The 12 Most Devilish Movies We’ve Ever Seen

Here are 12 devilish movies about the devil — and a few thoughts on what the devil would really be like.

But First

Though Broadcast News isn't on this list because it doesn't feature the devil, it does include a fabulous speech by Albert Brooks' Aaron Altman (above) in which he explains how he thinks the devil would behave in the modern world.

"He will be attractive. He'll be nice and helpful. He'll get a job where he influences a great God-fearing nation. He'll never do an evil thing! He'll never deliberately hurt a living thing... he will just, bit by little bit, lower our standards where they are important. Just a tiny little bit. Just coax along flash over substance. Just a tiny little bit. And he'll talk about all of us really being salesmen. And he'll get all the great women."

That sounds about right. And with that, here are the 12 most devilish movies we've ever seen.

The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

This was one of the earliest movies about the devil, and Walter Huston was one of the first stars to see that it's scarier to play the devil as soft-spoken than as raging and monstrous. He's a fallen angel, after all.

In the film, based on the Stephen Vincent Benét story, Mr. Scratch rigs a trial against statesman and attorney Daniel Webster that ends up also serving as a trial for America itself.

It's diabolical for how wittily it Trojan horses a history lesson into a supposed fantasy-horror film. It ended up being one of the earlier horror films to successfully commingle chills and social satire.

The Story of Mankind (1957)

A film that owes a huge debt to The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Story of Mankind goes beyond putting the American way of life on trial and instead puts all of humanity on trial. It also raises the stakes with a huge production that promised "the greatest star cast ever assembled! 50 big names 50!"

Among them were Ronald Coleman, Hedy Lamarr, Groucho Marx, Peter Lorre, Cesar Romero, and a young Dennis Hopper.

And like Walter Huston, Vincent Price (above) realized that it's much more effective to play the devil as beguiling than as overtly scary. His demon prince is again named Mr. Scratch.

Damn Yankees (1958)

A classic bet-with-the devil story. Based on the hit Broadway musical, the film finds obsessed Washington Senators fan Joe (Robert Shafer) declaring that he would sell his soul for the Senators to beat the Yankees. The devil incarnate, in the form of the charming Applegate (Ray Walston, above) makes him a deal in which he can become young again and lead the Senators to greatness.

The film is best known for a locker-room Gwen Verdon performance of "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets."

It's diabolical how well the film illustrates one of the 10 Commandments: "You shall have no other gods."

Bedazzled (1966)

Ten years after the last film on our list, Bedazzled upped the ante (the devil loves gambling!) by giving the main character not one wish, but seven.

It finds Peter Cook's swingin' devil darkly fulfilling the wishes of Dudley Moore — technically fulfilling his end of the bargain, while totally undercutting his victim's intentions.

This version of Bedazzled is best known for a seduction scene with Raquel Welch, which led someone to wisely say, what if the devil was a smooth-talking woman, instead of a man? Thus was born the terrific Bedazzled remake, starring Elizabeth Hurley, that comes later on this list.

Oh God! You Devil (1984)

The third film in the Oh God! series — following 1977's Oh, God and 1980's Oh God! Book II — finds the irresistible George Burns, who played God in the first two films, doubling up to play both God and his old nemesis, the devil. His mission: To buy the soul of a struggling rock musician.

It's diabolical for making the devil so adorable. We love George Burns, whether he's making movies about God or movies about the devil — or both.

The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

In George Miller's adaptation of a John Updike novel of the same name, an unlikely coven of New England witches played by Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon unwittingly open the door to the devil himself — Daryl Van Horne, get it? Horne? — played by Jack Nicholson.

It's diabolical because like all the most cleverly insidious movies about the devil, it makes him seem so endearing.

Angel Heart (1987)

The other great devil movie of 1987, this Southern Gothic/noir stars Robert De Niro as a ponytailed weirdo named Louis Cyphre who hires a private investigator Johnny Angel (Mickey Rourke) to track down a missing singer. Soon the beautiful Epiphany Proudfoot (Lisa Bonet) enters the picture, and things get very , very bad.

The movie is diabolical because we're led to think, at first, that Louis Cyphre is the cool, restrained, rational man he appears to be — when he is, in fact, the devil himself.

The Prophecy (1995)

Looking a little like Louis Cyphre, Viggo Mortenson plays a philosphical, manipulative Lucifer who pushes buttons and fends for himself during a complicated war between angels and humankind. He's diabolical in the way he gives humans a sense of free wheel, even as he manipulates them, and the movie is diabolical in how well it lets that dynamic play out.

Devil's Advocate (1997)

Directed by Taylor Hackford, this movie is grotesque and insane and we love it. Its genius lies in how well it coaxes us into the world of powerful attorney John Milton (Al Pacino), just as new hire Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) is lured into his orbit.

Also pulled into the fold is Kevin's wife, Mary Ann (Charlize Theron) who desperately wants a baby. Everyone's wants and needs soon devolve the dynamic into fiery chaos.

Constantine (2005)

Remember those line from Broadcast News about what a modern devil would look like? Attractive? Flash over substance? get all the great women?

My God — he's talking about boy bands! Maybe that's why Peter Stormare's version of Satan, in Constantine, dresses like a Backstreet Boy.

Bedazzled (2000)

Elizabeth Hurley plays a devil who is attractive, nice and helpful, just like Altman promised in Broadcast News. But she's also playful, charismatic, sharply dressed and a million steps ahead of Eliot (Brendan Fraser) in this superior remake of the original Bedazzled.

She's a devil anyone would fall for, which makes Harold Ramis' Bedazzled one of the most diabolical movies of all. We end up being far more in the pocket of Hurley's seemingly unstoppable demon than rooting for the hapless, hopeless Eliot.

We Summon the Darkness (2019)

A very fun story of three young woman (led by Alexandra Daddario, above) following a Satanic heavy metal band across the Bible belt in the 1980s.

But.. a series of murders are unfolding at the same time. Are the girls safe?

The underrated thriller, by director Marc Meyers, is one of the most diabolical movies about the devil because of the shrewd ways it twists and undercuts our expectations.

Liked This List of the Most Devilish Movies We've Ever Seen?

You might also like this list of 12 Rad '80s Movies Only Cool Kids Rememeber...

Or this list of 11 Great Movies About Getting Sober. It's harder for the devil to get you when you have your wits about ye.

Main image: Elizabeth Hurley in Bedazzled, one of our all-time favorite movies about the devil.