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The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review

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Theme: Pacts with the Devil

Diabolical Pacts are pacts made with The Devil or one of his minions. There have been numerous screen depictions of such pacts, both in a Light Fantasy and comedic vein or a horror context. Usually this entails a contract, which is commonly written in blood.

A diabolical pact entails selling one’s soul to The Devil for some gain in the here and now. Frequently, the story will entail how The Devil will contort or offer an interpretation of the wording of the agreement to cheat the user and leave them disappointed.

The most famous Pact with the Devil story was that of Faust who sold his soul to The Devil for the love of a woman, which has undergone numerous screen interpretations.


976-Evil (1988)

10 June 20028 August 2023

Rating: ★★

Demonic Telephone Line

Director: Robert Englund
Actors: Stephen Geoffreys, Sandy Dennis, Patrick O'Bryan, Jim Metzler, …
Category: Horror

The Alchemist Cookbook (2016)

14 October 201819 October 2021

Rating: ★★★

Possible Pacts with the Devil in the Woods

Director: Joel Potrykus
Actors: Ty Hickson, Amari Cheatom
Category: Horror

All That Money Can Buy (1941)

17 January 201017 August 2021

Rating: ★★★★

Pact with The Devil

Director: William Dieterle
Actors: Walter Huston, Edward Arnold, James Craig, Simone Simon, …
Category: Fantasy

American Satan (2017)

25 April 20227 September 2023

Rating: ★★

Rock Group’s Pact with the Devil

Director: Ash Avildsen
Actors: Andy Biersack, Malcolm McDowell, Jesse Sullivan, BooBoo Stewart, …
Category: Horror

Anastasia (1997)

31 March 199918 January 2023

Rating: ★★★

Animation/Amnesiac Russian Royal

Director: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman
Actors: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Kelsey Grammer, …
Category: Fantasy

Angel Heart (1987)

8 June 199929 June 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Film Noir/Pact with The Devil

Director: Alan Parker
Actors: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, Elliott Keener, …
Category: Horror

At the Devil’s Door (2014)

3 April 201525 September 2019

Rating: ★★★

Diabolic Pacts and Impregnation

Director: Nicholas McCarthy
Actors: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Naya Rivera, Ashley Rickards, Wyatt Russell, …
Category: Horror

The Beast of the Yellow Night (1971)

24 January 201923 September 2024

Rating: ★★

Beast Transformation/Pact with the Devil

Director: Eddie Romero
Actors: John Ashley, Mary Wilcox, Ken Metcalfe, Vic Diaz, …
Category: Horror

Bedazzled (1967)

4 June 200014 October 2022

Rating: ★★★

Pact with the Devil/Black Comedy

Director: Stanley Donen
Actors: Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Raquel Welch, Eleanor Bron, …
Category: Fantasy

Bedazzled (2000)

20 October 20008 November 2019

Rating: ★

Pact with the Devil Comedy

Director: Harold Ramis
Actors: Brendan Fraser, Elizabeth Hurley, Frances O'Connor
Category: Fantasy

Belladonna of Sadness (1973)

7 March 20189 November 2019

Rating: ★★½

Anime Erotica/Temptation by the Devil

Director: Eiichi Yamamoto
Category: Fantasy

The Black Spider (2022)

6 August 2023

Rating: ★★★½

Pact with the Devil/Mediaeval Fantasy

Director: Markus Fischer
Actors: Lilith Stangenberg, Ronald Zehrfeld, Nurit Hirschfeld, Martin Blülle, …
Category: Fantasy

The Book of Life (1998)

6 November 199926 August 2021

Rating: ★★★

Second Coming Black Comedy

Director: Hal Hartley
Actors: Martin Donovan, Thomas Jay Ryan, P.J. Harvey, D.J. Mendel
Category: Fantasy

Cherry Tree (2015)

10 October 201723 July 2021

Rating: ★★★

Devil Worship and Pregnancy

Director: David Keating
Actors: Naomi Battrick, Anna Walton, Sam Hazeldine, Elva Trill, …
Category: Horror

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe (1988)

5 May 200519 April 2020

Rating: ★★½

Epic Fantasy Adventure/Magical Otherworld

Director: Marilyn Fox
Actors: Barbara Kellerman, Richard Dempsey, Sophie Wilcox, Jonathan R. Scott, …
Category: Fantasy

