The Mind Snatchers (1972)
Aka The Happiness Cage. This is the first film in which Walken played the starring role. He playes a borderline sociopathic American soldier, Private James Reese, stationed in Germany in a science fiction film which deals with mind control and normalisation - themes very much in the air at the time the film was made. Walken puts in a solid performance, producing some of his characteristic trademarks of menace and stillness. His youthful boy band appearance is quite striking for those used to seeing him as an older actor.

Annie Hall (1977)
This Oscar winning film directed by Woody Allen is often cited by Walken and others as the first film that brought the actor and his unusual qualities to the attention of the mainstream viewing public. In a lightning appearance, he plays the strange and suicidally fixated brother of Annie Hall (Dianne Keaton) providing the opportunity for a couple of fine comic reactions from Woody Allen.

The Deer Hunter (1978)
Walken won an Oscar for best supporting actor with his performance in this controversial film. He plays Nick, a young working class man with a poetic bent who is destroyed by the experience of war in Vietnam. Walken's perfomance is notable for his transformation from a sensitive, gentle character to a zoned out lost soul, high on drugs and gambling with his life at Russian roulette.
Useful links
The Deer Hunter Tribute site

Heaven's Gate (1980)
This film is worth mentioning for the immense scandal it caused both during its production and after its release. It led to the financial ruin of United Artists, hastened the end of directorial control of films in Hollywood and offended many in a climate marked by a return to political conservatism with the election of Ronald Reagan. The film received extremely negative reviews in the USA, but was seen in a more favourable light by European critics and a 2004 re-release in selected cinemas in the USA and Australia has attracted a more positive reevaluation of the artistic merits of the film. Although Walken's role does not provide him with the opportunities offered by Michael Cimino's previous film The Deer Hunter, his cold and alien menace as a highly efficient hired gun is unexpectedly offset by a romantic vulnerability and a subtly amusing take on his character, Nat Champion's aspirations to social betterment.

The Dead Zone (1983)
Walken plays a school teacher, Johnny Smith, who after lying in a coma for five years awakes to find he has psychic powers. The role is currently being reprised by Anthony Michael Hall in a TV series of the same name. Walken later spoofed his role in a sketch in Saturday Night Live in a sketch titled "Trivial Psychic". Walken's otherworldly looks and his ability to play vulnerable damaged characters are put to good effect here.

The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
This art house film directed by Paul Schrader who scripted Taxi Driver has the notable distinction of providing a role for Walken that disturbed even Walken. He plays a decadent Italian aristocrat, Robert, who lives with his wife (Helen Mirren) in Venice. Robert has extreme sexual tastes and murderous tendencies. Walken, sporting Armani suits, provides an understated performance that combines charm, evil and sudden and shocking violence.
Useful links
Interview with Walken (1992)

King of New York (1990)
This film by noted independent New York film maker Abel Ferrara has attracted both a cult following and the attention of serious film theorists (for example Nicole Brenez). Walken has the opportunity and screen time to demonstrate his range and his experimental abilities as an actor in the role of Frank White, a violent gangster with pseudo moral pretentions.
Useful links
Nicole Brenez
'The Actor in (the) Place of the Edit'.

True Romance (1993)
Walken plays a scene opposite Dennis Hopper in this film. This so-called 'Sicilian scene' has become a cult favourite and is frequently hailed by critics - professional and amateur alike - as the best scene in the film. This scene alone is the subject of four commentaries on the DVD attesting to its cult status. After an exchange of dialogue (penned by Quentin Tarantino) Walken's character, Sicilian gangster Vincenzo Coccotti, summarily executes Hopper's character after deliberate provocation by the latter.

Pulp Fiction (1994)
This film, which has received many accolades, contains another frequently quoted cult scene with Walken scripted by Tarantino. Here Walken offers a slightly disturbing but nonethless amusing turn as a Vietnam veteran Captain Koons who in a long speech delivers a watch to a small boy from his dead father. Koons explains just how the watch had been hidden during long years in a prisoner of war camp.

Wild Side (1995)
This film was made by Donald Cammell who directed the experimental landmark film of sixties counter-culture Performance with Mick Jagger. Cammell removed his name from the 1995 studio cut of Wild Side and a far superior 'director's cut' was only released posthumously in 2000. The film boasts one of Walken's most extreme performance. In one notable and lengthy scene his character, international money launderer Bruno Buckingham, high on drugs, graphically threatens to rape his chauffeur, an undercover cop.

The Prophecy (1995)
In this horror film directed by Gregory Widen, also featuring Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen and Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer, Walken takes on the role of the evil Archangel Gabriel. In this account, Gabriel has rebelled against God because God favors humans over the angels. The film and its two sequels (1998, 2000) has attracted a cult following amongst Walken's fans. Two further sequels without Walken have been made - one was released on DVD in 2005. Walken's over the top but nuanced performance in these films is a favourite with many fans.

Weapon of Choice (2001)
Weapon of Choice is a three minute video clip directed by Spike Jonze with music by Fatboy Slim. Spike Jonze has directed numerous other video clips and films such as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. It won six MTV awards in 2001 and also won best video of all time in April 2002, in a list of the top 100 videos of all time, compiled from a survey of musicians, directors and music industry figures conducted by a UK music TV channel VH1. In this video, Walken performs a virtuoso tap dance around the lobby of the Marriott hotel in Los Angeles. Walken also helped choreograph the dance.