Satan has been cast out from Hell and banished to Earth under decree of Heaven. He can return only after overseeing a series of temptations. However, for every soul who gives in to his tempting, one hundred years are added to his sentence. For every soul who resists, one thousand years are subtracted from his sentence. The film follows Satan throughout much of recorded history, focusing mainly on four short episodes. First he tempts Judas to betray Jesus, then he goes on to influence the Spanish Inquisition, spark the French Revolution and finally he causes the Franco-Russian War of 1918 to occur.