History DealWithTheDevil / Film

* In ''Film/SeraphimFalls'' both the protagonist and antagonist make deals with a suspiciously-named woman in red who appears with very convenient timing, exchanging an item that will help them survive the harsh desert for something to kill their nemesis. There's also this exchange:

-->'''Louise C. Fair''': You men, always choosing a gun over a remedy.
'''Gideon''': Doesn't much matter what I choose. Got no money either way.
'''Louise C. Fair'': Oh, hell. I never that stand in the way of making a deal.\\

-->'''Louise C. Fair''': You men, always choosing a gun over a remedy.\\
-->'''Gideon''': Doesn't much matter what I choose. Got no money either way.\\
-->'''Louise C. Fair'': Oh, hell. I never that stand in the way of making a deal.\\

* In ''Film/SeraphimFalls'' both the protagonist and antagonist make deals with a suspiciously-named woman in red who appears with very convenient timing, exchanging an item that will help them survive the harsh desert for something to kill their nemesis.

* In ''Film/SeraphimFalls'' both the protagonist and antagonist make deals with a suspiciously-named woman in red who appears at just the right time, exchanging an item that will help them survive the harsh desert for something to kill their nemesis.

* In ''Film/SeraphimFalls'' both the protagonist and antagonist make deals with a suspiciously-named woman in red who appears at just the right time, exchanging something that will help them survive the harsh desert for something to kill their nemesis.

* In ''Film/SeraphimFalls'' both the protagonist and antagonist trade with a suspiciously-named woman in red who appears at just the right time, exchanging something that will help them survive the harsh desert for something to kill their nemesis.

** He's a voodoo practitioner who cuts many deals with his "Friends on the Other Side". [[spoiler:When his scheme is foiled and he can't pay up, his 'friends' drag him screaming into voodoo-hell.]]

* 2018's ''Film/{{Errementari}}'' is based on [[DealWithTheDevil/FolkloreAndFairyTales the folk legend of the blacksmith who made a pact with the devil]], though in his case, it was to return home safely after deserting from the war. [[spoiler: Two more pacts are made during the movie, one an unwitting pact, and the other fully cognizant of what would happen]].

* The title character's parents in ''Film/TheHauntingOfMollyHartley'' made this in order to prevent her from dying (she had been born prematurely). In return, on Molly's [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday 18th birthday]], a {{Satan}}ic {{cult}} will come to claim her [[spoiler:[[FaceHeelTurn as one of their own]]]].

