It has been 50 years since Hollywood introduced one of the movie world’s most terrifying villains to audiences. Over the history of cinema, there have been several major villains in movies, from fan favorites like Darth Vader to brutal killers like Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers. However, one of Hollywood’s scariest villains was a terrifying human.
In 1975, director Milos Forman brought the world his masterpiece, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a movie that was one of only three in history to win every major award at the Oscars. Of those major wins, Best Actress went to Louise Fletcher, the actress who brought the terrifying Nurse Ratched to life.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Celebrates 50th Anniversary
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was released in theaters on November 19, 1975, a movie based on the novel by Ken Kesey. The story follows a man named Randle McMurphy, who was convicted of statutory rape, although he said he believed she was 18. He claims mental illness to get into a mental institution rather than a work farm.
This was his biggest mistake, because he soon learned that things were worse in this mental institution than they would have been working hard labor. Director Miloš Forman went a long way in showing the different people living in this mental institution, bringing together some great actors displaying various mental health concerns.
However, Forman never made any of these patients anything more than people who needed someone to help them. The brilliance here was that he then introduced the one person who was supposed to be helping them, Nurse Ratched. The problem is that she intimidates the patients through fear, hurting them more than helping them.
The story connected with audiences, critics, and awards organizations. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was one of only three movies in history to win all the major Oscar awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay). It remains a masterpiece, and much of it is thanks to Nurse Ratched.
Nurse Ratched Remains Hollywood’s Most Terrifying Villain
Louise Fletcher starred as Nurse Mildred Ratched, and she delivered a terrifying performance as the woman who was supposed to be helping patients, but chose to bully them instead. Playing Ratched as a passive-aggressive abuser, she used her power to show her dominance over others and never took responsibility for her actions.
When Billy (Brad Dourif) dies by suicide, it is mainly because of his treatment at the hands of Nurse Ratched. However, thanks to her position of power, she pushes the blame onto McMurphy. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’s ending, which sees her order the lobotomy of the sane McMurphy, was a horrifying moment.
It is a rare movie that sees a convicted criminal like McMurphy seen as the sympathetic victim, while a nurse tasked with keeping control over a group of patients is the villain. However, Fletcher delivers such a menacing and threatening performance that Nurse Ratched went down in history as a villain compared to Hannibal Lecter.
When the American Film Institute named the greatest villains in film history, Nurse Ratched earned the fifth spot on that list. Of these villains, there were only two women in the top five, and the only one ahead of Nurse Ratched was the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz.
Nurse Ratched Received New Life In A Streaming Series
Decades later, Ryan Murphy tried to humanize Nurse Ratched somewhat with his Netflix streaming series Ratched. Here, Sarah Paulson played Mildred Ratched, and the series showed that her role as a terrifying and brutal nurse stemmed from her time as an army nurse during World War II.
This portrayal of one of cinema’s most despised villains didn’t match up with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and ended after one season, despite getting a two-season order. In the series, her brother is a convicted murderer whom she wants to save, and she realizes it is too late. She isn’t the villain fans loved to hate.
What many fans might have forgotten was that Nurse Ratched also appeared in a fantasy series before that. She was a villain in the ABC series Once Upon a Time, where Ingrid Torrance played the character. She worked for the Evil Queen at the Storybrooke Sanitarium.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Remains Relevant Today
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is 50 years old in November 2025, and it is just as relevant today as it was when it was released. The threat of lobotomies that played into the story’s ending is not prevalent now. However, the lack of care for mental health issues is just as dangerous now as it was before.
However, the themes under the surface are what play so strongly today. Milos Forman is from Czechoslovakia, and he once wrote that “The Communist Party was my Nurse Ratched, telling me what I could and could not do.” While Kesey’s novel is about mental health concerns, the movie is about authoritarianism.
The movie asks people to explore what it means to be free, and how passive-aggressive authority figures can bully people into subservience, whether these are nurses, bosses, or even world leaders. It is about pushing people into agreeing to remain oppressed. When someone like McMurphy stands up to the system, he is destroyed.
The American Film Institute named it the 20th greatest movie of all time on its “100 Years… 100 Movies” list. On the 10th anniversary of that list, it dropped to #33, but was still very high considering its history. It also listed the moment that the Chief escaped as the 17th best moment in its “100 Years… 100 Cheers” list.
The Library of Congress also added One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to the National Film Registry in 1993, naming it one of the most important films in history. While she was the villain, Nurse Ratched plays a significant role in the film’s continued legacy.
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