The House of the Devil (1896) User Reviews

Capturing the transformation n the gothic feel in 3 mins n that too in 1896 is truly amazing.

[Fella_shibby · 7/10 · 12 July 2019]

I saw this for the first time recently. If this film is not the first horror film at least it is the first vampire film n it includes the first transformation, that too of a human turning into a bat. A skeleton turning into a bat n then into a demon.

The plot is about a demon who disguised as a bat enters a castle n turns into a demon who produces a large pot n an assistant. Aft some mumbo jumbo a woman appears from the pot. Later kingsmen enter n they r harassed by the demon's assistant.... This film was supposed to b a fantasy amusement but the gothic feel n the transformation is truly that of a horror film.

Innovative horror film-making

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 16 February 2015]

There really isn't much you can say about a silent, three minute short from 1896, is there? Must cinema buffs already know that Georges Melies was a cinema pioneer who single-handled devised many of the tropes that are now familiar to us as modern cinema-goers, and THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL is another example of his skill as a film-maker.

The story sees the Devil at work in his spooky old castle, summoning up various creatures in a bid to commit evil. Unfortunately he falls foul of an upright Christian, who uses the power of the cross to dispel his opponent.

The three minute running time is chock-full of the special effects work that Melies loved to put on screen, particularly the use of jump cuts to make figures appear and disappear at will. With a plethora of imps, spirits, bats, and ghouls, Melies single-handedly invented the horror genre, one which is still going strong all these years later.

Experimentation With Remarkable Results

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 21 July 2015]

I'm sure the appearing and disappearing in this brief film must have been quite entertaining to the viewers in 1896. In a castle are representatives of the devil. Their purpose seems to be to frighten people, like in a Halloween haunted house. They poke people in the back and then disappear when the person spins around. A beautiful woman is transformed into a hag just as a young man approaches her. There are legions of witches and other creatures. Two young men are accosted by these beings. Anyway, at three minutes or so, there is a lot of action and one of the great early masters of film begins to feel his oats. Worth seeing, even if for the visuals.

Devil's Tricks

[Cineanalyst · 12 September 2009]

I'm not interested in retroactively assigning early films to the horror genre, as others seem to desire by claiming this film, "Le manoir du diable", as some sort of first horror film or to misunderstand the bat transformation to devil character here to be a vampire. Rather, this is another trick film, which Méliès made many of. Mephistopheles is in quite a few of these, of which this is probably the first. Mephistopheles is the director-magician's surrogate, allowing a slight narrative construction around the attraction of substitution-splices (a.k.a. stop substitutions), as the devil terrorizes a lord/cavalier with various appearances, disappearances and substitutions. By the way, I'm quite sure that Méliès plays the Faust-type lord/cavalier character and not Mephistopheles, despite several sources stating otherwise. Thus, Méliès plays the victim to the magic perpetrated by himself as the film's director and editor.

For a film of 1896, this is a rather elaborate fiction subject and production. Most films at this time were actualities of ordinary events, popularized by the Lumiére Company. The only studio had been the "Black Maria" shack, which provided a black background for every production, in addition to the few props the Edison Company occasionally employed. Soon, Méliès would create the first decent movie studio, but for this film, he at least created a makeshift, painted cardboard set in the open air (see the shadows). Nobody else, as of then, had went to such trouble for a movie. Méliès used the same or very similar backdrop and costumes, as well as a related narrative, for "Le Château hanté" (1897). These films were also offered to be hand-colored, which would add to their appeal.

(Note: At this time, most viewers have probably seen this film via the extract available on the Internet, which is taken from the documentary "The Magic of Méliès" (Le magie Méliès) (1997). A more complete version is available on French DVD, which includes the bat transformation at the beginning. According to catalogues, the film originally ended with the devil being bashed into smoke, but this part seems to be lost. It now ends with Méliès holding a cross to corner Mephistopheles.) EDIT: Flicker Alley has now also put this film on DVD in Region 1.

Le Manoir Du Diable utilises its spooky themes to evoke amusement rather than fear.

[TheMovieDiorama · 6/10 · 24 June 2018]

Titled 'The Devil's Castle' here in the UK, it is claimed to be the very first "horror" film due to the imagery of spectres, demons and vampirism. In actual fact, it's intended to be a comedic fantasy short where the Devil conjures up phantoms to subdue two cavaliers who have entered a medieval castle. Méliès managed to translate pantomime to motion picture, where the results have surprisingly aged well considering it's over 120 years old (1896). The costumes exhume a cheesy Halloween style that your children would dress up in, and the accentuated body movements of Méliès and his cast enhanced the physical comedy style. Méliès' usage of the quick cut editing technique does seem viscerally raw, where the lack of seamless transitions make the illusory disappearing effect incredibly noticeable, but however marks him as one of the finest experimentalists of that era. The plot may not be as cohesive as 'Le Voyage Dans La Lune" and the abrupt cutoff point might leave you wanting more, yet it's undeniably imaginative. Méliès pioneered cinema with an array of genre firsts and, considering this was presumed lost until 1988, am fortunate he was able to convey his crazy fantasy thoughts onto film. A simple three minute short that is very rough around the edges, but allowed an illusionist to bewilder his audience through ghostly magic.