* In the Disney film ''Film/MrBoogedy'', the backstory for the titular character is that during the pilgrim days, he sold his soul to the devil for a magic cloak that would give him powers. With this cloak, he was able to spirit away the son of the widow he lusted for, but when trying to cast a spell, ending up destroying his house and turning himself, the widow, and her son into ghosts.
* The second half of ''Film/{{Insomnia}}'' revolves mainly around this. An out-of-town detective pursuing a murderer in a quiet Alaskan town is blackmailed by the murderer into pinning the crime on someone else after the detective accidentally shoots his own police partner.
* The ''Film/{{Spawn|1997}}'' movie is about a bargain with the devil which ends in the nearly total devastation of the former when the protagonist successfully [[FaustianRebellion uses his newly acquired powers against the one who gave them]].
* In ''Film/SantasSlay'', one of God's angels beats Santa, the son of Satan, and Santa must remain good for 1,000 years.
* The ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequels have this with Anakin Skywalker and Chancellor Palpatine. Palpatine may not be the literal devil, but otherwise the trope is played straight. Anakin declares that he is ready to do whatever Palpatine wants after the latter offered him the power to save Anakin's wife Padmé from dying in childbirth. Even though Anakin effectively sold his soul to Palpatine, the deal failed for two reasons. 1. By turning evil, Anakin ended up contributing to Padmé's death, so he ultimately had no wife to save. 2. In the books, Palpatine reveals in his thoughts that he had never learned the technique Darth Plagueis had, and Palpatine ended up having to resort to making clones and the Sith technique of transferring his soul into another body just to extend ''his'' own life. Turns out, that said technique for saving people's lives is all just a plain old lie. Yep, Anakin was effectively left with nothing as a result of the deal. George Lucas himself described Anakin as "a sad man who made a deal with the devil, and lost".
** There's also Lando Calrissian's deal with Darth Vader in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Lando really had no choice about it - the Dark Lord of the Sith showed up and would have destroyed Cloud City if he'd been refused. The ''Falcon'' and her crew would be betrayed and captured to draw in Luke Skywalker; Han Solo would be frozen in carbonite and handed off to Boba Fett, the rest of the crew would never leave Cloud City, and then TheEmpire would leave and ignore Lando's operation. Vader [[ILied altered the deal]], and eventually Lando did too.
** And ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' lampshades ("Strike me down. Then your journey to TheDarkSide will be complete.") and subverts it. There's even an AlternativeCharacterInterpretation where Luke and Vader planned how it would play out before they ever met Ol' Sidious, so Vader made a deal with ''Luke''. But it's ''Star Wars'', it plays with every mythology trope ever.
* The ShortFilm ''The Happiness Salesman'' has Karen offered the perfect destiny by a Salesman, but it becomes quite obvious that the Salesman is a servant of the devil when Karen finds out that [[spoiler:the payment is her first-born child]].
* Creator/TheCoenBrothers film ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' pays homage to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Johnson_(blues_musician) Tommy Johnson]] legend by including him as a character.
* Tenacious D's movie, ''Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'', has Kage and Jables cutting a deal with Satan: if they win a rock off against him, he has to go back to Hell and pay their rent. If Satan wins, Kage has to go back to Hell with Satan and be his sex slave. They wind up beating him through a technicality: if Satan is ever "incomplete" (i.e. missing a part of himself, like a tooth or horn), a spell can be used to send him back automatically.
** The rock-off is a parody of many other versions where the mortals can actually compete successfully against the Devil. They probably should have established who decides the winner ahead of time...

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'':
** The films features Davy Jones, a sort of Devil of the Sea. He makes deals with dead or dying sailors, offering them a 100 year postponement of death in return for serving on his crew. He also made a deal with Jack Sparrow, making him Captain of the Black Pearl for 13 years in return for his promise to serve. Sparrow manages to weasel his way out, [[spoiler:almost. "Not even Jack Sparrow can best the Devil!" Although, as the writers' commentary points out, Davy Jones doesn't exactly win by the end, either.]]
** Jack himself counts. "Spring me from this cell and I will take you to the Black Pearl ''and'' your bonnie lass." While he does deliver on his end, it was for his selfish benefit and he fully intended on selling Will out. For his part, Will becomes wrapped up in the world of pirates and has to fight and scrap just to earn a BitterSweetEnding.
* ''Film/TheGodfather'' opens with an undertaker asking for Vito Corleone to avenge his brutalized daughter. Corleone criticizes the man for only visiting him when he has a favor to ask, and claims a debt in return, saying, "Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. Until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day." The unspecified nature of the debt makes the undertaker nervous, but in the end, the undertaker is called upon to [[spoiler:reconstruct the face of the Don's son, Sonny Corleone, who was savagely murdered]]. In the book, it's revealed that the Don usually limits himself to free services such as this, rather than more insidious favors.
* Johnny Blaze sold his soul to the Devil in ''Film/GhostRider2007'' to get his foster father cured from his cancer. Unfortunately, he still dies (of a myserious stunt accident) and Johnny runs away, eventually becoming the Rider when the Devil comes back. He makes a new deal; Johnny gets his soul back in exchange for a contract that hosts the souls of a thousand malevolent individuals. Johnny does complete his part of the deal and gets his soul back... but retains his Rider powers and promises to use them against the Devil. As for the souls, they're pretty much gone since he burned them all with the Penance Stare to kill [[BigBad Blackheart.]][[note]]It's actually not the Devil, but most likely [[SatanicArchetype Mephisto]].[[/note]]
* Towards the end of ''Film/PhantomOfTheParadise'', we learn that Swan made a deal with the devil to stay youthful forever and to be a super-successful record producer. Swan's end of the deal is that he must record every day of his life on film and rewatch every reel every day - and the version of him on the film looks and sounds like he would at that age (Swan being a terribly vain man, this is torture to him). If the film is destroyed, then Swan will die. When the phantom learns this, he promptly sets all of the film on fire.
* In ''[[Film/{{Crossroads 1986}} Crossroads]]'', young guitar virtuoso Eugene has to help old Robert Johnson sideman Willie escape his contract with the Devil, leading to an axe-off with Steve Vai.
* In the Belgian horror film The Devil's Nightmare, the heroic priest barters with Satan to exchange his soul for all those killed in the events of the film.[[spoiler: Though he signs a bloody contract, the devil gets what he wants in the end, letting none of them go.]]
* The ''Film/{{Wishmaster}}'' films are all about this trope. Not only does the [[JackassGenie Djinn]] take your soul in exchange for a wish (a condition he apparently is not obliged to disclose to you in advance) but he's the definition of a JackassGenie. What's more, he can close the deal if you merely speak a wish out loud in his presence.

