at knife-point and then playing it off like a prank.
- The ending sequence in Audition, when Asami Yamazaki is playing Stabby Needles with an unhealthy amount of girlish glee. Evil giggle works.
- Parodied by Dr. Evil and his minions in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Lampshaded when the camera fails to make the expected cut and the evil laughter just becomes awkward
. - Batman Film Series:
- Jack Nicholson's impressive cackling as the Joker from the 1989 Batman film. Nicholson's Joker keeps on laughing even after he's dead. Sure, it was prerecorded and looped, but still.
- Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones as Riddler and Two-Face in Batman Forever.
- In Blazing Saddles, Hedley Lamar gives an Evil Laugh when he comes up with the diabolical plan of sending a black sheriff to the town of Rock Ridge. It's quickly cut off when he chokes on hard candy.
- The Boondock Saints. Russian Mafia goon Ivan Checkov gives an evil laugh as he's about to execute one of the protagonists; it's interrupted, however, by a toilet dropping on his head, courtesy of the other protagonist.
- Bram Stoker's Dracula: Upon awakening after being captured by Dracula, Jonathan sees Dracula eat a baby offered to him by one of his brides. After chowing down on the infant and noticing Jonathan's screams, Dracula lets out a gleeful and hearty laugh.
- Invoked in Return to Cabin by the Lake. One of Stanley's early victims doesn't take his repeated attempts to murder him seriously and laughs at him like an idiot. After Stanley finally kills him with a boat engine, he lets out a genuinely villainous laugh.
- Scut Farkus of A Christmas Story has an incredibly hammy Evil Laugh.
- Also, in the scene where Ralphie gets a C+ on his essay, he imagines Ms. Shields (dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West) and his mom (dressed as a jester) singing "You'll shoot your eye out!" and then laughing evilly.
- Count Yorga does this in both movies.
- In the first one, Yorga laughs at Dr. Hayes when he flashes his cross at Yorga and calls for Micheal to come help him. Even mocking calling for Micheal himself. This is all to unnerve Hayes enough so his vampire brides can awaken and attack him from behind. The narrator also does one at the end of the movie.
- In the second movie, a newly turned Ellen does this when Jason is lured to the manor, pretty much giving in to her vampire side. The brides likewise do this when mentally tormenting an amnesia ridden Cynthia as she's exploring the house. And finally, Yorga does this over the intercom of his manor when Balwin and Cynthia are the only two humans still alive in his house after proclaiming the former will death and continues to do so as his brides block their escape routes.
- The Joker in The Dark Knight seems to be mocking the trope the first time we hear him doing it (when he walks into the meeting of the gang-leaders). Later, he indulges in plenty of straight uses, up to the point of doing it while falling off a skyscraper.
- The Joker is definitely mocking the trope when he forces a newsreader to announce the next stage in his Evil Plan via cue cards, which even have an evil laugh written out on them.
- Daryl Hannah does a quite sinister one as Elle Driver in Kill Bill Volume 2 after revealing that she killed Pai Mei by poisoning his fish heads.
- Tex Richman from The Muppets (2011) is unable to laugh, so he says "Maniacal laugh!" instead. When Uncle Deadly does his Heel–Face Turn, he rubs his own glorious maniacal laugh in his face right after himself delivering the most spectacular Evil Laugh of the entire film.Uncle Deadly: Now that's a maniacal laugh for you!
- Die Hard:
- Hans laughs maliciously when Takagi asks him what kinds of terrorists he and his fellow gunmen are.
- Hans and his colleague indulge in malicious laughter right before John reveals what he had taped to his back...
- In Dirty Harry, the Scorpio Killer has a sort of gibbering, intensely self-satisfied laugh that is in no way appealing. His final moments are even characterized by one last split-second of this laugh when he decides that yes, he does feel lucky.
- Captain Seas gives an evil laugh which is quickly imitated by his sycophantic guests in the Camp movie Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze.
- Lugosi's Dracula doesn't have much of a laugh, but Renfield, as played by Dwight Frye, has a variation all his own. Since Frye's portrayal, a creepy laugh is a must for any future Renfield.
