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Vixens, tramps, dames… the femme fatale has been called many things, extending her fatal charm's sphere of influence to include not just film noir, but also gritty thrillers and the occasional Basic Instinct .

From Bond girls to Sin City , these dangerous broads have used their sex appeal at point-blank range, duping even the best private dicks and honest cops. Sometimes, they even show up with eyes batting and sob stories spilling, sans agenda, waiting for their knight in coffee-stained armor to save them. And with Jessica Alba 's new movie, Awake , arriving in theatres on Friday, and featuring our favorite Babe (ye be warned, there be spoilers here!) using her husband's medical operation as a catalyst to steal his money and his heart, Stars thought it was time to rank and file the best of these gold-digging, homicidal hotties - and thus call them out, so that potential saps everywhere know what to look for the next time they actually believe an Alba, a Stone, or a Vesper want them for just their minds.

5. Nancy Callahan

This chaps-wearing stripper is, quite literally, the girl with a heart of gold. And while she doesn't directly inflict harm on her potential saviors, she definitely, indirectly, puts some of them in harm's way. Just ask Bruce Willis' Hartigan, a cop who knows both the allure and the risk that comes with Nancy. A victim of crime herself, Nancy seems too innocent to realize the power of her charms - which makes her all the more dangerous to resist.

Plus, she looks a lot like the Alba. Which doesn't help a brutha out…

4. Breathless Mahoney

Only Madonna could pull off this act… and those dresses. While she doesn't hit Chinatown pathos, Dick Tracy 's leading dame does manage to effectively unhinge our detective in the yellow coat. Bonus points for pulling double duty as The Blank, a faceless, voice-deficient crime figure who rattles Tracy's cage whenever Breathless isn't on stage shaking her money maker.

3. Catwoman

And no, we don't mean Halle Berry's abortion of a portrayal. We mean the one that first introduced us fanboys to the benefits of skin-tight fine and a whip.

Michelle Pfeiffer's mousy Selina Kyle - and her alter ego -make for the kind of femme fatale guys like Bruce Wayne can't help but fall for. But it's a relationship that can't get past the utility belt, though not for lack of trying. Denied happiness with both Bruce and The Bat, Catwoman (like most femme fatales) aligns with an outsider - the Penguin - and ends up straddling the wrong side of the law.

Following an explosion, she was presumed dead, but this kitty has nine lives, as seen when Catwoman defiantly returns just in time to see the Bat Signal. Batman hopes that means more cat licks to his cowl.

2. Kelly Van Ryan

Sure, Sharon Stone Basic Instinct -ed all over Michael Douglas. The Gellar had Cruel Intentions toward her step-brother. But Denise Richards' Van Ryan got her Wild Things on with both Neve Campbell and Matt Dillon. Together. Simultaneously.

What Catwoman did for black leather, the KVR did for threesomes. Her vampy, trampy ways - best showcased in a sky-blue bikini - helped her use wealth and popularity to pull the wool over the eyes of Johnny Drama's older brother. In classic Femme Fatale tradition, Kelly Van Ryan put on a na¿ve, spoiled-bitch front and let her chesticles, er, hidden motives do all the work.

1. Vesper Lynd

Stop shaking your heads. This is the girl that broke - and therefore made - James Bond.

No matter how hard Vesper tries, that hat will never hide her shame,

Using her sharp wit and bountiful, um, charms, Vesper gave 007 a run for his money, or rather Her Majesty's money, as she controlled how much Bond could gamble in Casino Royale 's high-stakes poker game. In doing so, she revealed to suffer from classic FF symptoms: chip on her shoulder, ex-boyfriend in danger to justify her betrayal, and the inevitable double-cross, which leaves Bond quite shaken and stirred.

Unlike most femme fatales, Vesper owned up to her duplicitous ways, but only too late. For she, like Bond, was beyond saving. And the only thing that hurts more than knowing the woman you loved burned you, is that she really did love you while doing it.

Got a beef with the dames on this list? Then vote for who is your favorite - or least favorite - femme fatale. And don't forget to add a comment or two when you do!