# What's the best screen portrayal of the Devil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [September 26, 2022, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235 "2022-09-26T03:56:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/61 "2022-09-27T17:50:32Z")
I liked Mark Pellegrino’s Satan. Smooth, likeable when he wanted to be, convincing when he wanted to be, but ultimately a deeply evil and angry child of a petulant God. Tom Ellis’ Lucifer was campy and fun, but once in a while when he put on his devil face and got really mad he could be quite scary. But the portrayal was that the devil was just misunderstood and not a bad guy, but he had serious daddy issues. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/62 "2022-09-28T03:32:26Z")
I’m partial to Paul Williams in _Phantom of the Paradise_, though it’s arguable whether he’s actually the Devil. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/63 "2022-09-28T03:43:16Z")
Came to post this. Plus this show came out when I was 20 something. Which just cemented my view on the character at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/64 "2022-09-28T04:10:16Z")
The realm the Devil chose to inhabit and use was very apt. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/65 "2022-09-28T17:17:28Z")
Mr. Skin in Highway 61. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/66 "2022-09-28T18:30:09Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I liked _The Ninth Gate,_ as a gestalt, anyway. Me, too, but I liked the book a lot better (_The Club Dumas_). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/67 "2022-09-29T13:30:48Z")
A short-lived animated show some years ago – **God, the Devil and Bob** – had a decent Devil. And Jim Garner as God. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/68 "2022-09-29T13:35:39Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > Mr. Skin in Highway 61. This is my vote, 90% because of this scene. The Devil is chasing someone across the country, and he’s run out of money, so he stops at a church bingo game and wins everything. As he walks out the door, someone mutters that he’s a cheater, and he stops: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oS2hVR_4uJ0/hqdefault.jpg ""I won because I was lucky..."") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS2hVR_4uJ0) …and there’s also this scene, in which the Devil buys another soul. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/D7BJKMg_RgI/hqdefault.jpg ""Highway 61" - Satan Purchases Another Soul") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7BJKMg_RgI) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/69 "2022-09-29T13:43:42Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > Mr. Skin in Highway 61. Oh, yeah, how could I forget this one? The Bingo Exit Scene alone makes him deliciously evil. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oS2hVR_4uJ0/hqdefault.jpg ""I won because I was lucky..."") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS2hVR_4uJ0) "Lady, you can’t cheat at bingo. If you could, I would, but you can’t. I won because I was lucky. Lucky to wind up in a town full of _losers_!" _\>Ostentatiously dumps the macrame plant holder someone donated as a prize n the garbage before walking out\<_ ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/70 "2022-09-29T13:44:43Z")
I approve, obviously, of your taste in scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/71 "2022-09-29T13:48:06Z")
This is what I get for not scrolling enough! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/72 "2022-09-29T13:50:23Z")
IIRC There was a huge outcry against the show. It showed G-d as just wanting us to be kind to each other and the devil as impotent, lying coward. You can see how this is objectionable. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/73 "2022-09-29T13:54:31Z")
Wasn’t God represented as a sort of Jerry Garcia hippie dude? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/74 "2022-09-29T13:58:30Z")
Not that I recall, but my memory may be off. I do remember he reveals himself to Bob in a bar over a beer. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/75 "2022-09-29T14:01:36Z")
Nice! And Bob was French Stewart. The show was ahead of its time. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/76 "2022-09-29T14:37:53Z")
Clearly the sheriff who’s chasing McGill and his compatriots around. But in the sense of the story (The Odyssey retold as set in 1930s Mississippi), the sheriff isn’t the devil, he’s the analogue of Poseidon. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/77 "2022-09-29T17:27:50Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > This is my vote, 90% because of this scene. Spoilered for those who haven’t seen this fun little movie: He’s NOT actually Satan though, as the end of the film makes clear much to his despair. So he’s disqualified 🙂. But I do so love that second scene where he is negotiating for that little girl’s soul - that is actually my favorite scene in the entire film (Jello Biafra playing an asshole Customs officer is up there as well, just for the meta joke). Priceless indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/78 "2022-09-29T18:11:23Z")
Ima just say it was Mr. Skin, not the actor, who met the OP’s requirement :). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/79 "2022-09-29T19:37:35Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Elizabeth Hurley in the _Bedazzled_ re-make. She could have my worthless soul if I could just sit at her left hand and stare. There was a version of _The Devil and Daniel Webster_ with Jennifer Love Hewitt, but I don’t think it was ever released. Most depictions of the devil are a combination of malevolent and seductive. I feel like there’s some potential in having a devil who’s bugs-ear cute, but this remake was allegedly dreadful. I just looked it up, and the actual title was _Shortcut to Happiness_. According to Wikipedia, the rights were acquired from a bankruptcy court a few years after it was filmed, and it was shown at a few festivals, but it doesn’t say much about an actual release. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235/80 "2022-09-29T19:43:45Z")
Wow… this many replies and no one has mentioned him: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/sz-Yw0c7cF0/maxresdefault.jpg "The People's Court - Saturday Night Live") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz-Yw0c7cF0) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-screen-portrayal-of-the-devil/972235.md?page=5)