For me writing bad guys is the best part of writing, period. If evil deeds do get to a place where it starts to make my skin crawl, then I largely do what Scott has outlined here: separate from the material. I love plenty of movies where characters do awful things - so remembering that these are all just movies (and potential movies) is important, while still giving vile actions proper gravity.

I don't remember where I heard/read it, but from a villain's point-of-view, HE'S the hero in the story of his life, and the movie's "hero" is his nemesis. I wonder if it's harder writing villains that connect with the audience in "Found Footage" types of movies, since the director and writer don't have the freedom of cutting away to the villain hatching a new plot or making his nefarious moves, unless there's a logical reason for a camera to be filming him there. Being able to cut to the villain interacting with his crew keeps him front and center in the audience's mind, and helps flesh him out and a fully formed character, rather than just a distant concept that is vaguely present as we spend every second with the protagonists. Imagine if we couldn't see Hans Gruber throw snarky lines at his henchmen or Darth Vader force-choke an imperial officer. Even though FF is sexy right now, there's still something to be said for the good old omnipresent storyteller.