Le Manoir du Diable (English: The House of the Devil) is a 1896 two-minute-long French film directed by Georges Méliès . The film contains many traditional pantomime elements and was intentionally meant to amuse people, rather than frighten them. The film is also referred to as: The Haunted Castle, The Devil's Castle/Manor, The Manor of the Devil.
- Run Time: 3 minutes
- Color: Black and White
- Release Date: 24 December, 1896
- Devil Film
It was released on Christmas Eve, 1896 , at the Theatre Robert Houdin, 8 boulevard des Italiens, Paris. It was from this three-minute short that many assume the horror film was born.
Plot[]
Le Manoir du Diable is a silent short film, which is considered the first horror film ever made. It was directed by Georges Méliès, a French filmmaker, in 1896.
The film is about a group of people who enter a haunted castle, where they encounter various supernatural beings and events. The film starts with a bat flying into a castle, transforming into a devil, and conjuring various supernatural creatures like ghosts and witches. As the characters explore the castle, they encounter these supernatural creatures and experience frightening events, such as objects moving by themselves and skeletons coming to life.
One of the characters tries to protect the others, but he is eventually overcome by the supernatural beings. In the end, the devil and all the other creatures vanish, and the remaining characters are left trembling in fear.
The film's plot is simple, but it was groundbreaking in its use of special effects and visual storytelling techniques. Méliès used many innovative techniques like stop-motion animation, double exposure, and substitution splices to create the film's supernatural effects. The film's success led to Méliès' reputation as a pioneer in the art of cinema, and it paved the way for the horror genre in film.
Cast[]
Directed by:
Georges Méliès
Writing credits:
Georges Méliès
Starring:
Jeanne d'Alcy
Georges Méliès ... Mephistopheles
Video[]
The Haunted Castle Film
External links[]
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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Le Manoir du diable. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Horror Film Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |