CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › Best Cinematic Satan?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Best Cinematic Satan?

post #1 of 70
1/1/07 at 10:58pm
Thread Starter 
Lucifer has been portrayed by many different actors, w/ many different styles, over the years on both the large screen and small. Even Bill Cosby got into the act in "The Devil and Max Devlin".

For my money, the best one I've seen (and I know I haven't seen anywhere near all of them) was Viggo Mortenson in "The Prophecy" w/ Christopher Walken: "Little Tommy Daggett. How I used to love listening to you lying in bed saying your sweet prayers, so afraid that I'd be under there. AND I WAS!" The delivery of that line is so delightfully demented it makes me laugh as much as it makes my skin creep (C'mon, devil under your bed? That's scary). My favorite Viggo performance to date, and yes, I HAVE Seen LOTR. The extended versions no less.

Honorable mention goes to Roddy McDowell for his portrayal of the Devil on that episode of "Fantasy Island". After Rourke outsmarts him (with the ol' you-can't-take-us-to-hell-because-she's-pregnant-and-you-can't-have-an-innocent-soul bit) screams "DAMN YOU ROURKE!" And Sr. Montalban of course replies, in that Rich Corinthian Leather voice: "Isn't that. . . what you've been trying to do?" Chumpimg off the Prince of Darkness. . . Quien es mas macho?, indeed.

So give your favorite version of the Devil his due and list it here!
Reply
post #2 of 70
1/1/07 at 11:15pm
I'll say DeNiro in Angel Heart. Or Tim Curry.
Reply
post #3 of 70
1/1/07 at 11:23pm
George Burns. And Ned Flanders.
Reply
post #4 of 70
1/1/07 at 11:36pm
I'll second Tim Curry in Legend, at the very least it's the most visually interesting version.
Reply
post #5 of 70
1/1/07 at 11:39pm
Pacino hamming it up in The Devil's Advocate may not have been convincing, but it sure was fun.
Reply
post #6 of 70
1/1/07 at 11:41pm
Mola Ram.
Reply
post #7 of 70
1/2/07 at 12:42am
Walter Huston in All That Money Can Buy, aka The Devil and Daniel Webster: "What is a soul, anyhow? Can you see it? Smell it? Touch it? Noooo...."

Runner-up: Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire.
Reply
post #8 of 70
1/2/07 at 12:49am
Peter Stormare in Constantine was pretty great. He seemed almost giddy in the role.
Reply
post #9 of 70
1/2/07 at 12:51am
Bryne baby, Byrne.
Reply
post #10 of 70
1/2/07 at 1:10am
Another good one, though not exactly cinematic was John Glover in the short lived series Brimestone. He was a very entertaining Satan.
Reply
post #11 of 70
1/2/07 at 1:24am
I'll second the Viggo Mortensen love and add Jack Nicholson in Witches of Eastwick.
Reply
post #12 of 70
1/2/07 at 2:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BubWilliams
Peter Stormare in Constantine was pretty great. He seemed almost giddy in the role.
This is my favorite in recent years, mainly because it was so different, yet it makes perfect sense to me that one of the many forms Satan would take is a slimy Eurotrash reject who looks like he stepped out of the eighties. Francis Lawrence talks about how there's something about Stormare's performance where you can just sort of feel how uncomfortable Lucifer is in his human skin, and it totally works.

Huston as Scratch in Devil and Daniel Webster's a great one, too--especially the end where he takes out the book.

John Glover was, for the longest time, the only reason to watch Smallville, so I wish they'd just hurry up and release "Brimstone" on DVD already.

Byrne was a decent Satan in a bad movie. Haven't seen Viggo or Al's all the way through--though what I saw of Devil's Advocate, I liked.

I heard Bill Cosby actually did a pretty effective Satan in Devil and Max Devilin.

I'm really looking forward to Daniel Craig's take on the character in I, Lucifer.

