The 15 most memorable cinematic depictions of the Underworld

“Beetlejuice,” which is a better film than its belated sequel, features the afterlife, but mostly deals with ghosts on Earth. It doesn’t really get too into the “underworld.” There’s more of the Afterlife, and it has much more of an underworld feel this time. From Delores’ storage room to the “Great Beyond” to the fact Betelgeuse seems to send somebody to Hell, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” ends up being heavily an underworld movie.

Robin Williams goes to Hell. “What Dreams May Come” is not one of the most memorable Williams movies, but it got heavy marketing because it came right in the wake of his Oscar win. He plays a guy who dies, goes to Heaven, and then decides to go into Hell to save his wife. The plot is silly, and the movie was a flop, but if you are into the Judeo-Christian vision of Hell, then “What Dreams May Come” has you covered.

How do you follow up traveling through time and teaching Abe Lincoln the phrase “party on?” By going to Hell! In “Bogus Journey,” the titular journey sees Bill and Ted killed by evil robot versions of themselves, and they end up in Hell for a bit. Then they beat the Grim Reaper at Twister and he joins their band and all is well.

After only a few years on television, “South Park” had become big enough to get a feature film. This was a space where Trey Parker and Matt Stone could somehow be raunchier, more vulgar, and more self-satisfied. In addition to the Oscar-nominated song “Blame Canada,” there’s also a lot of Hell, where Satan and Saddam Hussein are in a romantic relationship.

Finally, the faceoff nobody was asking for! That being said, Freddy Kreuger and Jason Vorhees are two of the slasher icons. It was the final foray for both characters before both “Friday the 13th” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” got rebooted. Jason had already been in Hell, but when “Freddy vs. Jason” begins Freddy finds himself in Hell. Eventually, the two do fight, so there’s that.

People had put up with a lot of silliness and lowbrow humor from Adam Sandler. Some of it was even good, like “Happy Gilmore.” For many, the tide began to turn with “Little Nicky.” It was the film that was too stupid, too sophomoric, and Nicky was too annoying a character. Nicky is one of Satan’s sons, who is tasked with returning his two evil brothers to Hell. Also, Rodney Dangerfield plays Satan. “Little Nicky” was the first flop for Sandler after he achieved movie stardom.

What if there were a bunch of characters with goofy, literal names and a heaping helping of S&M? Then you’d have Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser” franchise. It’s mostly just an excuse for Barker’s predilections and fetishes to play out on the big screen, but apparently, there’s a market for that! They’ve made so many of these movies with the Cenobites down in Hell doing their thing. You’d think by no,w people would just realize porn exists.

Keanu Reeves is back in Hell! Also, this is the second movie on this list that operates under the premise that if you take your own life or even attempt it, you are condemned to Hell no matter what. Reeves plays John Constantine, a world-weary exorcist based on a DC Comics character in a story that is a bit too convoluted. Maybe that’s why it had a mixed reception and was only a mild success.

In a semi-dark comedy that in part led Disney to introduce other production labels for less kid-friendly fare, Elliott Gould plays the titular Max Devlin. He’s a slumlord who dies, goes to Hell, and then makes a deal with the Devil(‘s number-two man) that if he can get three teenagers to sell their souls, he can have his back. Part of what was controversial about the movie at the time was the actor making an unexpected turn as a villain: Bill Cosby. The world kept spinning, and now that casting feels almost on the nose.

The Italian poet Dante’s “Inferno” portion of “The Divine Comedy” is perhaps the quintessential depiction of Hell in fiction. There have been a few “Dante’s Inferno” movies made, though none has really landed as definitive. This version from 1935 is the closest to that. It’s notable for starring a young-ish Spencer Tracy, and for featuring Rita Hayworth when she still went by Rita Cansino.

You ever see a movie where some story point is so obvious to you that it doesn’t even feel like it’s been hidden, and then suddenly the movie reveals it like it is a massive twist, and you feel baffled and super annoyed? Another way of phrasing that is: Have you ever seen “Saltburn?” “Tales from the Hood” is such a movie. The anthology film is framed as a funeral director telling some drug dealers macabre stories. In the end it is “revealed” the drug dealers are in Hell and the funeral director is Satan. We didn’t give you a spoiler alert there because when you watch the movie it is not something that feels spoilable. Plus, the movie is 30 years old. Give us a break.

We kick Christian Hell to the curb for the Greek Underworld. Disney’s movie is a loose retelling of the Hercules myth. So much so that it is fully the Greek version of the myth but they call him Hercules instead of Heracles. Hades, god of the underworld, is one of the primary supporting characters and the ostensible villain. He’s an entertaining villain as well, which is always nice in a Disney movie.

Ahh, the days of the YA adaptation craze. You take a popular book, you get Chris Columbus to adequately direct your movie, and you hope things take off. “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” sort of worked. “The Lightning Thief” got a sequel, but said sequel did not do well enough for production to continue on the planned third movie. At least we got some Underworld action in the first film!

So do the characters in “This is the End” go to Hell…or does Hell come to them? It’s a little confusing because “This is the End” barely qualifies as a movie. It’s mostly Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who are bad screenwriters, proving they are even worse directors. Adam Sandler gets a lot of criticism for making movies that are just an excuse for him and his buddies to hang out with his friends in fun locations, but even he has never had the guy to do something as inert and self-indulgent as “This is the End.”

You could be talking about the two Hellboy movies from Guillermo del Toro starring Ron Perlman, or the 2019 reboot with David Harbour, or the latest reboot, 2024’s “Hellboy: The Crooked Man” featuring Jack Kesy. However you slice it, Hellboy is a demon from Hell raised by humans. While he is on Earth, there is always a bit of Hell in the mix. The dude is the boy of Hell, after all.