Let's face it - not all relationships end well, and even those that do are sometimes plagued by one participant's unwillingness to let go and move on.
With the super-powered debut of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World just around the corner (in theaters Aug. 13!), we thought we'd take a stroll through a terrifying retrospective of the most Nightmare Exes in Film. There's no limit to the amount of jilted lovers on the silver screen, but these ones take the cake when it comes to true psycho-ex antics.
Kill Bill (2003)
Talk about redefining vengeful exes! Tarantino's masterpiece unfolds when a top female assassin (Uma Thurman) gets pregnant, decides to quit the business and marry her lover - but ruthless ringleader and baby-daddy/mentor/lover Bill (David Carradine) has other plans. Together with a murderous task force he rains on her wedding-day parade, slaughtering all in attendance and putting a bullet in The Bride's head - sending her into a four-year coma. When she awakens, a whole new breed of hell is unleashed, giving rise to the question of who the real nightmare ex is in this epic tale.
Sleeping With the Enemy (1991)
Martin (Patrick Bergin) is controlling to the point of suffocation, and when Laura (Julia Roberts) fakes her own death to get away, he finds out and follows her all the way to Iowa. A suspense-filled thriller of a cat and mouse chase unfolds as the deranged hubby stalks his wife - so he can put and end to her once and for all.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
David (Paul Rudd) refuses to get over Amy (Mindy Kaling), his ex-girlfriend just because she "went down on some guy in an Escalade" - not to mention breaking up with him, moving, changing her phone number and e-mail address. When they unexpectedly meet again at a speed-dating gathering, David sinks to new lows of psycho desperation, affectionately telling her "this is so us" as they argue. Desperation is an ugly funk, and it's bound to turn even the strongest men psycho.
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz) may be beautiful, but she's also heavily on the side of jealous-rage bonkers. Unable to handle relegation to "friends with benefits" when she sees sex buddy David (Tom Cruise) enamored with another woman, she drives herself and him into a ravine, resulting in reconstructive surgery on David's face and a spiral into mind-bending psychological surrealism.
My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
Things just didn't work out between Matt Saunders (Owen Wilson) and Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman), so he broke up with her. Case closed, right? Well, not exactly. Jenny happens to be a superhero known as G-Girl, and her perspective may be a little... out of whack. Scorned and bitter, Jenny uses her powers to make Matt’s life a living hell, which as it turns out is pretty easy to do when you've got ultra-revenge and super-spite at your disposal.
Fatal Attraction (1987)
There is no greater depiction of true psychotic hysteria than in Fatal Attraction, in which Dan's (Michael Douglas) life is forever altered after a weekend tryst with Alex (Glenn Close). Though he changes his number and moves his family she finds him, boils his daughter's bunny, shows his kids a sex tape they made and tries to kill his wife. Top that, psychos!
There's Something About Mary (1998)
Dom "Woogie" Woganowski (Chris Elliott) never quite got over his obsession with Mary (Cameron Diaz) from high school, but he seems to have managed it well - until he sees her again and breaks out in hives just by being near her. Stealing shoes and generally acting like a romantic Gollum, Woogie nearly derails Ben Stiller's plans to seduce the blonde bombshell.
Fear (1996)
Mark Wahlberg stars as David, a good looking kid who seems to be a quiet romantic - until his girlfriend breaks up with him. It's at this point that he comes unhinged, and his love becomes a deadly and terrifying obsession that's a hell of a lot less exciting than the love scene on the rollercoaster in the first act.
Crush (1993)
When 14 year-old Darian (Alicia Silverstone) develops a crush on 28 year old Nick (Cary Elwes) he rejects her advances, so she hatches a diabolical revenge strategy that's an ultimate nightmare for any man. The beehive scene alone still has us itching.
