# Your Own Personal Tempter: Best & Worst Satans **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425 "2005-02-22T22:38:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/1 "2005-02-22T22:38:48Z")
A friend who saw _Constantine_ with me liked Peter Stormare’s depiction of Satan as a demented Vincent Schiavelli-esque New Yorker while I think Satan should be in film, as he is in real life, British. What are your favorite takes on Old Nick either in film or literature? In film: Al Pacino in _The Devil’s Advocate_- the film is dreadful but I loved the final 30 minutes of Pacino hamming it up and asking for a grandbaby Elizabeth Hurley in _Bedazzled_(the remake) Peter Cook in _Bedazzled_ (the original, if only because it has one of my favorite exchanges: _Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore): You’re not the devil! You’re a bleedin’ nutcase. The Devil: They said the same thing of Galileo, Pasteur, Columbus and Einstein. Stanley: They also said it about a lot of bleedin’ nutcases._ Robert Judd (as “Scratch”) in CROSSROADS (the "ol’ Blues man goes to redeem his soul ala Robert Johnson version with Joe Seneca and Ralph Macchio, not the same titled totally unrelated movie of a couple of years ago The worst would be either Celentano (sp?) in THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST or Jeroen Krabbe’s Eurotrash take on him (complete with ponytail) in the godawful miniseries JESUS. Just for sexiness, I once saw a photo of Alexis Denisov (Wesley from _Angel_) as Satan from a production of Byron’s CAIN- he was clad in a serpentine loincloth and wings and looked hotter than Pandemonium’s patio in August. Literary: Anne Rice’s _Memnock the Devil_ (a case of a blind squirrel finding a nut) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/2 "2005-02-22T22:42:16Z")
Gabriel Byrne made a good satan. Twice I think. ---
**Author:** ![jeffh3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/34f0e0/32.png) [@jeffh3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeffh3000)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/3 "2005-02-22T23:10:46Z")
One of my favorite Satan’s is John Glover as he portrayed it in “Brimstone” the tv series. His manner here is very"british like", well dressed, delights in his pure evil, with a wicked sense of humor. You should know this actor from tons of movies, and his current portrayal of Lionel Luther on Smallville, who does one of the few good acting jobs on that show. I also have always felt that Christopher Walken would make a good satan, with his dark and offbeat style. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/4 "2005-02-22T23:17:03Z")
I kinda like Satan from “South Park”. \* Ow!\* “Saddam, why do you always make love to me from behind?” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/5 "2005-02-22T23:17:29Z")
Well, the IMDB has 171 listings (some basically redundant) of men (and 25 women) playing Satan or closely related characters. Oddly, they didn’t include Emmanuelle Seigner, who played either one of Satan’s demons or the Great Deceiver himself, in Polanski’s **The Ninth Gate**. (Seigner was great in the role, of a certain age and with a certain cruelty and crudeness in her features that worked well for the film.) I think the female Satans have the advantage of surprise, insofar as everyone basically expects Satan to be a male figure. OTOH, a male Satan can impregnate a woman with the Antichrist, whether she’s willing or not, aware or not, even in the guise of an incubus, if necessary – and what could be more horrifying than that? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/6 "2005-02-22T23:27:41Z")
Peter Cook was a good one, but I’m partial to Mr. Applegate as played by Ray Walston in **Damn Yankees**. He certainly has the best song. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/7 "2005-02-22T23:33:30Z")
I suppose I should use a spoiler: DeNiro as “Louis Cipher” in Angel Heart. All the better when you know that he’s really doing a Scorsese impression. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/8 "2005-02-22T23:34:51Z")
AAAAUUUGH!!! Mods, please fix my horrible coding error. (Does Gaudere’s Law apply to making a coding mistake at the worst possible time?) ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/9 "2005-02-22T23:44:50Z")
Viggo Mortensen was a vicious and very pretty Lucifer in _The Prophecy_. Alas, it was a very small role. I enjoyed Robert DeNiro as ‘Louis Cyphre’ in _Angel Heart_, all long fingernails rolling the hard-boiled eggs to break the shell. Creepy. I liked Satan being interpreted as an blond, angelic, barely pubescent girl/being in _The Last Temptation of Christ_. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/10 "2005-02-22T23:47:10Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > I enjoyed Robert DeNiro as ‘Louis Cyphre’ in _Angel Heart_, all long fingernails rolling the hard-boiled eggs to break the shell. Creepy. Um, nevermind, Mods. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/11 "2005-02-22T23:50:34Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > I think the female Satans have the advantage of surprise, insofar as everyone basically expects Satan to be a male figure. OTOH, a male Satan can impregnate a woman with the Antichrist, whether she’s willing or not, aware or not, even in the guise of an incubus, if necessary – and what could be more horrifying than that? A female satan getting it on with an unsuspecting woman? Where can I get tickets? 😃 And I’ll toss out a vote for the **Simpsons** satan, _a.k.a._ Ned Flanders. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/12 "2005-02-23T01:34:36Z")
I’d say Anton LaVey brought the most sincerity to the role… ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/13 "2005-02-23T03:31:28Z")
Literary: It would have to be Satan in Heinlein’s ‘Job: A comedy of Justice’. I can never picture Satan as evil and this paints a far more logical devil. [review](http://www.gotterdammerung.org/books/robert-heinlein/job-a-comedy-of-justice.html) ---
**Author:** ![Flipstrip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f6c823/32.png) [@Flipstrip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipstrip)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/14 "2005-02-23T04:00:39Z")
I was always rather partial to two “Twilight Zone” Satans, Burgess Meredith and Julie Newmar. Burgess just relishes the role, and Julie’s just ROWR! ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/15 "2005-02-23T04:09:12Z")
As far as literary portrayals go, I think Milton still wins. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/16 "2005-02-23T04:15:14Z")
> [@Katisha](#): > > As far as literary portrayals go, I think Milton still wins. I liked Bulgakov’s Satan (Woland) in _The Master and Margarita_ far better. Although Milton Satan is good, too. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/17 "2005-02-23T04:37:21Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Um, nevermind, Mods. Was it a spoiler that Deniro’s character was Satan in _Angel Heart_? I remember being aware of it immediately. I mean, his name was a pretty big clue. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/18 "2005-02-23T05:21:24Z")
John Lovitz ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/19 "2005-02-23T05:28:15Z")
While not technically “Satan”, Tim Curry’s Darkness from _Legend_ is still probably the coolest visual representation of a traditional “devil” character that I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2005, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425/20 "2005-02-23T06:49:47Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > Viggo Mortensen was a vicious and very pretty Lucifer in _The Prophecy_. Alas, it was a very small role. That was probably my favorite film satan. But then again, what the hell do I know? I liked Harvey Keitel’s satan. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-own-personal-tempter-best-worst-satans/291425.md?page=2)