There are quite a few people that probably know Malcolm McDowell as one of the creepiest actors around since some of his roles have been nothing short of disturbing given that he’s been given free reign to be every bit the oddball as he can. It’s been shown that he can be the warm and fuzzy type on screen as well but a lot of times it’s more likely that he’ll get attention when he’s playing the part of someone that’s more than a little unhinged since he steps so easily into such roles and creates the type of persona that would make just about anyone take a cautious step back at first upon meeting him. Taking that into consideration though this makes him one of the most effective and talented actors in show business at this time and throughout his entire career. He’s had plenty of movies that turned out to be flops but he’s also had several great performances that have become memorable throughout the years.
Here are five of the best movies from his career.
5. Caligula
Picking up a history book would tell anyone the brief but disturbing history of Caligula, an emperor that was apparently destined to be one of the worst in history. His exploits have been put into documentaries and even movies more than a couple of times since otherwise they might have been difficult to believe. The debauchery and deceit that was said to occur during his reign was something that a lot of people might draw conclusions on and try to show similarities to in the modern era, but had a ruler like Caligula existed at any point in the modern day it’s easy to think that assassination would have been the top order of the day without question.
4. Time After Time
It’s a funny thing about time travel, a lot of people think that it might open up a host of new ideas and vistas for humanity without ever thinking that it might just advance us a little further ahead to see…nothing special. The twist on the Jack the Ripper character was a fun bit in this story since the idea that Jack the Ripper would be just another serial killer in the future isn’t too hard to believe since the future as it once existed in relation to the 19th century was likely believed to be a place of wonder and awe that was far more utopian in nature and couldn’t possibly been as dirty, grimy, and as riddled with problems as the past. That’s the trick though, to have such a future the past needs to change.
3. O Lucky Man!
This is kind of an odd movie but it’s been lauded as one of Malcolm’s best and likely for artistic and other reasons that some of us might not fully understand. It definitely has the ability to make a lot of people sit forward and try to understand what’s going on since Travis is the unfortunate individual that things just tend to keep happening to and being lucky doesn’t really appear to factor into his life too much. All that being said and done though it was likely seen as something that was eye-opening and commented on the human condition in a way that those watching were able to look at and fully understand in one way or another.
2. If…
This is definitely one of those movies that people might freak out about if they saw it made today since the whole idea of school shootings has become such an epidemic that even talking about them is enough to rile some people up. This movie however does go full bore into the idea of students shooting up a school over a philosophical issue that sounds kind of trivial when you really think about it. All in all it’s kind of a disturbing story, the type that Malcolm tends to gravitate towards quite often if the truth is going to be told, but also something that people are willing to watch since the conflict is obviously there.
1. A Clockwork Orange
A lot of people swear by this movie since the cycles of violence that it promotes are increasingly hard to watch but also play a huge commentary on the state of humanity and what it means to live in a world where what we’ll accept is continually changing even as we condemn violence in one arena and promote it in another. Alex is unfortunately the test dummy that after being caught and punished for his violence acts is shown to be ‘cured’ following a rather brutal treatment that leaves him almost emotionally crippled for a while. After even more trauma following the treatment however the cure does wear off, or go away depending on how a person wants to view it, and he’s back to being the same person he was when the movie started.
Malcolm definitely enjoys starring in some odd movies.
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