Top movie satans

Beelzebub, Lucifer, Mephisto, the Lord of the Flies, Simon Cowell – call him (or her) what you will, the devil has been muscling in on the movies from time immemorial. And with Nicolas Cage set to encur the wrath of the devil in 'Drive Angry', playing a vengeful motorist having broken out of hell (as you do) being pursued by one of his very best agents (played by the ultra-evil Mahone out of 'Prison Break'), we look back on the finest movie depictions of the cross red chap with the hooves...

Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne in The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

Nicholson was pretty much born to play the languid, sleazy Daryl Van Horne, an incarnation of the devil as summoned by bored, suburban divorcees Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer to the buttoned-down New England town of Eastwick. Of course, as is customary when you summon the devil, things ultimately don't go that well.

Tim Curry as Darkness in Legend (1985)

If there's an image in your mind suggesting precisely what the devil looks like, Tim Curry's horned crimson beefcake is surely the closest to the image that kept you shivering under your covers at night as a child. Thanks to Curry's demonic, Jimmy Hill-esque prosthetic chin, he caused sleepless nights across the planet with his malevolent prince of darkness.

Robert De Niro as Louis Cyphre in Angel Heart (1987)

Though the assumed name of 'Angel Heart's mysterious stranger is as subtle as a sack of sledgehammers in Alan Parker's period detective fantasy (calling himself Louis Cyphre), Robert De Niro plays him to the hilt, a heart-stopping presence every time he's on screen. And he comes complete with creepy long nails, which are always a bit wrong.

David Warner as Evil Genius in Time Bandits (1981)

David Warner's brilliant interpretation of the devil himself as the peevish, technophile Evil Genius takes God down a peg or two, citing his creations of '43 species of parrot' and 'nipples for men' as two reasons why he's a bit rubbish. Not to mention his apparent lack of interest in microchips, the car telephone and lasers. Fair enough, when you think about it.

Dave Grohl as Beelzeboss in Tenacious D: Pick of Destiny (2006)

Probably the sweariest, sexually depraved Satan in cinema history, caps should be doffed to Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl for donning a pair of furry legs and painting himself red to play Beelzeboss, challenging Jack Black and KG to a rock-off in 'Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny'. His drumming and riffing is impressive.

Rosalinda Celentano as Satan in The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Mel Gibson's gore-fest was given a desperately creepy edge by Italian actress Rosalinda Celentano's portrayal of a peculiarly androgynous Satan. Circling the flogging of Christ with a baby more at home in a circus sideshow, an image intended to mock the Virgin Mary cradling the baby Jesus, it made the exploitative horror on screen all the more unsettling.

Harvey Stephens as Damien Thorn in The Omen (1976)

OK, so technically he's the son of the devil, as adopted by Gregory Peck's furrow-browed US ambassador to England. But as the world's creepiest child, Damien Thorn is next in line, so we're making an exception. Something about those piercing eyes, love of slobbering Rottweillers and unsettling smile make Damien perhaps the most frightening vision of toddling evil ever.

Al Pacino as John Milton in The Devil's Advocate (1997)

In a none-too-subtle nod to 'Paradise Lost', Al Pacino plays John Milton, the shadowy head of an ethically dubious law firm, a pretty fair assumption of what kind of vocation the prince of darkness would favour. Defence attorney Keanu Reeves is recruited but is soon literally doing the devil's work. The whole thing is daft as a brush, but Pacino's satanic litigator is just too much fun to ignore.

Peter Stormare as Satan in Constantine (2005)

While Keanu Reeves (again!) is as wooden as one might expect playing supernatural detective John Constantine, it is the perennially terrifying Peter Stormare who shines as Satan in this comic book adaptation. Whether that's because we can't dispel the image of him stoically feeding Steve Buscemi into a wood-chipper in 'Fargo', we cannot know. But it probably doesn't help.