Unhinged Hitman: Anton Chigurh

The film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men (2007) is not a horror film but the main antagonist known as Anton Chigurh is very much in those nightmare-inducing realms. Javier Bardem got universal acclaim for his chilling performance and I’d say there is a better than fair chance it will remain his most enduring when the filmography is complete.

You see, there is something about the psychopath that demands our attention, sucks us in. Many house wives who gorge on romance are still partial to shows about killers as there is a part of our nature that loves to spy into the macabre psychology of another – perhaps because it resides in us all but only flourishes in a few. The psycho appears to be tuned into a different frequency.

With Anton the only bit of culture or ‘fair play’ he seems to have lies in a very warped sense of destiny via forcing his potential victims to flip a coin. “I can’t call it for you,” is delivered with floor-rumbling bass. A total lack of expression is occasionally broken with an amused grin as he acts as judge, jury and executioner. Getting shot with a captive bolt stunner would not be a pleasant experience, but it is more so what we read between the lines with Anton that unnerves.

Consider that communication is mainly shaped by tone and body language. The fact Anton is completely unmoved and insistent is what truly defines him. It makes one forget about the immediate danger of being killed and ponder just what exactly you’re are talking to. He’s not simply a bad man. He’s a monster parading as a human. Everything he says comes from a bottomless pit of no remorse.

As far as hitmen go, others may be more efficient, but Anton has no peer when it come to the dread factor. He also was given a hair cut which made him have to suffer the fate of “not getting laid for three months.”