It’s Movie Villain Monday and today’s movie villain was suggested by more than one of you in the comments on my Facebook page.
It’s The Kurgan From Highlander (1986).
Who is The Kurgan?
The Kurgan is the main antagonist and adversary of Connor MacLeod (of the clan MacLeod) in the classic 80s sci-fi adventure thriller. He was played by the talented and versatile Clancy Brown.
Story:
The Kurgan was a cruel and murderous immortal who lived under the alias of Victor Kruger (in 1980s New York City). He was originally a member of the Kurgan clan and was one of the immortals looking to claim “The Prize”, a power and special ability given to the last living immortal warrior during “The Gathering”.
Physical Appearance:
This character terrified me as a kid! His huge stature, and deep gravelly voice just added to his already menacing appearance. He’s even more terrifying later on in the movie when he’s shaved his head and has safety pins holding his throat together (well, you know what I mean)...
He was so scary in fact that according to Highlander’s director Russell Mulcahy, the crew felt that Brown had “become” the Kurgan and some refused to go near him. 😆
Trivia:
Funnily enough, Clancy Brown wanted the character to wear a suit and bowler hat.
He said in an interview shortly after the film came out,
“You expect a heavy metal punker with skulls on his jacket to be a bad guy, but the really tough, mean, and nasty people don’t necessarily wear clothes like that and look like that.”
Fortunately or unfortunately he didn’t get his way....
Highlander didn’t perform great on its initial release and was met with mixed reviews by critics. Like many other films though, it’s since become a classic and has given us great lines like “There can be only one”, not to mention songs like “Who wants to live forever” and “A Kind of Magic” as well as others by Queen who wrote and performed the songs for the soundtrack.
“It’s better to burn out than to fade away!”
Who should I feature next week? 🤔