Also, Daryl Van Horne, technically a demon, not Satan himself. Same for Tim Curry in Legend, he's the Lord of Darkness, but they don't explicitly state whether he's Satan, or just another evil god.
Reply
post #13 of 70
1/2/07 at 3:18am
Danny Elfman, Forbidden Zone.

Welcome to the obscure, suckas.

Seriously, though, Stormare is a great choice. He was one of the things I really liked in Constantine. I admire any actor who's willing to be that bizarre on camera. He works better than most of the rest of the movie, actually.
Reply
post #14 of 70
1/2/07 at 3:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu
Also, Daryl Van Horne, technically a demon, not Satan himself. Same for Tim Curry in Legend, he's the Lord of Darkness, but they don't explicitly state whether he's Satan, or just another evil god.
I think the same is true of Daryl Van Horne, actually. They never say, but I think it's heavily implied that he is the devil himself. I can't say what the deal was in the book, since I haven't read it, but I certainly came away from the movie thinking he was Satan.
Reply
post #15 of 70
1/2/07 at 5:05am
All interesting thoughts. To me, the best satan will always be Linda Blair and all the various voices in The Exorcist, if it is indeed Satan.

Second would be the weird bubbling thing in Prince of Darkness.

And I agree about Viggo M. -- flawless!
Reply
post #16 of 70
1/2/07 at 5:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
I think the same is true of Daryl Van Horne, actually. They never say, but I think it's heavily implied that he is the devil himself. I can't say what the deal was in the book, since I haven't read it, but I certainly came away from the movie thinking he was Satan.
In the book and musical, the three women raise a demon, I think, but not Satan himself. He was played by Ian "Al Swearengen" McShane in the musical, by the way.
Reply
post #17 of 70
1/2/07 at 6:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yt
All interesting thoughts. To me, the best satan will always be Linda Blair and all the various voices in The Exorcist, if it is indeed Satan.
It isn't. The demon is actually named, I think, in the novel, and also in Exorcist II. Of course, everyone would understand if you choose to ignore that movie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu
In the book and musical, the three women raise a demon, I think, but not Satan himself. He was played by Ian "Al Swearengen" McShane in the musical, by the way.
Interesting that they chose to omit that from the movie. Easier for audience identification, I suppose. Then again, from what I've heard, the movie bears little resemblance to the novel anyway.
Reply
post #18 of 70
1/2/07 at 7:27am
In the book, if I recall correctly, Daryl is just a warlock passing through.
Reply
post #19 of 70
1/2/07 at 7:41am
I'm just gonna agree with Robert Deniro in Angel Heart. The guy could actually act once.
Reply
post #20 of 70
1/2/07 at 9:29am
Are you people nuts?

David Warner? TIME BANDITS?

"God isn't interested in technology. He cares nothing for the microchip or the silicon revolution. Look how he spends his time, forty-three species of parrots! Nipples for men! ... Slugs! HE created slugs! They can't hear. They can't speak. They can't operate machinery. Are we not in the hands of a lunatic?"
Reply
post #21 of 70
1/2/07 at 10:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
Danny Elfman, Forbidden Zone.

Welcome to the obscure, suckas.
I'll see your Elfman, and raise you Victor Buono in the 1978 haunted house flick, "The Evil". King Tut owned that role.


And while my avatar was great, he wasn't Satan. His mother was "Night", so a whole other set of deities were involved.
Reply
post #22 of 70
1/2/07 at 12:42pm
Sure, Darkness wasn't THE Devil, but he sure was in a poetic/metaphoric (and visual) kinda way. Perhaps the eerie voice (his father?) he took orders from was Beezlebub himself. As it stands I can deal with the fact that he's my favorite, technicalities or not, based on design and performance alone.

Lesser known Devil cameo= Terence Stamp in Company of Wolves
Hottest Devil= Elizabeth Hurley in Bedazzled

Agreed on the Elfman, Stormaire, Byrne, & Nicholson noms. Deniro & Pacino are too easy.

I'll also add Dave Grohl in Tenacious D's Tribute, Patrick Bergin in Highway to Hell and Max von Sydow in Needful Things for shits & giggles.
Reply
post #23 of 70
1/2/07 at 1:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chavez
Pacino hamming it up in The Devil's Advocate may not have been convincing, but it sure was fun.
Well put. I giggle every time I see the scene where he puts his finger in the holy water at Eddie Barzun's funeral, looking up at the ceiling and grinning w/ the tip of his tongue just protruding past his teeth. Parts of the tirade at the end ("I'M A FAN O' MAN!" or "Overrated. No different from consuming large amounts of chocolate" for instance) poke thru as brilliant. Whether they're brilliant drama or comedy I'm not sure. I'm leaning, as I'm sure most of you are, too, toward comedy. But hey, maybe it's just because I'm a lawyer, but I watch this movie every time I run past it on cable. I really enjoy it.

"But why the law?"

"It's the ultimate backstage pass, baby. Do you know there are more students in law school now than there are lawyers walking the earth? WE'RE COMIN' OUT, BABY! GUNS BLAZIN'!"
Reply
post #24 of 70
1/2/07 at 2:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan "Nordling" Cerny
Are you people nuts?

David Warner? TIME BANDITS?
Seconded.
Reply
post #25 of 70
1/2/07 at 2:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8
Hottest Devil= Elizabeth Hurley in Bedazzled
Seconded, although if that remake of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" ever sees the light of day, Jennifer Love Hewitt may be in the running.
Reply
post #26 of 70
1/2/07 at 4:28pm
Thirding Warner:

"If I were creating a world, I wouldn't mess around with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers. Eight o'clock, Day One!"

Though again, the character isn't precisely Satan. He's Evil Incarnate-- a more abstract concept.

Seconding Bergin in Highway to Hell. I like how he comes across as a decent fellow with a crappy job. Which brings me to the WINNER:

Peter Cook, in the original Bedazzled. Wickedness at its most mundane and self-satisfied.
Reply
post #27 of 70
1/2/07 at 7:49pm
The devil in Passion of the Christ.
Reply
post #28 of 70
1/3/07 at 1:27am
Damien in the original version of The Omen. Nasty little creep.
Reply
post #29 of 70
1/3/07 at 1:41am
Damien was the Anti-Christ, not the Devil.

My money's on Borgnine in The Devil's Rain.
Reply
post #30 of 70
1/3/07 at 1:43am
This will be my third or fourth time mentioning this film on CHUD, but I've got to be the guy, because I don't think anyone else will: Jeff Goldblum in the criminally underseen Mr. Frost. His Satan is the perfect amalgam of quirky, "Old Nick" trickster and omniponent, insurmountable force of evil.

Dig it up on VHS and you'll see what I mean.
Reply
post #31 of 70
1/3/07 at 1:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Collins
My money's on Borgnine in The Devil's Rain.
I KNEW someone was going to mention that one! Great obscure call back. I just never pictured the Devil as having a Brooklyn accent: "There is no evil here; only purity. See thy mutha." Classic!
Reply
post #32 of 70
1/3/07 at 2:38am
Mr. Frost is one I want to see very badly.

Also, the Devil in 'The Passion' is only good for one of the funniest moments in a movie full of laughable, overwrought ones. I'm talking, of course, about the moment when Satan realizes that Hell is empty, because Jesus has saved all the sinners, and he screams to the Heavens.

All that needed was a fist-shake and a "JEEEESSUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" and it would have been perfect.
Reply
post #33 of 70
1/3/07 at 2:40am
Very brief cameo...But Satan has impressive muscle tone in Prince of Darkness.

It was a network Stephen King adaptation, but Colm Feore was pretty solid in Storm of the Century...as was Von Sydow in Needful Things.
Reply
post #34 of 70
1/3/07 at 2:43am
Feore, while excellent (although, like most things, that movie was cursed with King's inability to shorten or end anything), wasn't technically Satan either. Linoge was actually an incredibly old and powerful warlock a la Merlin.

I'm not kidding.
Reply
post #35 of 70
1/3/07 at 3:42am
I thought his name being an anagram for Legion was a giveaway, maybe I was wrong.
Reply
post #36 of 70
1/3/07 at 6:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu
Mr. Frost is one I want to see very badly.