- The title character in Dr. Strangelove has a broken way of laughing on occasion that sits comfortably between Un-Evil and just plain Evil.
- Eden Lake: As Steve's corpse burns, Brett jumps up and down, laughing.
- In Evil Dead 2, a whole room, starting with a stuffed deer, mocks Ash. He ends up pulling out his own crazy laugh. See here.
- The demon from The Exorcist does one at one point.
- Unforgetable evil laugh from Fantômas as played by Jean Marais but voiced by Raymond Pellegrin in the three French movies made in the 1960s. Really unforgettable.
- Fergie as Saraghina gets a fairly evil one during "Be Italian" in Nine.
- Subverted in The Fifth Element: Zorg has grabbed the Cosmic Keystone-filled box and laughs... and then bursts into tears, as the box is empty.
- Brad Pitt gives us some creepy giggles when he's being beaten up by Lou in Fight Club. Though it's more of a
Neutral Laugh. - In Fragment of Fear, one of Tim's stalkers adds an evil cackle to the end of a recording Tim made. He later calls Tim to make the same laugh.
- King Ghidorah, Godzilla's Archenemy, has a high-pitched, Joker-esque cackle as his trademark. The laugh actually serves a purpose in his case, as it helps to demonstrate that, unlike most of the other monsters in the series, Ghidorah is fully aware of what he's doing and thoroughly enjoys it.
- Godzilla vs. Kong: Godzilla of all people delivers one after nailing Kong in the shoulder with his Atomic Breath.
- In The Great Race, Professor Fate and the Crown Prince of Carpania have two different evil laughs, despite both being played by the same actor.
- Grindhouse: Nicolas Cage does some impressive cackling in stereo as Fu Manchu in Werewolf Women of the SS.
- The Kurgan of Highlander is very good at this trope. This clip shows why.
- In the film Hook, the titular character gets a particularly nice one that's sort of segmented: "Wah ha, wah ha, wah ha ha ha ha ha ha". He does this after coming to a decision, and it works beautifully.
- The Hunger Games: The man doesn't seem to have a truly evil bone in his body, but the laugh Stanley Tucci gives Caesar Flickerman in Catching Fire sounds like a standard "mwahahaha" kind.
- In Independence Day, David Levinsen's Jolly Roger computer virus is polite enough to let the aliens know that they are completely screwed by letting out a distorted evil cackle.
- Subverted in Inglourious Basterds: Shoshanna does this after delivering her message to the Germans (that they are all going to die). It fits the trope in every respect except for the part that Shoshanna is a hero.
- James Bond
- Scaramanga from The Man with the Golden Gun has some recorded ones set up in his funhouse for when someone shoots at a picture of him. Oddly, Scaramanga is played by Christopher Lee who, while known as the quintessential villain actor, doesn't usually have an evil laugh.
- Subverted in You Only Live Twice when Bond falls through a trapdoor into the underground lair of a man sitting with his back to the audience who's giving an evil laugh. Is it another Blofeld-type supervillain? Turns out he's been Kidnapped by an Ally—Tiger Tanaka, head of Japanese intelligence—who just finds it funny that Bond fell into an Obvious Trap.
- When Jim Carrey plays a villain, he sometimes does a laugh like this, most notably the Grinch and his performance as Olaf in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. On the Interactive Olaf DVD feature, he does do an Evil Laugh in one part.
- As Olaf, he actually goes through several different Evil Laughs at one point, trying to find his favourite.
- Also, he has a pretty sadistic laugh as Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber after he tricks Harry into drinking hot chocolate with a laxative - complete with Wicked Witch of the West theme.
- Gets one in Batman Forever watching Two-Face holding the circus hostage.
- And Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) lets him do the same maniacal laughter as Doctor Robotnik, most notably after the chase scene with him and Sonic.
- J-Men Forever (1979). The Lightning Bug gives a good evil laugh, but that's hardly surprising as his voice is that of legendary radio DJ "Machine Gun" Kelly.
- Kingsman: The Secret Service: Valentine indulges in a bit of this the second time he activates his worldwide Hate Plague. He sounds more genuinely happy than maniacal, which is understandable since he thinks he's doing good.
