Walken has attracted strong cult following as an actor. One reason for this is the type of films he has appeared in, for example gangster and science fiction/fantasy films, or films by directors with their own cult following such as Abel Ferrara, David Cronenberg and Quentin Tarantino. But more important factors are his odd appearance, his quirky mannerisms, his unique delivery and his ability to exude menace. This cult status is demonstrated by the number of photoshopped images of Walken on the net, the frequency of impersonations either by amateurs or other professional actors (notably Kevin Spacey and Jay Mohr), the invention of fictitious stories about his activities and the invention of various things he might have said. There is also the fan practice of rote reciting some of his speeches from film - for example True Romance, Pulp Fiction and The Prophecy (see below). There are even short films and plays which use his persona.

Like many others, I find Christopher Walken's performances and the films he's been in both fascinating and thought provoking. French philosopher Michel Foucault writes: 'I only write because I don't know exactly what to think about this thing that I want so much to think about.' (Michel Foucault, 'Entretien avec Michel Foucault', in Dits et écrits. t. IV. Paris: Gallimard, 1994. pp. 41-2).

It is in this spirit that I have taken the opportunity on this website to explore various themes and ideas I find to be of interest. As such, this site focuses less on Walken's status as 'celebrity' and more on his work. (1) I welcome discussion, so please feel free to email me. Please let me know as well if you see any inaccuracies in the information presented on this site. I will add reviews as I get time (a slow process). As Walken has been in over 90 films, it may be some time before this site could be described as anywhere near comprehensive! I have included links to other sites dealing with each of the films. Please email me if you would like to have other links added.

A number of the texts which are currently on the review pages are unfinished but will be gradually added to when I have time.

Please be aware that reviews on this website contain spoilers. I have also included my own personal and highly subjective rating system out of 10. One final comment: the texts on this site are copyright. I would be grateful if you could acknowledge any use of these texts either by linking to this site or including a brief reference.

All sources for the pictures used on this site have been listed on the individual pages on which they are found. If anyone would like to be further acknowledged for the visual material on this site please email me.

This site was designed on an iMac with Pagespinner (a text editor) and Adobe photoshop (of which I only have a very basic knowledge) and checked on a few browsers and PCs. Both usb and firewire video capture technology were used to capture images. The front page is a heavily modified version of a template found at Steve's free templates. Trying to get pages that work consistently across browsers and platforms is the web designer's nightmare, so if you come across any design problems please don't hesitate to let me know.

A special note of thanks to Robyn Heyworth for prompting the initial idea which led to this site. In a champion effort, Robyn also came up with the title after an intensive workshop over fish and chips and a bottle of wine. It must be stated that this workshop involved a truly horrifying number of bad puns and alliterative efforts with 'w's! I would also like to thank Bruce Mitchell and Rebecca English for helpful hints re design on the site and Carolyn Hinton for all the hard to find Walken material, proof reading and editorial suggestions. I am also most grateful to various friends and correspondents for discussion.

If you are curious about what my pseudonym 'Panopticon' means, this site should reveal all! My real name and details can be found on my other site: Michel Foucault: Resources. Just one more piece of information: I am located in Australia.