Michael Ballam (old guy, Shakespearean actor) or Darryl Yeager (younger guy).

My vote is for Ballam. He seemed more articulate in his evil. I especially loved the part where he threatens the temple patrons who don't walk up to all their covenants. It was definitely the highlight of the whole movie.

Dying to know what everyone else thinks.

My roommate in the MTC, right before her mission, attended a fireside where Ballam spoke. He said before he filmed the temple movie, he prayed to know what Satan was really like so he could portray him accurately. Ballam said it was terrifying.

Now I don't personally believe in a Satan, per se, although I do agree there is evil. Ballam caught that sense of evil much better than Yeager, who always looked like a campy frat boy portraying a Monte Python character IMO.

It was the only good acting, of an imaginary character portrayal in the movie.

I vote for the goatee guy with the piercing blue eyes in the old throat slasher flick from the '70s

I though Ballam overacted to the point I almost laughed out loud the first time I saw him in the "new" film.

Michael Balam is so played - he is practically singing his part. Darryl Yeager is by far the best. He immerses himself in the role and with Michael it is all about him. Please bring back Darryl Yeager. I want to enjoy the film again. Right now it is just painful.

I was so bored out of my mind for most of that movie I was HOPING Ballam was going to break into song. SweetMormonJesus that would have been a respite from the "WTH?WTH?WTH?WTH?WTH?" track playing over and over and over in my head.

Ballam was campy good. I needed that, especially since I had the misfortune of going through right before they changed the ceremony in 1990. Yay me! I got to pantomime slitting my own throat and disemboweling myself. Good times!

It wasn't long after that we saw Ballam in "The Pantom of the Opera." At the curtain call, I said to then-hubs, "That guy looks like Satan in the <whispering> temple movie." He said, "That's because he IS." Yes, we spoke of the temple not just outside the temple but surrounded by unwashed Hollywood heathens, even the Gentiles...oh, and enemies of the church--intellectuals, feminists, homosexuals, and show people.

Fantastic post. You nailed it!

;o)

I've heard several people say they thought Brian David Mitchell did an excellent job portraying Stan, the devil, in the live performance.

Michael Ballam made me want to be bad. I wanted to rule and reign with blood and terror.

Seriously, by the time I saw him in the temple movie I didn't really believe anymore anyway so I just laughed under my breath at his theatrics...but he has my vote for the best temple movie Satan.

OTOH I remember going through pre-movie and we had some pretty good Lucifers from our local temple workers. One of my favorites was a grade school teacher of mine who I didn't care for as a teacher. It cracked me up seeing him up there as the devil. Crappy teacher = Lucifer. Made sense to me.

I can so relate.
Simone Stigmata Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Michael Ballam made me want to be bad. I wanted to
> rule and reign with blood and terror.
>
> Seriously, by the time I saw him in the temple
> movie I didn't really believe anymore anyway so I
> just laughed under my breath at his
> theatrics...but he has my vote for the best temple
> movie Satan.
>
> OTOH I remember going through pre-movie and we had
> some pretty good Lucifers from our local temple
> workers. One of my favorites was a grade school
> teacher of mine who I didn't care for as a
> teacher. It cracked me up seeing him up there as
> the devil. Crappy teacher = Lucifer. Made sense to
> me.

The whole Satan character drama in the temple movie is quite entertaining. For some fun images and history behind the movie click here:

http://www.salamandersociety.com/media/movies/templemovie/

Coincidentally, today, someone submitted this tidbit that I will add to the page later.

"Interesting fact: Bruce Newbold is James in the movie with the "Blonde Eve". His voice was dubbed over Adam's voice in the other movie. Listen closely if you can catch the two versions. I was told by a source that the Adam in the other version just didn't have the right voice. So they used Bruck Newbold's voice as Adam and dubbed it over the other guy's voice who played Adam.

FYI...Bruce Newbold has been in numerous LDS films. Look him up
" - by gromm

The smelly old guy who pulled me through the veil. ;o)

lmao, WCG!

I went to and fro in the temple, and I walked up and down in it.

And they never ever suspected me.

It had to be my ex husband.

Definitely the dark haired, older guy... He's clearly gay and we all know that if Satan is half as evil as Mormons say he is, he's all kinds of gay.

Disclaimer: Being a gay man myself, I'm entitled to say this and and pretty darn confident in my gaydar. :)

I thought Michael Ballam would be a great Star Trek villian, matching wits with Kirk or Picard, and then I see the other Satan in ......Star Trek!

Definitely Ballam - Yeager's sniveling approach drove me nuts.

In real life Ballam is a serious nutcase though based on the little exposure I've had with him.

I heard him speak at BYU education week. He made a big deal about how being Satan in the temple movie gave him superior knowledge of what Satan is really like.

He then applied it to music and said that John Lennon was of the devil. Really pretty much anything pop is of the devil.

But that anything classical is of God. He specifically talked about how much Les Miserables music is of God.

Now I absolutely love Les Miserables. But the song "lovely ladies" - c'mon...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2012 06:43PM by bc.

Really? John Lennon is of the devil?

Clint Eastwood began his speech at the Republican Convention saying, "You're thinking, what's a movie tradesman doing out here? You know they are all left-wingers out there, left of Lenin."

But the closed-captioner caught it as "left of Lennon."

Haha, really had me scratching my head until I read the transcript.

Michael Ballam. The other guy just didn't pull it off, although I know a couple of women who preferred him because he was the sexier of the two Satans.

The sexier of the two Satans - only in Mormonism.

I lived in wonderful Cache Valley. When I quit believing, I found it hilarious that my dad knew where Michael Ballam lived and would always say, "There's the devil's house." It still cracks me up and it's been 15 years plus years.

I took a class from Satan while attending USU. I only ever saw the one version of the temple movie. His operatic portrayal of the Prince of Darkness is seared into my memory.

What is with all these old threads being resurrected?

I was wondering that myself, ginger.

Ana

I vote for Yeager. Ballam overacted for me, but I loved Yeager when he looked into the camera and told me that if I didn't live up to my covenants I'd be destroyed *SWOON* I loved his hair!

There was a different guy when I went through (Ron Fredrickson), with dark hair, before Michael Ballam. I don't think I ever saw that Yeager guy.

But when they switched to Ballam, I loved it. He was just so deliciously getting into the part. I wondered if it was bad that I liked him the best in the film. LOL

He just really got into it. It may have been a tad overdone, but that made it entertaining during such a boring film.

I read somewhere that BY played the part in old times. THAT would have been the best. So appropriate for the part.

Brother Jacobsen, the 80-something guy in the SLC temple who would forget his lines and had accidentally wiped a booger across his lapel. He would try to cry out in his raspy voice "Now is the day of my power!" or whatever that line is. As a devil he didn't scare me much but he was entertaining.

Does anyone remember how God and Jesus showed up in an elevator? Priceless. It could only have been better with a Stairway to Heaven.

The gay one...