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

15 December 200513 February 2025

Rating: ★★

Epic Fantasy Adventure/Magical Otherworld

Director: Andrew Adamson
Actors: Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, …
Category: Fantasy

Constantine: City of Demons (2018)

13 January 201926 July 2024

Rating: ★★★

Animation/Occult Investigator/Comic Book Adaptation

Director: Doug Murphy
Actors: Matt Ryan, Damian O'Hare, Laura Bailey, Robin Atkin Downes, …
Category: Horror, Fantasy

The Convent (1995)

25 January 200316 May 2020

Rating: ★★★

Pacts with an Ambiguous Devil

Director: Manoel de Oliveira
Actors: John Malkovich, Catherine Deneuve, Luis Miguel Cintra, Leonor Silveira
Category: Fantasy

Crossroads (1986)

8 December 200123 May 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Blues Music Quest/Pact With The Devil

Director: Walter Hill
Actors: Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz, Robert Judd, …
Category: Fantasy

Damn Yankees (1958)

18 October 20135 June 2020

Rating: ★★★½

Musical/Pact with the Devil

Director: George Abbott, Stanley Donen
Actors: Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston, Jean Stapleton
Category: Fantasy

Deal of a Lifetime (1999)

13 April 20021 July 2020

Rating: 0­

Pact with the Devil Comedy

Director: Paul Levine
Actors: Kevin Pollak, Jennifer Rubin, Shiri Appleby, Ron Glass, …
Category: Fantasy

The Devil and Max Devlin (1981)

20 December 200119 January 2025

Rating: 0­

Pacts with the Devil/Disney Comedy

Director: Steven Hilliard Stern
Actors: Bill Cosby, Elliott Gould, Susan Anspach
Category: Fantasy

The Devil and the Daylong Brothers (2025)

2 May 20255 June 2025

Rating: ★★★★

Southern Road Movie/Musical/Soul Gatherers

Director: Brandon McCormick
Actors: Nicah Robinson, Brendan Bradley, Jordon Bolden, Rainey Qualley, …
Category: Fantasy, Horror

The Devil’s Advocate (1997)

23 August 20093 March 2020

Rating: ★★★½

The Devil is a Lawyer

Director: Taylor Hackford
Actors: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Judith Ivey, …
Category: Fantasy

The Devil’s Envoys (1942)

9 April 200114 May 2024

Rating: ★★★★

The Devil Tempts Innocent Lovers

Director: Marcel Carne
Actors: Alain Cuny, Arletty, Fernand Ledoux, Marie Dea
Category: Fantasy

Dorian (2003)

22 August 202422 August 2024

Rating: ★

Eternally Youthful Libertine

Director: Allan A. Goldstein
Actors: Malcolm McDowell, Ethan Erickson, Victoria Sanchez, Christoph Waltz, …
Category: Horror

The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

18 November 202313 April 2024

Rating: ★★★

Edgar Allan Poe Adaptation

Director: Mike Flanagan, Michael Fimognari
Actors: Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mark Hamill, Henry Thomas, …
Category: Horror

Faust (1926)

4 July 200028 May 2020

Rating: ★★★★★

Pact with the Devil

Director: F.W. Murnau
Actors: Emil Jannings
Category: Fantasy

Faust (1994)

28 June 200212 November 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Pact with the Devil/Surreal Puppet Version

Director: Jan Svankmajer
Actors: Andrew Sachs
Category: Fantasy

Faust (2011)

27 December 201312 November 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Pact with the Devil

Director: Alexander Sokurov
Actors: Johannes Zeiler, Anton Adasinsky, Isolda Dychauk, Georg Friedrich, …
Category: Fantasy

Faust: Love of the Damned (2000)

4 April 20031 April 2025

Rating: ★

Comic-Book Adaptation/Demonic Avenger

Director: Brian Yuzna
Actors: Mark Frost, Jeffrey Combs, Andrew Divoff
Category: Horror

Fear Street 1666 (2021)

31 July 202130 May 2025

Rating: ★

Witch Persecution/R.L. Stine Adaptation

Director: Leigh Janiak
Actors: Kiana Madeira, Ashley Zukerman, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr, …
Category: Horror

The First Power (1990)

17 August 200215 December 2020

Rating: ★★

Executed Killer’s Supernatural Revenge

Director: Robert Resnikoff
Actors: Lou Diamond Phillips, Tracy Griffith, Jeff Kober, Mykelti Williamson, …
Category: Horror

