Switchblade Sam

Switchblade Sam is the main villain in the 1993 John Hughes family film, Dennis the Menace. He is the town robber and played by Christopher Lloyd. Unlike the other characters, Switchblade Sam was never referred to by his name, neither when spoken to nor when spoken about.

He is a travelling vagrant and robber who is not against violence - in fact he is aptly named as he carries around a switchblade knife (hence the name) with him and has no problems with threatening children in order to get what he wants: despite the comedic nature of the film Switchblade Sam was actually a rather dark and intimidating villain, at least until Dennis found ways to outsmart the criminal - after which he lost his threat as he became the focus of numerous slapstick mishaps in a manner similiar to Harry and Marv from Home Alone.