* Freddy began his horror career with one of these according to ''Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare'', offered his powers and immortality by a trio of "dream demons" who choose a human villain as their PsychoForHire every thousand years. If they had any plan to betray him, it must've been scheduled for after he'd already brought about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: as it is, the price he seems to have paid for his deal is that whatever shred of goodness he had as a human went completely out the window.
** The Dream Demons eventually declare that YouHaveFailedMe in the ''Comicbook/FreddyVsJasonVsAsh'' comic, after [[spoiler:the heroes thwart Freddy's latest plan]]. They [[spoiler:strip him of his powers, allowing Ash to shoot him in the chest and knock him into a portal opened by the ''Necronomicon''.]]
* While not a literal example, the plot to Danny Boyle's ''Film/ShallowGrave'' has been described thus.
* This is the basic premise of ''Film/StayTuned'', in which a TV-addicted family man unknowingly sells his soul for a new satellite television setup with 666 channels.
* Several people sell their souls to Satan in ''Film/TheUndead'' (1957).

* Accepting the MarkOfTheBeast in the ''Film/{{Apocalypse}}'' film series is played out like this, with the benefits of its recipients experiencing miracles such as the blind woman in ''Revelation'' receiving her sight, the wheelchair-bound man in the same movie being able to walk, and the one-armed man in the hospital in ''Tribulation'' receiving his right arm again. There's also the BlessedWithSuck element of having limited telepathic and telekinetic powers, as featured in ''Tribulation''.
* Played straight in ''Film/OhGodYouDevil'', with God and Satan (both played by Creator/GeorgeBurns) battling for the soul of a struggling musician.
* ''Film/LittleNicky'': Dan Marino tries to make a Deal With The Devil to win a Super Bowl. The Devil declines, on the basis that he's too nice (and one other reason...)
-->'''Marino''': You did it for Namath!\\
'''Satan''': Yeah, but Joe was coming here anyways.\\
'''Nicky:''' You're a good Devil, Dad.\\
'''Satan:''' And I also happen to be a Jets fan.

* ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' has the devil in the form of an unusual carnivorous plant that feeds on blood. The little nerdy guy who discovers it, Seymour, is promised fame and fortune if he keeps feeding the plant; this does come, just from people who think he's an amazing gardener and who want to examine his plant. He first sacrifices an AssholeVictim (his would-be girlfriend's abusive boyfriend) to the plant, then the shop owner Mr. Mushnik when Mushnik turns on him. The plant grows to immense size and tries to devour Audrey; Seymour gets devoured as well in most versions except for the one time the movie has a happy ending, with him electrocuting and destroying the plant.
* Disney Channel Original Movie ''Film/TheLuckOfTheIrish'' involves the protagonist Kyle Johnson making a deal with a far darrig named Seamus that whoever won a series of games would get the [[MacGuffin lucky gold coin]], and Seamus would have to forever go to Erie, the shores of [Kyle's] forefathers. Seamus thinks that Kyle is mispronouncing Eire, a nickname for Ireland; but Kyle's paternal family is from Ohio which borders Lake Erie.
* The movie ''Film/DemonKnight'' has The Collector, a mid level demon, trying to acquire a rare [[ArtifactOfDoom artifact]] that will bring about [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the universe]]. The only way he can get inside the house where the artifact resides is by tempting everyone inside with their various fantasies. In the end, whoever accepts the fantasy or (in one case) tries to turn traitor to the group by just handing it over, doesn't receive what The Collector promised them and just turns into another low level demon.
* In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', [[spoiler:this is subverted. Data takes the Borg Queen's offer and merely becomes a FakeDefector.]]
* In ''Film/EndOfDays'', Jericho's best friend is strong-armed into serving Satan after Satan sets him on fire. Near the end of the film, Jericho begs his friend to not betray him again, saying that he's better than that. The moment he lowers his gun, Satan reminds him that they had a deal, and he sets him on fire again.