Ghost Rider (2007)

26 March 200723 November 2019

Rating: ★★½

Comic-Book Avenger/Demonic Superhero

Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Peter Fonda, Wes Bentley, …
Category: Fantasy

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

8 March 201215 October 2024

Rating: ★

Comic-Book Avenger/Demonic Superhero

Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Ciaran Hinds, Idris Elba, Violante Placido, …
Category: Fantasy

Gorenos (2016)

8 May 20198 May 2019

Rating: ★★½

Teen Finds His Soul Has Been Traded to a Demon

Director: Clarence Williams IV
Actors: Derek Simmons Jr, Lamar George, Marquis Wood, Kevin Sagoes, …
Category: Horror

The Hearse (1980)

25 January 200311 December 2024

Rating: ★★

Ghost Vehicle

Director: George Bowers
Actors: Trish Van Devere, Joseph Cotten, David Gautreaux, Perry Lang, …
Category: Horror

Heartless (2009)

13 December 201025 February 2025

Rating: ★★★½

Pacts with a Possible Devil Figure

Director: Philip Ridley
Actors: Jim Sturgess, Clemence Poesy, Timothy Spall, Eddie Marsan, …
Category: Horror

Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024)

18 October 20246 April 2025

Rating: ★★★

Demon Superhero/Comic-Book Adaptation

Director: Brian Taylor
Actors: Jack Kesy, Jefferson White, Adeline Rudolph, Joseph Marcell, …
Category: Fantasy

Highway 61 (1991)

18 April 200022 July 2024

Rating: ★★★★

Gonzo Road Movie/Pursuit By The Devil

Director: Bruce McDonald
Actors: Don McKellar, Valerie Buhagiar, Earl Pastko, Art Bergmann, …
Category: Fantasy

Hunk (1987)

7 November 200021 September 2021

Rating: ★½

Pact with the Devil for the Perfect Male Body

Director: Lawrence Bassoff
Actors: John Allen Nelson, Deborah Shelton, Steve Levitt, James Coco, …
Category: Fantasy

I Was a Teenage Faust (2001)

15 June 200813 December 2024

Rating: ★★

Pact with the Devil Comedy

Director: Thom Eberhardt
Actors: Robert Townsend, Morgan Fairchild, Josh Zuckerman, Noel Fisher, …
Category: Fantasy

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

7 September 201021 September 2024

Rating: ★★★½

Magical Circus/Deals with the Devil

Director: Terry Gilliam
Actors: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield, …
Category: Fantasy

The Inheritance (2024)

2 March 20252 March 2025

Rating: ★★

Supernatural Murder Mystery

Director: Alejandro Brugues
Actors: Bob Gunton, Rachel Nichols, Peyton List, Briana Middleton, …
Category: Horror

Late Night With the Devil (2023)

4 May 20244 May 2024

Rating: ★★★★

Demonic Possession Live on TV

Director: Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes
Actors: David Dastmalchian, Ian Bliss, Laura Gordon, Fayssal Bazzi, …
Category: Horror

The Legacy (1978)

13 December 20024 March 2025

Rating: ★★

Occult Killings

Director: Richard Marquand
Actors: Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott, John Standing, Margaret Tyzack, …
Category: Horror

Limit Up (1989)

8 June 200229 December 2024

Rating: ★

Pact with the Devil

Director: Richard Martini
Actors: Nancy Allen, Dean Stockwell, Danitra Vance, Brad Hall, …
Category: Fantasy

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (1979)

9 September 20159 October 2020

Rating: ★★

Animation/Epic Fantasy Adventure/Magical Otherworld

Director: Bill Melendez
Actors: Rachel Warren, Simon Adams, Victor Spinetti, Liz Proud
Category: Fantasy

May the Devil Take You (2018)

21 October 201926 December 2022

Rating: ★★

Possessed Dead in the Cellar

Director: Timo Tjahjanto
Actors: Chelsea Islan, Pevita Pearce, Samo Rafael, Karina Suwandi, …
Category: Horror

The Monk (1990)

6 November 20059 December 2024

Rating: ★★½

Monk’s Temptation by the Devil

Director: Paco Lara
Actors: Paul McGann, Sophie Ward, Isla Blair, Freda Dowie, …
Category: Horror

