Today the world celebrates 39 years of Juliette Lewis, who seems to be specializing in roles ranging from troubled to mentally unstable to full-on psychopath. What could be a better birthday gift to her than counting another nine psycho women so she won’t feel alone? (Well, I can think of several gifts, but they are out of my price range.)

The Devil Wears Prada

Starting with a relatively tame take on the subject, Meryl Streep takes great pleasure in abusing her young intern, Anne Hathaway, as a supremely obnoxious boss. Apparently audiences also enjoyed this workplace intrigued story, making it the second biggest blockbuster in Meryl Streep’s great career.

So I Married an Axe Murderer

Mike Myers is dangerously attracted to a woman who may or may not be a serial killer in this farce; no wonder that paranoia sets in. Judging by some of the later entries in Myers resume, having his suspicion confirmed might not be such a bad idea.

Once Upon a Time

This fairytale features a deranged lady who is not only extremely evil, but also has a knack for curses and spells, allowing her to pose a threat, both in her imaginary kingdom and in the Maine small town where she and her rivals were magically transferred to.

The Piano Teacher

Hardly a psychopath, but a deeply disturbed individual, the title character, played by Isabelle Huppert, leads a destructive relationship with all of her surroundings in Michael Haneke’s controversial Cannes festival winner.

Butterfly Kiss

Michael Winterbottom’s prolific cinematic career also started with a foray into female killers territory with this offbeat story of love and obsession between two women on the run in gloomy northern England.

The Roommate

Naturally, the subject obsessive, dangerous women was also treated in lesser films, such as this college-set, teens-oriented film about a young student and her new, unhinged best friend, which is headed, as Time Out New York’s critic put it, towards “basic-cable eternity.”

The Devil’s Rejects

Psycho women don’t always work solo, sometimes they’re part of a whole clan of murderers being chased by bounty hunters and all sorts of law enforcement officers on account of a gruesome violence spree they’ve perpetrated.

Audition

You can always count on Japanese cinema to take things to the extreme, as exemplified by this surreal and gory view of the mentally unstable femme fatale theme by the ever lurid Takashi Miike.

Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl

You can also always counton the fact that there will be an even more extreme Japanese filmmaker than the one you know – two, to be exact: Yoshihiro Nishimura & Naoyuki Tomomatsu make Miike look almost wholesome with this offering of uninhibited rivalry between a vampire and a mad scientist.

Kalifornia

And finally, the birthday girl herself, here (a year before her more famous, postmodern collaboration with Woody Harrelson) teaming up to a murderous pair with none other than Brad Pitt, as they go on the road, terrorizing a yuppie couple.

/aw:TrackMoves /

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