Limit Up (1989)
Pact with the Devil
A VHS era light fantasy Nancy Allen plays a futures trader in Chicago who is offered the chance for business success if she will trade her soul
The Devil
The Devil (or Satan, Lucifer and Beelzebub) is a figure that is regarded as the prime source of evil in Judaeo-Christian mythology. According to Biblical mythology, Satan was an angel who was cast down from Heaven after leading a rebellion against God. He inhabits Hell, commands all demons and has dominion over the souls of the damned in the afterlife. In popular depiction, The Devil has horns, cloven hoofs and often red skin or glowing eyes.
The Devil is constantly of influencing/tempting human beings to do evil and manipulating events to bring individuals to a loss of faith or innocence. One of the most common appearances is in Diabolical Pact stories in which an individual sells their soul to The Devil or one of his agents for some boon only to frequently find themselves trapped by literal or contorted interpretation of the wording of the agreement.
There have been a large number of depictions of The Devil on screen from the silent era onwards. These range from light comic treatments to the 1970s occult cycle where The Devil is attempting to give birth to a child. There have even been treatments that try to rationalise The Devil in terms of science-fiction explanations.
Necronos (2010)
Black Sorcerer Seeks Sacrificial Victims
German low-budget film about a resurrected sorcerer, this goes out on a wild edge, winds everything up to 15 on the dial and positively wades in blood, gore and torture scenes
The Visitor (1979)
Satan is an Alien/Impregnation
Head-scratchingly strange Italian film that seems made as a crosshatch of 1970s Devil Child films and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Makes no sense in terms of story but worth watching for the bizarreness of its imagery
Two of a Kind (1983)
Angelic Intervention Comedy
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John went stellar in Grease. The same flopped when they reteamed in this comedy where they are caught in a bet between God and The Devil
Bedazzled (2000)
Pact with the Devil Comedy
US remake of the British comedy where Brendan Fraser is a schmuck who sells his soul to The Devil who twists the wording of each wish. The bite of the original is lacking
Childhood’s End (2015)
Alien Visitors/Arthur C. Clarke Adaptation
Arthur C. Clarke’s book is one of the all-time SF classics; this mini-series adaptation counts as one of the biggest book-to-film abortions in the SF genre handled by people who know nothing about SF
The Dungeonmaster (1984)
Warrior's Virtual Quest/Anthology
An anthology film produced by Charles Band where assorted directors turn in seven episodes all centred around a videogame warrior put through a series of tests by The Devil
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)
Comic-Book Avenger/Demonic Superhero
Ridiculous sequel to the Marvel Comics adaptation with an indifferently written script assembled from cliches, forgettable action scenes and Nicolas Cage giving one of his silliest performances in ages
Cry of the Banshee (1970)
Mysterious Stranger/Witch's Retribution
Dreary film in which Vincent Price is a magistrate who is haunted by a manifestation of The Devil for his witch persecutions. The publicity falsely tried to sell this as an Edgar Allan Poe adaptation.
The Dark Side of the Moon (1990)
The Devil in Outer Space
Conceptually ridiculous film where a spaceship crew in lunar orbit come across a space shuttle that disappeared through the Bermuda Triangle and contains a parasitic organism that is The Devil
Little Nicky (2000)
The Devil's Son Comedy
The Adam Sandler comedy and its pitch to the most vulgar common denominator is an acquired taste. This not very funny effort casts Sandler as The Devil’s Son
Rosemary’s Baby (2014)
Satanic Impregnation
Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby was a classic film that popularised the modern interest in occult and deviltry on film; this sad remake is something that only parrots the cliches that have set in in the ensuing 46 years and clumsily mishandles all of Polanski’s comically edgy paranoia
End of Days (1999)
The Devil Returns to Earth at The Millennium/Action Film
Arnold Schwarzenegger takes on The Devil on the eve of the millennium. This is essentially The Omen and one of its ilk having been reworked as a mindless big-budget action and effects movie
The Reckoning (2020)
Witch Persecutions
A few years ago, Neil Marshall seemed a major genre director on the rise with The Descent. Here he returns with a film about the historic witch persecutions
The Story of Mankind (1957)
Heavenly Tribunal Judges Human History
Laughable Irwin Allen film that conducts a tour of human history via stock footage as Vincent Price’s The Devil holds a heavenly tribunal to judge humanity for inventing the atomic bomb
Stay Tuned (1992)
Hell as a TV Show Comedy
Unfunny comedy in which husband and wife John Ritter and Pam Dawber are trapped in Hell, which consists of various parodies of popular tv shows
Beyond the Door (1974)
Demonic Possession
A blatant Italian copy of The Exorcist. An exploitation film made with almost zero directorial style that only has the schlock amusements of its attempts to outdo The Exorcist going for it
The Phantom Gunslinger (1970)
Gonzo Slapstick Western
A mind-boggling oddity – a slapstick comedy Western where there seems no limit on how nutty things are allowed to go, including characters venturing to Heaven and Hell
Suing the Devil (2011)
Satan on Trial in Court
A Christian-made film based on the intriguing idea of Satan on trial in a courtroom. A film that in its bad acting, laughable dialogue and lack of conviction rivals The Room in bad movie stakes. The usually worthwhile Malcolm McDowell, who for some reason also produces, gives one of his worst performances
The Devil and Max Devlin (1981)
Pacts with the Devil/Disney Comedy
Dreary Disney live-action comedy that casts Bill Cosby as The Devil who tasks a hapless Elliott Gould with trying to find redemption by getting three innocents to sell their souls
The Devil’s Rain (1975)
Satanist Cult
Big-budget Satanism film that came out during the mid-70s occult film fad, this promptly collapses into a bad movie through many unintentionally absurd touches and a nonsensical screenplay
Second Time Lucky (1984)
Adam and Eve Comedy
One of the most excruciatingly painful films ever made – a softcore comedy in which God and The Devil make a bet to replay the Garden of Eden by reincarnating Adam and Eve throughout history. Filled with ghastly over-the-top performances and much eye-rolling innuendo
Rock’n’Roll Nightmare (1987)
Bad Movie Classic/Heavy Metal Star vs Demonic Forces
A bad movie classic. A vanity project for Canadian heavy metal star/bodybuilder Jon-Mikl Thor who plays a heavy metal star who takes frequently his shirt off to pose while his band are killed by demonic forces (represented by the screen’s maybe worst ever puppet effects) as they try to record an album