* In ''Film/AngelHeart'', [[spoiler:Johnny Favorite]] selling his soul for [[spoiler:stardom and then trying to get out of it by sacrificing an innocent man]] caused the whole plot.

* Harrison promises Thomas Harewood he can save the man's comatose daughter in the opening of ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''. In exchange, Thomas [[spoiler:blows up a Starfleet facility shortly after messaging a confession for the bombing (with credit to Harrison) to Admiral Marcus]].
* The plot of ''Film/{{Evilspeak}}'': Stanley Coopersmith finds the old works of a 16th century Satanist and discovers how to pledge his allegiance to Satan.
* Hinted at in ''Film/TheShining'' during the bar scene. Jack says he'd give his soul for a drink, cue creepy bartender appearing with a full stock of booze.
* As Erik in ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera1989'' watches ''Theatre/{{Faust}}'' at the opera, he has a flashback that shows that he sold his soul to the Devil so that his music would become immortal like Mozart's and Beethoven's.
* Cyclops in ''Film/MonsterBrawl'' became what he is now by making a deal with Hades 3000 years ago; he gave one of his eyes for be able to see the future. The result was less than he desired, an he seeks vengeance against him.
* In ''Film/DeadInTombstone'', Guerrero makes a deal with Satan. If he can send the souls of the six gang members who murdered to Hell within 24 hours, Satan will return him to life. If he fails, his torments will be a thousandfold.
* ''Film/{{Highway 61}}'' gives us Mr. Skin, who goes around collecting souls in exchange for favours.
* ''Film/DraculaUntold'':
** The Elder Vampire's ritual gave Vlad incredible power but at the price of his humanity by turning him into a vampire.
** The Elder Vampire got his powers from an actual demon, according to himself and a history book Vlad had in his library.
* ''Film/SpaceIsThePlace'': Music/SunRa plays a card game with a man called "The Overseer" to decide the fate of the black race. It is implied he is some kind of a demon character, because when they begin playing the game the 1940s jazz club suddenly changes setting to a desert where both of them are seated at a table.
* In ''Film/IWasATeenageFaust'' Dave is a young high school desperate for popularity in order to get close to the new hot girl Twyla. He signs a deal, not realizing it would be his soul on the line. When his dealer, Mr. Five, comes to collect Dave [[spoiler:uses the fact he knows Twyla was a girl who made a similar deal for popularity to save themselves. In what Mr. Five thinks is revenge, Dave asks him to change Twyla back to her old bodily proportions, making her a really tall girl. This voids her contract and in retribution, her dealer burns the contracts Mr. Five collected during the movie, saving Dave and his friend]].
* In ''Film/{{Dogma}}'', a muse claims to be personally responsible for 19 of the top 20 grossing films of all time. Except for ''Film/HomeAlone''. Or, rather, "The one about the kid by himself in his house, burglars are trying to come in and he fights them off?" "[[MemeticMutation (Aahhh!)]]" She had nothing to do with that one. "Somebody sold their soul to Satan to get the grosses up on that piece of shit."
* ''Film/TheWindmillMassacre'': According the legend, Miller Hendrik sold his soul to Devil so that the vanes of his windmill would turn no matter what the wind was doing.
* ''Film/WillysWonderland'': [[spoiler:Sheriff Lund]] makes a deal with [[BigBad Willy]] that she will have human sacrifices for them so they will never hurt the townspeople again.

