The Top 10 Best Movie Devils
When it Comes to Movie Devils, it’s All in the Details.
This week Stars & Popcorn is getting its heresy on as I take a look at the best movie devils of all time. The Prince of Lies has been appearing in films for almost as long as they’ve been around thanks to the western dominance of Christianity. We all know that Lucifer is supposed to be a bad guy, but there’s just something mesmerizing about his silver screen personas. In fact, I dare say that no two movie devils are the same. So, when it came to narrowing it down to a list of the 10 best, I had my work cut out for me. The one rule I set in place for this list is that characters have to be THE devil. The head honcho/ ultimate evil him/herself. That means the antichrist doesn’t qualify for a spot here (sorry, Damian) and no lesser demons just doing his bidding. I also require that these cinematic Satans’ have lines and interact with other characters in a tangible form. So, mysterious whispers and blurry background figures won’t count (sorry, Rosemary’s Baby). That being said, grab your crucifixes and say your prayers, because these movie devils are looking for souls to steal.
10. “Dad”- Little Nicky
There are a lot of names that movie devils go by, Satan, Belzebub, Lucifer, The Morning Star, Carl… However, sometimes the lord of the underworld simply goes by “Dad.” Adam Sandler stars as Little Nicky, the son of the devil and an angel (also known as just 2 angels). Nicky is torn over whether to be good or evil and it’s made him into a neurotic mess. Luckily, he’s got his good old dad (Harvey Keitel) to help show him the ropes. Of course, he wants Nicky to follow in his footsteps and take over the family business of torturing the souls of the damned for all eternity. It’s not a bad gig, considering the scum that ends up in Hell (there’s an especially nice scene involving him, Hitler, and a rather large pineapple…) and some might even consider it doing bad for a good reason. Despite his hopes for Nicky, Dad is okay accepting his boy for who he is.
9. “The Man”- End of Days
Gabriel Byrne’s The Man takes his alias from the classic Johnny Cash song, as he pays a visit to the surface world just in time for y2k. While the rest of the world was worried about computers crashing and ending humanity, The Man had other plans in mind. See, deep down he’s really a family man who wants… a rugrat who will rise up and lead his armies in an eternal war with heaven. Byrne’s take on the character is one of complete disinterest in mortals and their ways. He’s not afraid to flex his metaphorical muscles in awesome displays of power as he hunts for the mother of his unborn child. Who could possibly stop the embodiment of pure evil? Arnold Schwarzenegger, that’s who! And why not? He’s done battle with pretty much everything else over the years. It was only a matter of time until he took on the devil.
8. The Devil- Bedazzled
Who says movie devils can’t be sexy?. It kind of makes sense that the Prince of Darkness would assume a pleasing form to deal with mortals, and in the 90s that form was Elizabeth Hurley. She puts Brandon Frasier through his paces in the deal-with-the-devil flick, Bedazzled, as he trades his soul for seven wishes. Why seven wishes? Well, because humans are dumb when it comes to the fine print and being specific. So, every one of Frasier’s wishes gets twisted into the worst possible version of it. Hurley plays the role with a delightful sense of sultry confidence, allowing her to toy with her prey like a demonic house cat as she twists his own words against him. Personally, I can think of worse people to be tortured by, but I’m also an idiot. Hurley might not be the scariest of the big screen Beelzebubs, but she’s definitely the easiest on the eyes.
7. Satan-Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
Anyone who knows the story of Robert Johnson or has heard the legend of the time the Devil went down to Georgia, knows that Satan has a fondness for music. In fact, most of his soul trading business is with aspiring musicians. So, it’s no wonder that he ended up going toe-to-toe with Jack Black and Kyle Gass (AKA KG) over the pick of destiny. Since it’s a battle of the bands, it’s pretty fitting that Satan is played by legendary rock superstar, Dave Grohl. Grohl is everything you’d expect from Satan from the big horns, red skin, and cloven hoofs to the rude and crude attitude. This battle definitely looks one-sided at first, but leave it to Tenacious D to rock out with the greatest song in the world to beat the devil. Just don’t expect them to remember how it went. They were pretty high. There’s a pretty catchy tribute to it though.
6. Louis Cyphre- Angel Heart
When the devil hires you to do a job, you see it through. This time around, Satan is going by the alias Louis Cyphre. He hires private detective Harry Angel to track down a John Liebling AKA Johnny Favorite in the 1950s. Unable to see through the terrible homonym for Lucifer that his client is using, Harry sets off on a twisting tale in one of the best urban fantasy films to ever grace the big screen. His investigation leads him down a dark path as Harry learns the terrible secret behind John Liebling and Louis Cyphre. Cyphre himself is a pretty cool customer, unflustered even when Harry tries to break his contract with him. Robert De Niro was apparently a big fan of the original book and was offered the role of Harry Angel originally. However, he had his heart set on playing the devil, and that turned out to be one of his best performances ever.