The Monk (2011)

15 April 201421 November 2024

Rating: ★★

Monk’s Temptation by the Devil

Director: Dominik Moll
Actors: Vincent Cassel, Deborah Francois, Frederic Noaille, Roxane Duran, …
Category: Horror

Needful Things (1993)

8 August 20008 December 2020

Rating: ★★

The Devil Stirs up a Small Town/Stephen King Adaptation

Director: Fraser C. Heston
Actors: Ed Harris, Max Von Sydow, Bonnie Bedelia, J.T. Walsh, …
Category: Horror

Nocturne (2020)

1 November 202022 October 2021

Rating: ★★★

Rivalry Between Sisters at a Music School/Occult Spell

Director: Zu Qurike
Actors: Sydney Sweeney, Madison Iseman, Jacques Colimon, Ivan Shaw, …
Category: Horror

The Phantom of the Opera (1989)

6 January 20035 July 2024

Rating: ★★★

Disfigured Madman Beneath the Opera House/Time Travel

Director: Dwight H. Little
Actors: Robert Englund, Jill Schoelen, Alex Hyde-White, Molly Shannon, …
Category: Horror

The Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

9 March 200120 August 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Phantom of the Opera Rock Musical Parody

Director: Brian De Palma
Actors: William Finley, Paul Williams, Jessica Harper, Gerrit Graham, …
Category: Horror

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973)

11 February 202010 January 2024

Rating: ★★★★

Eternally Youthful Libertine

Director: Glenn Jordan
Actors: Shane Briant, Nigel Davenport, Vanessa Howard, John Karlen, …
Category: Horror

The Presence (2010)

18 January 201327 April 2020

Rating: ★★½

Ghost Story

Director: Tom Provost
Actors: Mira Sorvino, Shane West, Justin Kirk, Tony Curran, …
Category: Horror

The Queen of Spades (1949)

16 July 202416 July 2024

Rating: ★★★

Diabolical Pact for a Winning Hand in Cards

Director: Thorold Dickinson
Actors: Anton Walbrook, Yvonne Mitchell, Edith Evans, Anthony Dawson, …
Category: Fantasy

Rattlesnake (2019)

19 April 20218 February 2025

Rating: ★★

Woman Makes a Deadly Pact to Save Her Daughter’s Life

Director: Zak Hilditch
Actors: Carmen Ejogo, Theo Rossi, Apollonia Pratt, Emma Greenwell, …
Category: Horror

Ready or Not (2019)

29 November 20194 June 2025

Rating: ★★

Deadly Game of Hide and Seek

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Actors: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, Andie McDowell, …
Category: Horror

Red Riding Hood (1987)

17 July 200920 November 2024

Rating: ★★

Fairy-Tale

Director: Adam Brooks
Actors: Craig T. Nelson, Amelia Shankley, Isabella Rossellini, Rocco Sisto
Category: Fantasy

Shortcut to Happiness (2003)

8 December 20218 December 2021

Rating: ★★

Pact with The Devil

Director: Alec Baldwin
Actors: Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kim Cattrall, …
Category: Fantasy

Solomon Kane (2009)

21 July 201020 March 2025

Rating: ★★★

Puritan Era Sword and Sorcery/Robert E. Howard Adaptation

Director: M.J. Bassett
Actors: James Purefoy, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Pete Postlethwaite, Mackenzie Crook, …
Category: Fantasy

Sometimes They Come Back … Again (1996)

1 March 199928 April 2023

Rating: ★

Supernatural Retribution

Director: Adam Grossman
Actors: Hilary Swank, Michael Gross, Alexis Arquette, Jennifer Aspen, …
Category: Horror

Spawn (1997)

8 March 200813 February 2023

Rating: ★★

Demon Superhero/Comic-Book Adaptation

Director: Mark A.Z. Dippé
Actors: Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo, Martin Sheen, D.B. Sweeney, …
Category: Fantasy

The Stand (1994)

1 July 20193 March 2021

Rating: ★

Showdown Between the Forces of Good and Evil After the Collapse of Civilisation/Stephen King Adaptation

Director: Mick Garris
Actors: Gary Sinise, Jamey Sheridan, Adam Storke, Rob Lowe, …
Category: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction

The Stand (2020-2021)