- Kuntilanak: The Kuntilanak lets out a high-pitched "Eeeh hee hee hee hee!!" sometimes.
- In Jet Li's Last Hero In China (one of many, many names for this movie), the main villain has a ridiculously good evil laugh. Actually, it's more like an utterly psychotic laugh, at entirely wrong moments. "Wong Fei Hong! Help me! He has broken loose! BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" "Our evil master will not be pleased! BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"
- In the movie finale, he got his knee broken (after trying to attack Jet Li's character from behind). Then Jet Li's character says: "Now you can laugh." He sobs like a little child.
- The Last Starfighter. Xur does one at the end of his speech to the Starfighter base personnel.
- Legend (1985). Both Darkness and Meg Mucklebones have one. Befitting their characters, Darkness has a very deep, majestic and disdainful laugh while Meg Mucklebones has the silliest, most irritating, witchy cackle you've ever heard.
- In Little Shop of Horrors (the 1986 musical version), both Audrey II and Orin Scrivener have some spectacular evil laughs, though Orin only does so because he's under the affects of laughing gas.
- Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder), Live and Let Die - best Evil Laugh ever.
- Used for Troubling Unchildlike Behavior in Lolita (1997). Humbert knows that Dolores is in league with the Mysterious Watcher who's been following their car. At one point he gets angry and throws Dolores onto a hotel bed, but having known for some time how to manipulate him sexually, Dolores starts moaning as if they're having sex. As they start having sex for real, Humbert breaks down and pleads for her to tell him the truth, but Dolores just laughs.
- At the point Lost Highway begins to go insane, a mysterious man tells the main character to call his house. When he does, that same man answers him. And then both of the mysterious man burst into laughter. Be ready for it.
- The Master in Manos: The Hands of Fate.
- Parodied in The Master of Disguise. A Running Gag was that every time Brent Spiner's villain character started cackling, he would fart. They actually switched it out at one point, allowing him to finish the laugh, then fart.
- In The Matrix Revolutions, after Agent Smith absorbs the Oracle, he lets out an eerie, utterly out of nowhere evil laugh made even more creepy by the fact that Smith is usually stoic. (here)
- Gen. Quoc does this during his Cold-Blooded Torture to Braddock and his son in Braddock: Missing in Action III.
- Murder by Death. At the end of the movie The maid enjoys a weird evil laugh after fooling all of the detectives.
- Oz the Great and Powerful has Oz himself do this after faking his death and revealing himself in the form of a gigantic, ghostly head. The Witch of the West retains her own cackle in this film, but in Oz's case, he's simply returning the favor.
- In The Peanut Butter Falcon, Professional Wrestling fan Zak practices his laugh while planning to become a heel.
- Pee-wee's Big Adventure: "Be sure and tell'em Large Marge sent ya! (Evil Laugh)" An echoing version later occurs in the cafe during a shot of the "In Memoriam: Marge" plaque.
- The Phantom of the Opera
- You cannot actually hear Lon Chaney laugh in the 1925 version, but he looks utterly terrifying as he does it, making this the scariest laugh you've never heard.
- The Phantom laughs evilly to mock the policeman who tries to shoot him in the 1989 version.
- Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean rocked a magnificent, rum-laced Evil Piratey Laugh. I mean come on, he even went "arr!"
- The Predator managed a rather decent version when he was all set to blow Arnie and half the countryside to oblivion. It's a recording of Billy's laughter from earlier in the movie, which is made to sound evil with creepy distortion effects. The laugh was recovered by Peter Cullen.
- In Prehistoric Women, wicked Queen Kari has what can best be described as an evil Noblewoman's Laugh.
- Vizzini in The Princess Bride. He believes he has outwitted the Man in Black and, in the middle of his laugh, keels over dead, grin still plastered on his face.
- Raiders of the Lost Ark. Belloq has a triumphant evil laugh right after he sends the Hovitos to kill an escaping Indiana Jones.
- Raúl Juliá, in every villainous incarnation. His subtler chuckles only need the broad, manic grin to crank up the menace (or hamminess).