Also, the Devil in 'The Passion' is only good for one of the funniest moments in a movie full of laughable, overwrought ones. I'm talking, of course, about the moment when Satan realizes that Hell is empty, because Jesus has saved all the sinners, and he screams to the Heavens.

All that needed was a fist-shake and a "JEEEESSUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" and it would have been perfect.
I dunno, that fucked up baby Satan was holding at one point made me burst out laughing in a theater full of revelers who gasped when they heard me.
Reply
post #37 of 70
1/3/07 at 7:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JacknifeJohnny
This will be my third or fourth time mentioning this film on CHUD, but I've got to be the guy, because I don't think anyone else will: Jeff Goldblum in the criminally underseen Mr. Frost. His Satan is the perfect amalgam of quirky, "Old Nick" trickster and omniponent, insurmountable force of evil.

Dig it up on VHS and you'll see what I mean.
God dammit, I forgot all about that movie. I love that thing. Anybody who thinks Goldblum's shit has always been weak needs to dose on a double feature of Mister Frost and The Fly. The fact that this isn't available on DVD is a crime.
Reply
post #38 of 70
1/3/07 at 8:36am
I submit that



should win.
Reply
post #39 of 70
1/3/07 at 10:57am
EXORCIST had no devil, just a demon called Pazuzu.

I second Gabriel Byrne.

Worst incarnation: Rodney Dangerfield, Little Nicky.
Reply
post #40 of 70
1/3/07 at 11:16am
Trey Parker in South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut
Reply
post #41 of 70
1/3/07 at 4:45pm
Though not bigscreen related, my favorite Devil has always been Will Ferrell in that Garth Brooks SNL sketch.

"I said the GUITAR... is OUT OF TUNE! 'Fred's Slacks' is a WINNER!"
Reply
post #42 of 70
1/3/07 at 5:05pm
If we're talking about "SNL" devils I always liked Jon Lovitz as Satan on "The People's Court," with Phil Hartman standing in as Judge Wapner.
Reply
post #43 of 70
1/3/07 at 5:07pm
And since we seem to be mentioning pretty much every time the Devil has been portrayed, there's also Adam Sandler in Dirty Work.

But yes, Byrne was amazing but I still need to see Mr. Frost.
Reply
post #44 of 70
1/3/07 at 5:18pm
Re: Exorcist/Pazuzu - yes, that's what it's named, but the devil lies. It could just as easily be Old Scratch himself. But its identity is never confirmed one way or the other.

I am thirding Max Von Sydow in Needful Things. GENIOUS!
Reply
post #45 of 70
1/3/07 at 6:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll
And since we seem to be mentioning pretty much every time the Devil has been portrayed, there's also Adam Sandler in Dirty Work.
If we're gonna do that, then we have to mention John Ritter in Wholly Moses.
Reply
post #46 of 70
1/3/07 at 6:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson
If we're gonna do that, then we have to mention John Ritter in Wholly Moses.
Speaking of Jack Tripper and listing all versions, Jeffrey Jones in Stay Tuned.
Wait, he was just a hell employee, a lesser devil... oh well.

I wonder how Peter Fonda will hold up...
Reply
post #47 of 70
1/3/07 at 8:11pm
The Devil in The Company of Wolves is a clear win for me.
Reply
post #48 of 70
1/3/07 at 9:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by yt
Max Von Sydow in Needful Things. GENIOUS!
From what I can remember in the book, its never stated that Satan's the shop owner. I think at the end of the book the character turns into some small hunchbacked impish looking man. Could have just been a demon and not Satan.
Reply
post #49 of 70
1/3/07 at 10:57pm
Thread Starter 
Agreed. I'm not sure what the hell he was, but I never thought of him as Satan.
Reply
post #50 of 70
1/4/07 at 1:57am
It's Max Von Sydow...He's playing Satan.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Creature Corner Main
CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › Best Cinematic Satan?