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Slumlords and Scumbags: The Most Evil Real Estate Villains In Movie History

If you’re worried your rent check will clear — or at the very least will be cashed after your next paycheck — perhaps you don’t have the greatest relationship with your landlord. Or maybe your rent-controlled apartment is going to go condo and you can’t possibly afford a down payment. Or maybe your favorite dive bar is being torn down and replaced with some obnoxious club that will very likely attract those annoying young people still binge-drinking their way through their post-collegiate years. If any of these scenarios sound familiar, maybe you need a movie in which shady businessmen and ruthless landlords get their comeuppance.

10

The Astoria Country Club, 'The Goonies'

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Photo: Warner Bros.; Courtesy Everett Collection

When the Astoria Country Club plans on razing their homes in Goon Dock, the kids there decide to have one last adventure after discovering a pirate’s map that may lead them to buried treasure. But they also stumble across the Fratellis, a band of robbers who are also on the hunt for the pirate loot. [Where to stream The Goonies]

9

Larry Dittmeyer, 'The Brady Bunch Movie'

the-brady-bunch-movie
Photo courtesy Everett Collection

You can’t trust the kind of guy who hates the Brady clan — especially a real estate developer who is hellbent on buying their infamous house to level it to make room for a shopping mall. [Where to stream The Brady Bunch Movie]

8

Blake, 'Glengarry Glen Ross'

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Photo: New Line Cinema; Courtesy Everett Collection

Sure, all of these guys were jerks, but Alec Baldwin’s character really takes the cake. It’s like David Mamet needed to throw one new scumbag in there, as the character of Blake was written especially for the film adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play. [Where to stream Glengarry Glen Ross]

7

Carrigan Crittenden, 'Casper'

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Photo: Universal; Courtesy Everett Collection

What kind of woman would rent out her haunted house to a single paranormal therapist with a teenage daughter in order to rid her mansion of three disgusting ghosts and one fairly polite one? The kind of woman played by Cathy Moriarty, of course. [Where to stream Casper]

6

Sadie Shelton, 'Big Business'

big-business
Photo: Buena Vista; Courtesy Everett Collection

While Rose might be the nicer of the Shelton twins, it’s Sadie who is a ruthless businesslady that plans to close down a small factory in West Virginia that’ll bring ruin to the town of Jupiter Hollow. But a chance encounter with their real identical twins, from whom they were separated at birth, may just change her tune. [Where to stream Big Business]

5

Buggis, Bunce, and Bean, 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'

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Photo: 20th Century Fox

The trio may be unwilling landlords to Foxy and his furry cohort, who live in the vicinity of their farms. And they certainly aren’t too keen on Foxy’s regular lifting of their chickens. But a simple dispute over property turns into all-out warfare in Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated film based on the Roald Dahl classic. [Where to stream Fantastic Mr. Fox]

4

Noah Cross, 'Chinatown'

chinatown
Photo courtesy Everett Collection

Legendary director John Huston steps in front of the camera for this villainous role in Roman Polanski’s neo-noir about real estate corruption in Los Angeles. Not only is he a ruthless business man, but he’s as cold-blooded in his personal life, as well. [Where to stream Chinatown]

3

Judge Doom, 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'

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Photo: Buena Vista; Courtesy Everett Collection

Here’s a twist for you: a crooked judge, who roams around Los Angeles with a tank of toon-killing turpentine, is actually tied up in a shady real estate deal and hopes to level Toon Town in order to build a freeway. And he’s himself a self-hating toon? You can’t get more crooked than that. [Where to stream Who Framed Roger Rabbit]

2

Mr. Teague, 'Poltergeist'

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Photo: MGM

There’s cutting corners, and then there’s building a neighborhood on a graveyard. Dead people generally don’t love the idea, and you can’t be too shocked when one of your resident’s kids starts talking to ghosts through the TV before being sucked into another dimension. [Where to stream Poltergeist]

1

Henry F. Potter, 'It's a Wonderful Life'

its-a-wonderful-life
Photo courtesy Everett Collection

One of the most revolting villains in movie history, Mr. Potter aims to destroy everything that the saintly George Bailey stands for — and, of course, gets his comeuppance in this perennial holiday classic. [Where to stream It’s a Wonderful Life]