You wanna see a movie that will give you chills about Nazis in your neighborhood? Go rent “Apt Pupil” — it is one of my favorite films (no, not because it’s got Nazis, you asses) but because the acting and overall tension of the film are so amazingly maintained once it gets going, and that film doesn’t take long to turn up the intensity. You first find yourself hating the kid and feeling bad for the old guy…

But you won’t stay that way.

That’s a good example of Nazis Who Remain Threatening…and there are many films and places where they will forever remain some of the scariest figures in history.

On the converse, Nazis have been used as comedy in more than one place. Sometimes, the best way to overcome an enemy is to make a fool of them. Best examples? The old classic “Stalag 17″ and its TV pal “Hogan’s Heroes.” Though the Nazis in “Stalag” are more menacing than those in “Hogan’s,” they are still largely made out to be fools. In Hogan’s, you watch and wonder how the Nazis–portrayed as hideously disorganized, flaky pawns–could have ever kept Hogan & his buddies in a bunker.

Nazis are scary and still walk among us, vermin that they are, just in a different form. But we’ve also had a big laugh at them…Monty Python fueled HOW many skits with German soldiers?

Yeah, keep counting. It might take you a while.