- The killer in The Rawhide Terror has a very eerie high-pitched laugh that he tends to emit just before he kills someone.
- Reform School Girls: The sadistic head matron Edna lets out a prolonged evil cackle every time she inflicts a punishment or does something else unpleasant to the girls.
- Jimmy, the #2 thug from Road House (1989), lets out a sinister cackle as he rides away after blowing kindly ol' Emmett's house to smithereens (luckily, Emmett is rescued). Mike Nelson is quick to hang a lampshade this in the Rifftrax commentary:Mike: It only now struck him as funny; now that he's got some distance behind him.
- In the original The Rocky Horror Picture Show, "Sweet Transvestite" wraps up with an epic one from Tim Curry. In The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, Laverne Cox—playing a Gender Flip of the same character—matches it with a splendidly witchy cackle.
- The Room: There's nothing evil about Johnny's laugh but he tends to do it at incredibly inappropriate moments, such as when Mark tells him about a woman who cheated on her boyfriend and when he found out, he beat her up so badly she ended up in hospital. Reportedly this was actually a true story that Greg Sestero told Tommy Wiseau in real life and caused him to laugh hysterically. Apparently Wiseau found the anecdote so funny, he decided to put it in the film, despite repeated insistence by a horrified Sestero that the story was not remotely funny, nor intended to be.
- In The Rundown after Beck makes his threat to Hatcher and his goons, not only does Hatcher burst out in mocking laughter but he makes a point of pressing the intercom button so Beck can hear his laughter.
- Arch Hall Jr. based his performance as psycho killer Charlie Tibbs in The Sadist on Tommy Udo, Richard Widmark's character in Kiss of Death, right down to the giggle.
- In Scanners II: The New Order, The Dragon Peter Drak is prone to doing this after causing destruction and killing people, like at the arcade hall and after blowing up Gelson's head.
- The main villainess of Shadow Mask, Red Goddess, tends to do this when taunting the titular hero, notably in the final battle after Shadow Mask finds out his girlfriend, Sandy, has suffered an intense Mind Rape from Red Goddess. Who then cackles into the sky at Mask's predicament. Cheng Pei-Pei clearly had way too much fun hamming up one of her few villainous roles.
- When the Green Goblin returns in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he does his signature unhinged laughter a couple different times throughout the film - the creepiest of which being while Spider-Man was giving him a beatdown!
- Star Wars:
- Emperor Palpatine is a type two, especially when he's using Force Lightning. His latest is heard in the trailer of The Rise of Skywalker after Luke Skywalker reassures us that nobody is ever really gone.
- Jabba the Hutt is a good example. Ho ho ho ho ho ho... (Han Solo doesn't need his eyesight to recognize Jabba. "I know that laugh..." says Han.)
- As well as his memorable pet muppet-thing, Salacious Crumb.
- In Revenge of the Sith, General Grievous ruins his one shot at this, his constant wheezing cough turning the laugh into Narm.Grievous: Ha HACK COUGH COUGH HACK ha!
- In Tower of Terror, Emmiline gives out one in Abigail's flashback. It turns out to be a lie, though.
- In To Kill a Dragon, one of the dragon heads is proficient in this.
- Pick a character, any character, played by Vincent Price. Even when the Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris re-recorded a good chunk of his narration, they left in his laugh because it was that distinctive.
- Triple Threat (2019): The ruthless mercenary Collins has a good chuckle over being asked if he remembers the last time his soul started slipping away. According to Collins, he has no soul.
- The Wailing: The Japanese man gives a truly sinister laugh to the priest as he turns into his true (?) form.
- In Warlock (1989), the Warlock gives an evil laugh when a young boy asks him what he needs to be able to fly, which is to sacrifice the child.
- Ed Garnet has one that he uses as part of his "Scooby-Doo" Hoax in Wild Horse Phantom. It echoes eerily through the mine tunnels, and one of the gang describes it as 'not human'.
- In The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West has a very frightening cackle.
- John Jarret worked on the evil laugh for six months when he was cast in Wolf Creek.
