Devil in Detail
Article by Bindi Lavelle

Evil deeds and evil people as well as all manner of evil critters populate our beloved genre, for it is after all, horror. So now lets' take a look at The Evil One, aka the Devil, Satan, Old Nick, Lucifer, Beelzebub (I could go on), in cinema. Depictions of Old Nick vary from the very comical as seen in Little Nicky, to the seductive Liz Hurley in the remake of Bedazzled and then there is Tim Curry's awesome performance in Legend. But let's take at look at some more creepier portrayals (in no particular order): Ninth Gate- menacing, thick tension courses through this Polanski film, in which book collector Cuso (played my Johnny Depp) is hired to authenticate a book said to unlock the nine gates to hell, unaware that he himself is unlocking them (see the review in our archives). Passion of the Christ- Rosalinda Celentano's portrayal of Satan, is nothing short of incredibly eerie in this graphic depiction of Christ's cruifixion. Passion of the Christ is a violent ordeal to rival any slasher flick. The Exorcist- no demonic list would be complete without this classic. The Devil's Advocate- not the first time Robert DeNiro has played Satan, the first was in Angel Heart (an enjoyable combination of noir and the supernatural) and the there is this gem from the 90s. Rich layers of biblical references coat this tale of temptation. Prince of Darkness- ever reliable John Carpenter, crafted this film which proves that you never can trust canisters laying around in the basement; in this case the canister contains the essence of Satan and what ensues is chaos and zombies. Notable mentions need to be extended to the following films which while not exactly films about the devil are pretty closely related: The Omen- a masterpiece of suspense. The film follows the early childhood of Damien Thorn, a pretty average child who happens to be the antichrist. Little boys have never been so creepy. Rosemary's Baby- another Polanski film, this time about a young happily married woman, pregnant with her first child, little does she know the unborn baby is the antichrist. Lucifer, is a versatile film character in many respects, however let us not forget that he is a villain, and as such he is best put to use as a very bad guy indeed and the above films are prime examples.