Le Manoir du diable
Le Manoir du diable (
The Devil's Castle) is a two minute long French film directed by
Georges Melies. The film contained many traditional
pantomime elements and was intentionally meant to amuse people, rather than frighten them. The film is often called other things by mistake, some of these include:
*
The Haunted Castle*
The Devil's Manor*
Manor of the Devil*
The Manor of the DevilIt was released on
Christmas Eve,
1896, at the Theatre Robert Houdin, 8 boulevard des Italiens,
Paris. It was from this two minute short that the
horror film was born.
The film starts off with a large bat flying into a medieval castle. Once in, the bat circles slowly while flapping its monstrous wings before suddenly changing into
Mephistopheles. After preparing a cauldron, the demon produces skeletons, ghosts, and witches from its bubbling contents before one of the summoned underworld cavaliers holds up a crucifix and
Satan vanishes in a blast of smoke.
Director... Georges MeliesProducer... Georges Melies and
Star FilmsWriter... Georges Melies
Cinematographer... Phil Meheux,
Bill PopeEditor... Craig HerringStarring... Jeanne d'Alcy, Georges Melies (as Mephistopheles)
