This short silent movie may be the first ever horror film.
In a little over three minutes, French director and actor, George's Melies (1861-1938), introduces several key elements that became everlasting ingredients of horror movies, especially of the vampire subgenre.
There is only one movie set made for the film. It was built in Melies's garden, out of painted cardboard, and depicts a castle antechamber ending in an open window.
A giant bat flys through the window into the antechamber, and flies around before changing into Mephistopheles (fictional character representing the spirit of the Devil). Mephistopheles produces a cauldron and a dwarf with a large book, who helps him conjure a beautiful woman from the cauldron.
The hall clears as two gentlemen enter. The dwarf pokes their backs before teleporting around the room, causing one to flee. The second stays and has several other tricks played on him, such as furniture moving around and the sudden appearance of a skeleton where he had started to sit. He attacks the skeleton with his sword, but the skeleton turns into a bat, then into Mephistopheles, who now conjures four witches or ghosts draped in white, to subdue the man. Recovering from the attack, the man is attracted to the woman from the cauldron, but Mephistopheles turns her into an old hag, then again into the four witches.
The second man reappears, but soon flees again by leaping out of the window. After the four ghosts disappear, the man is confronted by the Mephistopheles, but the man brandishes a large crucifix, which causes the Devil to vanish in a puff of smoke.
The rapid appearances and disappearances of the different characters and elements in the film was achieved by stopping and restarting the film (jump cuts), i.e. Early editing. Fast-moving action is thus crammed into this short film.
The film was lost, but rediscovered in a junkyard purchase in New Zealand in 1988.
In a little over three minutes, French director and actor, George's Melies (1861-1938), introduces several key elements that became everlasting ingredients of horror movies, especially of the vampire subgenre.
There is only one movie set made for the film. It was built in Melies's garden, out of painted cardboard, and depicts a castle antechamber ending in an open window.
A giant bat flys through the window into the antechamber, and flies around before changing into Mephistopheles (fictional character representing the spirit of the Devil). Mephistopheles produces a cauldron and a dwarf with a large book, who helps him conjure a beautiful woman from the cauldron.
The hall clears as two gentlemen enter. The dwarf pokes their backs before teleporting around the room, causing one to flee. The second stays and has several other tricks played on him, such as furniture moving around and the sudden appearance of a skeleton where he had started to sit. He attacks the skeleton with his sword, but the skeleton turns into a bat, then into Mephistopheles, who now conjures four witches or ghosts draped in white, to subdue the man. Recovering from the attack, the man is attracted to the woman from the cauldron, but Mephistopheles turns her into an old hag, then again into the four witches.
The second man reappears, but soon flees again by leaping out of the window. After the four ghosts disappear, the man is confronted by the Mephistopheles, but the man brandishes a large crucifix, which causes the Devil to vanish in a puff of smoke.
The rapid appearances and disappearances of the different characters and elements in the film was achieved by stopping and restarting the film (jump cuts), i.e. Early editing. Fast-moving action is thus crammed into this short film.
The film was lost, but rediscovered in a junkyard purchase in New Zealand in 1988.