5 March 202128 March 2022

Rating: ★

Showdown Between the Forces of Good and Evil After the Collapse of Civilisation/Stephen King Adaptation

Director: Josh Boone, Tucker Gates, Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy, …
Actors: James Marsden, Alexander Skarsgård, Amber Heard, Whoopi Goldberg, …
Category: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction

Storm of the Century (1999)

22 November 200828 March 2025

Rating: ★★★★

Stranger Manipulates a Small Town/Stephen King Mini-Series

Director: Craig R. Baxley
Actors: Tim Daly, Colm Feore, Debrah Farentino, Jeffrey DeMunn, …
Category: Horror

The Student of Prague (1913)

10 January 202221 February 2024

Rating: ★★½

Evil Doppelganger

Director: Stellan Rye, Paul Wegener
Actors: Paul Wegener, John Gottowt, Lyda Salmanova
Category: Horror, Fantasy

The Student of Prague (1926)

5 November 20185 October 2021

Rating: ★★★½

Pact with the Devil/Malevolent Doppelganger

Director: Henrik Galeen
Actors: Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss
Category: Fantasy, Horror

The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)

6 April 201529 June 2021

Rating: ★★★★

Anthology of Fantasy Tales/Ballet

Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Actors: Robert Rounseville, Robert Helpmann, Moira Shearer, Philip Leaver, …
Category: Fantasy

Twins of Evil (1971)

12 April 200320 December 2021

Rating: ★★★

Vampire Twins/Hammer Film

Director: John Hough
Actors: Peter Cushing, Madeline Collinson, Mary Collinson, Damien Thomas, …
Category: Horror

The Undead (1957)

2 April 20242 April 2024

Rating: ★★★

Hypnotic Regression/Mediaeval Witchery

Director: Roger Corman
Actors: Allison Hayes, Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, Mel Welles, …
Category: Horror

Unhallowed Ground (2015)

10 October 201724 June 2024

Rating: ★★

Occult Happenings at a Miltary Academy

Director: Russell England
Actors: Marcus Griffiths, Poppy Drayton, Rachel Petladwala, Thomas Law, …
Category: Horror

The Visitation (2006)

16 November 20153 March 2023

Rating: ★★½

Christian Film/Ambiguous Miracle-Healing Stranger

Director: Robby Henson
Actors: Martin Donovan, Edward Furlong, Kelly Lynch, Randy Travis, …
Category: Horror

Vixen Highway 2006: It Came from Uranus! (2010)

18 December 201125 September 2024

Rating: 0­

Gonzo Exploitation Homage

Director: Tony Watt, Vivita
Actors: Tony Watt, James Taggart, Vivita, Bogart D'Jointe, …
Category: Horror

Warlock: The End of Innocence (1999)

8 September 20006 June 2025

Rating: ★★

Demonic Envoy

Director: Eric Freiser
Actors: Ashley Laurence, Bruce Payne, Boti Ann Bliss, Angel Boris
Category: Horror

Where the Devil Roams (2023)

3 May 202412 September 2024

Rating: ★★★

Circus Horrors/Cross-Country Murder Spree

Director: John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser
Actors: Toby Poser, John Adams, Zelda Adams, Sam Rodd, …
Category: Horror

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Theme Essays

  • Films About Atlantis
  • Werewolf Films
  • Virtual Reality
  • Imprisonment Thrillers
  • Films Depicting NASA and the Space Program
  • Human Bloodsports and Death Games
  • Animals Attack Films
  • Films About Plague and Pandemic
  • Disaster Movies
  • Steampunk Films
  • Documentaries
  • Films About Halloween
  • Films About Prophecy
  • Magicians and Sorcerers
  • Secret Societies
  • Real-Life People in Fiction
  • Techno-Thrillers
  • Twins in Fantastic Cinema
  • Asylums
  • Possession Films
  • Films About Imaginary and Magical Lands
  • Religion in Fantastic Cinema
  • Romantic Comedies
  • Film Noir
  • Spy Films
  • Jekyll and Hyde Films
  • Films That Make Dubious Claims to Being True Stories
  • Coming of Age Stories in Fantastic Cinema
  • Films About Cryogenics and Suspended Animation
  • Alternate History Films
  • Disturbed Psychology as Portrayed on Film
  • Law Enforcement in Fantastic Cinema
  • Weird Westerns
∧

Copyright Richard Scheib 1999-2025

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