Milton's Satan as Horror Movie Icon...rough ideas

It appears as though the modern world is horrified by many things; demons, possession, ghosts, mass murderers, satanic cults, witches, zombies and serial killers but not the devil. If you take a look at horror movies from the last thirty years, all of the above feature heavily in the storylines, but Satan is very hard to find. Of movies that do reference Satan, the movies tend to fall into a couple of categories; ones where Satan either works through proxies or is an invisible force such as Spawn, The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, Prince of Darkness and Devil. Then there are the movies that feature the Anti-Christ, not to be confused with Satan, such as The Omen movies and the recent reboot. Then there are the movies that either feature lesser devils or have a humorous bent such as Bedazzled (both versions), Damn Yankees, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Little Nicky and Heaven Can Wait. 

However, for my purposes, I am interested in examining films that feature an original portrayal of Satan as a character such as The Prophecy, Constantine, Angel Heart, The Witches of Eastwick, Mister Frost and The Devil's Advocate. However, closer examination of these movies reveals that all of these characterizations have their basis in Milton's characterization of Satan from Paradise Lost. Each of these portrayals alternately reference the war in heaven, Satan's human tendencies of pride and jealousy, his use of rhetoric, his interference with, and manipulation of, man.

It is telling that each of these movies is not primarily listed as horror. Instead, if you search, they are alternately listed as thrillers, mysteries or fantasy, with horror occasionally listed, but by no means prominent. Perhaps this suggests that the modern world no longer views Satan as a horror. As Mister Frost suggests, scientific rationales seems to have replaced the devil in man's mind. Modern horror films focus on people more than anything else, and how they deal with superhuman, but recognizable threats. It is of interest though, that when Satan is present, his characterization is that of Milton; he is a fallen angel standing in opposition to Heaven, he is a liar, able to confuse and manipulate the men around him, he is capable of great power, yet also can be thwarted (or can he?) by the free will of man. Satan, as Milton first portrayed him, is still a compelling character, even if, or perhaps because, film portrayals of him stand a little outside of the norm.

This paper will examine these movies in pairs, according to their function: The Prophecy and Constantine for the Miltonic portrayal of Lucifer as a fallen angel who stands in opposition to heavenly host, in both represented by the character of Gabriel, Mister Frost and The Devil's Advocate for their use of rhetoric, and Angel Heart and The Witches of Eastwick for their manipulative characteristics. While each of these films focus on different aspects of Satan, each is recognizable as having their roots in Milton's creation.
In both The Prophecy and Constantine, Lucifer appears late in the movie, 1:40 in Constantine and 1:14 in The Prohpecy. Both appear as a result of Gabriel's suspect behavior, casting doubt on the idea that the angels in heaven are always right. Both try to manipulate the main characters of Daggett and Constantine, only to be thwarted by the characters' free will- Daggett when he refuses to go with Lucifer, and Constantine when he choose to sacrifice his life for Angela Dodson's sister's soul. Both are self serving; in The Prophecy Lucifer is concerned that Gabriel's actions will make Earth a hell, hence encroaching on Lucifer's territory, "Two Hells is one Hell too many", while in Constantine, Lucifer  is tricked by Constantine in foiling Gabriel's plans to bring the Anti-Christ to Earth, making it a hell to test the potential good of man. In both, the foil of Gabriel is motivated by jealousy, both Walken's character in The Prophecy and Swinton's in Constantine are jealous of God's love of man and their capability for free will.
In both Mister Frost and The Devil's Advocate, the characters of Satan are seen as great manipulations, whose rhetoric is the tool they use to corrupt man. In Mister Frost, Jeff Goldblum as the devil seeks to regain his power from science. He says that modern man longer "believe in God or me" and that he is there because the scientists have messed things up. That he "must reveal to the world your [scientists] incompetence". By forcing a psychiatrist, Sarah Day, a representative of the scientific world, to believe in him, and believe that he must be destroyed/killed, Frost gains back the power science had stolen from him.  He states that "he's back because he made her believe in him".
Scholars have examined the connection between The Devil's Advocate and Paradise Lost before due to Pacino's character being named John Milton. However, this scholarship looks at the surface connections, and fails to examine how this character is a modern portrayal of Milton's Satan.

Location, Location, Location...

Mom used to ask me where I thought I wanted to end up. The only answer I ever gave her was "Nowhere I've already been." I still find that to be mostly true. So that rules out:

• New York City
• Atlanta
• Omaha
• Savannah
• Wilmington
• St. Louis
• Upstate NY
• Connecticut
• Washington D.C
• San Francisco
• Half Moon Bay, CA

A friend and I were talking about this the other night, as he lives in LA because he has to (he's an actor). We got to talking about what we would look for in the perfect place to live. I told him that I wasn't sure where I wanted to end up, but I had a list of things I did and did not like. So, here's my list:

• I'm tired of 105+ degree heat index. I like the sun, but am over this heat and humidity crap for three months.
• Someplace that has a median temperature in the 60s would be nice, with some sunny, warm days.
• I'm not a big fan of winter, so unless it briefly snows and then goes away, not into that.
• I would like somewhere in between a small town and small city. Not really keen on a place where everyone knows your business.
• Liberal politics. Pretty much a place where you can state an opinion based on intellect and not be crucified for it.
• I like the ocean, I love living by the water. But I realized this summer, that doesn't mean I'm going to want to go to a crowded beach full of people, or go into the water. So maybe West Coast and their 60 degree water would work.
• Decent cost of living.
• Decent access to an airport. It's a bit of a pain in the ass to drive two hours to an airport, and have to get there two hours early for an hour flight. 
• Would like to have a house with a little bit more land, little less crowded in with other people. But I don't want to live in the boonies and worry about Nehi, bears and other critters.

There are a lot of other factors of course. With it being only six months since Mom died, I still feel as though my head is a jumble.
I've been made department chair at work, I like teaching online, there are opportunities at the community college. It could be that I'm happier with this new situation.
There just seem to be so many big questions- many of which I've pondered here before: what do I want to do? What would make me happy? Where would I want to go? Would I be happy here teaching for a community college? Would I want to move halfway across the country all on my own with no safety net? What if I'm miserable? Do I have to take into consideration everyone else, or is it okay to be selfish about this? Make a decision purely for myself? Either way, too big a thing to back away from.
Another friend of mine said that there's a reason Jews don't make any big decisions for a year after a death. And that makes sense to me. But there are things boiling here at home that are bringing into sharp focus the fact that I may have to make some big decisions and soon. So, if my hand is forced, I guess the question is, what do I do?
L.M Montgomery, who wrote the Anne of Green Gables series, also wrote another series, Emily and there's a bit that sticks into my mind. Emily has to make a big decision, and she goes around asking everyone their opinion. In the end , what she really wants is someone to tell her what to do, but only if that advice is what she's already decided. I can relate. Except for the fact that I haven't decided.
Still wish someone would help me out though.
Still feel as though I am floundering.