Movie
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The "Hobbes don't take no Cream" scene in the bar. This scene establishes that: 1. Hobbes is a good, honest cop (something the rest of the movie already does). 2. However, he's not judgmental against other cops who do take "cream" (implied to bribes and/or kickbacks) 3. Hobbes is a known exception to this by his reputation, which kind of means that virtually all other cops out there are corrupt. 4. Despite being corrupt, almost all of these cops are still the "chosen people" who make the world a better place (a questionable assertion in the The '90s, and Harsher in Hindsight today). 5. James Gandolfini's Lou is a somewhat creepy Dirty Cop. 6. It's apparently not unusual to order a dozen or so different beers for your group in advance (wouldn't they get warm?). 7.It's better to drink Budweiser than a bunch of micro-brews or imports. Absolutely none of these details are relevant to the rest of the film. Even when Azazel starts implicating Hobbes to make him look like he's dirty, the fact that he's such a straight shooter is never touched upon.
- Complete Monster: Azazel is a sinister demon who likes nothing so much as destroying the lives and names of good men. When Detective Hobbes crosses him, Azazel sets about targeting him by possessing Hobbes's mentally handicapped brother and making him kill himself. Azazel possesses others and murders others in their bodies, getting them convicted of murder and jumps out just before the execution, leaving the victim to face death for crimes they have no memories of committing. Azazel destroys Hobbes' life and reputation and possesses people to continuously drive him mad from near paranoia. What's worse is Azazel has been walking the Earth for thousands of years and his MO has never changed.
- Cult Classic: The film failed both critically and at box office, but nowadays it is considered by many a decent thriller, with an interesting premise and a very memorable antagonist.
- Ham and Cheese: Elias Koteas clearly enjoys himself as the possessed Edgar Reese.
- Memetic Mutation: A GIF of Denzel putting a hand on his chest and then chuckling relieved has become extremely popular when someone notices a person is trending, and look them up to make sure they're not dead (or, for Black Comedy purposes, is still dead and not resurrected or zombified).
- Moral Event Horizon: Azazel possessing Hobbes' brother Art, who's implied to be mentally disabled, to make him kill himself using poison.
- One-Scene Wonder: Elias Koteas makes a big impression in his brief screentime as Edgar Reese, alternating between Laughably Evil and terrifying.
- Paranoia Fuel: Azazel lives and breathes this trope. He can freely possess anyone who doesn't have strong enough willpower to resist him with a touch. In a crowded area he can be anywhere in moments. And if you kill one of his hosts he can just possess anyone he likes. He turns normal people into serial killers and does it purely For the Evulz. And it could easily be you next.
- Retroactive Recognition: Both James Gandolfini and Aida Turturro would go on to star in The Sopranos.
- Tear Jerker: Art's death. Hobbes is genuine saddened and shocked by this. Also Jonesy's possession and death considering what a truly good friend he was to Hobbes.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Stanton was killed the second Azazel revealed himself in the climax, when it might have been interesting to see him live a little longer, realized John had been telling the truth, and fight the demon with him for a little while before going down.
- Watch It for the Meme: The film had been just about forgotten by the time the "Relieved Denzel" meme took off.
- The Woobie:
- Plenty of Azazel's hosts qualify, Charles being a very notable example; another is Jonesy.
- The whole Hobbes family. Art, Sam, and John himself.
Album
- Periphery Demographic: Because of the Genre-Busting sound, some don't consider it Nu Metal.
- Wangst: Some detractors view the album as this.