* ''Film/DeadBirds'': Hollister made one to try and resurrect his wife, sacrificing his own slaves to some entity from another realm. All it did was turn his children into demons. He lured the robbers out to his house with the intention of killing them.
* ''Film/ReadyOrNot2019'': The Le Domas family believes that their founder made a deal with a figure named Mr. Le Bail (an [[LouisCypher anagram for Belial]], another name for Satan). In exchange for success in building the family's gaming empire and the resulting wealth, not only must they regularly sacrifice goats in Le Bail's name, but every time someone new marries into the family they must play a randomly selected game in order to be initiated. And if the game is Hide or Seek, the initiate must be hunted and, upon capture, be ritualistically sacrificed before dawn. Most of the younger Le Domases don't think the bargain was real, but they aren't willing to take any chances. [[spoiler:Le Bail is RealAfterAll, and when the protagonist Grace manages to survive until dawn and Helene tries to kill her after daybreak, Le Bail punishes the family by [[LudicrousGibs making them all violently explode]].]]

* In ''Film/ShortcutToHappiness'', Stone sells his soul to the Devil for 10 years of success.
* ''{{Film/Sorceress}}'': Traigon made one with the evil god Caligura for more power-he has to sacrifice his own firstborn. It doesn't deter him in the least.
* ''Film/HocusPocus'': The witches made a pact with Satan to get their powers, and still call him "Master".
* ''Film/VoxLux'': Celeste made one, or at least believes she did, to save her life after being shot.
* ''Film/TortureGarden'': In "The Man Who Collected Poe", Poe tells Wyatt that freeing someone from a deal with the devil means that the person who freed them then becomes a slave to the devil: possibly a fraction too late to save Wyatt from the consequences of his action.
* 2018's ''Film/{{Errementari}}'' is based on [[DealWithTheDevil/FolkloreAndFairyTales the folk legend of the blacksmith who made a pact with the devil]], though in his case, it was to return home safely after deserting from the war. [[spoiler: Two more pacts are made during the movie, one an unwitting pact, and the other fully cognizant of what would happen]].
* ''Film/GhostTown1988'': According to Devlin, he and his gang gained the status as {{Revenant Zombie}}s via a deal he made with Satan after the town was trapped in purgatory by the sheriff's curse.
* ''{{Film/Byzantium}}'': In order to become a vampire, people must go into a shrine on a remote island where they make a deal with the "Nameless Saint", implied to be a demon or something similar.
* In ''Film/ArtOfTheDead'', MadArtist Dorian Wilde sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for immortality through his work.

* The ritual Christian has to enact in ''Film/ExtraOrdinary2019'' involves him sacrificing a virgin woman (who will then be violently raped to death). In exchange, the infernal power of Hell will give him the power to revitalize his career.
* ''Film/FearStreet'': It's said that the witch Sarah Fier made a deal with Satan to live forever as a spirit and curse the town of Shadyside as revenge for their ancestors hanging her. [[spoiler: In actuality, Sarah was framed by the real Satanist, Solomon Goode, to cover up his own deal. In exchange for Goode and his descendants periodically sacrificing innocent people in Shadyside (by means of possessing people and turning them into serial killers), the family and their community of Sunnyvale would be prosperous and successful.]]
* In ''Film/{{Hunk}}'', the devil's agent O'Brien offers to make Bradley a "hunk", the kind of man women want and men want to be, in exchange for his soul. This includes a "sell your soul for the summer" trial, where he can get his previous body and his soul refunded if he is not satisfied with the deal.

* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': Ralph makes one of these with King Candy when he tells Ralph that Vanellope's glitchy nature would make players believe that the game is broken and they would stop playing it, with Vanellope dying along with the game once it's unplugged. When Vanellope gives him a cookie heart medal, Ralph tries to persuade her not to enter the race for her own good; Vanellope calls him out on this when she sees Ralph with the Hero's Duty medal after he promised to help her win the race in exchange for getting it back.
* ''Film/CannibalGirls'': In order to keep himself alive, Clifford offers his girlfriend Gloria to [[SinisterMinister the Reverend]] as a sacrifice. [[spoiler:This ultimately backfires, though, as the Reverend has a change of heart and convinces Gloria to kill Clifford instead.]]
* In ''Film/TheDemoniacs'', two women who survive being raped by SalvagePirates make a literal deal with the Devil to gain the power to [[RapeAndRevenge take revenge on their attackers]].