Meet Anton Chigurh.
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- Anton Chigurh, considered by many to be one of the scariest villains in film history. Everything about him is unsettling or disturbing; he carries himself like an even scarier Terminator, and special mention goes to the captive bolt pistol
he uses. It's pretty safe to say that any scene featuring Chigurh is bound to leave viewers clenching their teeth, as wherever he goes, death is not that far behind.- Once you get past Chigurh's demeanor and start examining his philosophical outlook on life, if you can even begin to comprehend it, it takes the nightmare fuel that he exudes to a whole new level.
- The fact that he's still at large when the film ends doesn't help at all.
- The frightening face Anton makes when strangling the guard in the beginning of the movie with his handcuffs (see page image). It is one of very few scenes where we see him express anything other than calculated indifference, and it is horrifying.
- To put into context how horrifying it is, The Coen Brothers themselves stated that they wanted to make this scene the most violent strangling in the history of movies. To say that they succeeded in every way possible would be a massive understatement.
- Chigurh's second kill. Taking a police cruiser and his captive bolt pistol, he flags down a car going down the highway. The driver has no idea that Chigurh isn't actually a police officer as the hitman walks up to him, calmly telling him to step out of the car. Once the driver steps out, Chigurh keeps him in place with a soft, "Would you hold still, please?" By then, Chigurh already has the captive bolt pistol held up to the man's head. One sharp and silent pneumatic noise later, and the poor driver is dead, a hole newly bored into his forehead.
- The captive bolt stunner is normally used for placating livestock such as cattle without killing them. Chigurh's captive bolt stunner, however, is strong enough to blast out door locks and puncture human flesh, which normal bolt pistols cannot do. This implies that Chigurh sees the people he kills as little more than cattle.
- The infamous coin toss scene where Anton decides whether or not to kill a local gas station clerk. Just the thought of having your fate decided by Heads or Tails? is unnerving.
- Keep in mind in regards to this scene: all the clerk did was make small talk, and Anton began to dissect everything about his life and his choices and decide if he should live or die on a coin toss. The clerk's confused and downright terrified reaction is unsettling. Even when the clerk's choice lets him live another day, Chigurh still has to frighten him about the coin being "special". Makes you wonder if Chigurh was gonna kill him anyway.
- There's also an exchange earlier in the scene when Chigurh asks the clerk what time the store closes. The clerk replies that it closes around dark. Chigurh then asks what time he goes to bed. When he replies with 9:30, Chigurh responds, "I could come back then."
- Chigurh's Surprise Car Crash near the end, both in how sudden it is and the fact that you can see his broken bone sticking out of one of his arms.
- Chigurh's confrontation with Carla Jean. Though she remains defiant to the end, it's terrifying to imagine walking into your room only to find someone like him sitting there. Waiting for you.
- Bell's story about arresting a teenager for killing a 14-year-old girl."Papers said it was a crime of passion but he told me there wasn't any passion to it. Told me that he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said that if they turned him out he'd do it again. Said he knew he was going to hell. 'Be there in about fifteen minutes.' I don't know what to make of that. I sure don't."