I couldn't not review this.

[GiraffeDoor · 7/10 · 17 October 2022]

I really don't want to be too negative so what I want to dwell on is that if nothing else you get a fascinating experience.

As one person in the comments said "in less than 100 years we went from this to Star Wars".

In only 61 years we went from this to The Wizard of Oz and 41 years took us to The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. That last one is a little less impressive I suppose.

It's a neat set of camera tricks that feel more like gags and scares and the plot is more than a little hard to follow.

But what it lacks in narrative coherence it oozes in a retro beyond retro; the moving pictures of a time that is known for its literature.

It doesn't outstay its welcome which is a thing modern artists often forget. I just cannot hate it.

1896? This is literally over a 120 years old

[hotrobinproductions · 7/10 · 18 June 2020]

Remarkable. It's solid and the music is pretty creepy by itself. First horror caught on camera

Film history in three minutes

[Vinylel · 7/10 · 10 July 2019]

This film is known to be the first of the horror genre and because of that there are no high expectations when it comes to being scared. However one plus can be given to the special effects used, It shows quick progress within film since the first movie ever made was only filmed 9 years prior to this. There are minor mistakes but that is to be expected. With only a three minute run length it is something that needs to be watched

Containing some elements of later vampire films.

[Ziggy5446 · 9/10 · 27 June 2007]

The very first horror movie was not 1896's Le Manoir Du Diable (The Devil's Castle), in fact, Georges Melies' Un Nuit Terrible that features a giant insect, is his first production in the horror genre, anticipating the creature-on-the-loose plots of the fifties. However, Le Manoir Du Diable is the first film to feature hints of the vampire. Its running time barely three minutes, and made by and starring Melies. Looking at it many years later it seems primitive and crude, but it also displays an imaginative exuberance and joy that makes it one of film history's little treasures.

The Devil played by Melies himself, has a kind of carnival charm. In a castle, a flying bat turns into the Devil. The Devil makes a cauldron magically appear. He also conjures up a beautiful woman, and an old man carrying a book. Satan then makes cauldron, woman, man, and book disappear. A knight shows up carrying a cross. Our villain clearly panicked, there is a puff of smoke and the Devil is gone.

Because of the brazen, Gothic quality of Le Manoir Du Diable, its brief running time is not a limitation. Serious movie lovers should make the extra effort to get real satisfaction. Go to the "Horror Films" and "Classic Horror Films" Web sites. Read books like " The Satanic Screen: An Illustrated Guide to The Devil in Cinema" by Nikolas Schreck and Allan Hunter's "Chambers Concise Encyclopedia of Film and Television." Find odd-man-out wonders like Le Manoir Du Diable and enjoy horror's timeless feast.

The House of the Devil

[auuwws · 6/10 · 28 January 2022]

Funny movie but it's wasn't scary, I know it's was the first horror movie, But the movie not try to scare me, The visual effects in the movie was amazing, The movie from 1896 and the visual effect was incredible , I recommend watching it.

The birth of horror

[Red-Barracuda · 5/10 · 30 April 2010]

This Georges Melies film is one of the very first films to dip into the horror genre. As was usual for a Melies production it's full of visual trickery and invention, while obviously being stagey and crude due to it's incredibly old age. It certainly must be one of the first films to make reference to vampires with its bat that turns into Satan. The simple narrative involves this character manifesting himself in an old castle and then conjuring up a cauldron, a young woman and old man. A heroic knight appears shortly afterwards and thwarts the villain. Like all of Melies films, this one isn't about story-lines. Cinema back in the earliest years of the medium never was. It actually took a while before it became obvious that the medium would even be any good for telling stories. And it took many years for both audience and film-makers to work out how to do it. So these early films like the Melies ones were mainly a means of showcasing visual trickery, a way of letting people see the impossible. Hence their extremely short running times too. But I always sort of marvel at the ingenuity of those guys from over 100 years ago. Right from the offset they had loads of crazy ideas of how to present images in creative and interesting ways. It's well worth any fan of cinema taking a few short minutes of their time out to watch these ancient films, not only because they are the very first primitive twitches of cinema but also because they are fascinating historical documents in themselves.

This is amazing for 1896

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 21 July 2011]

Okay, I'll admit that this is not a terrific film by many standards. But, and this is important, if you compare it to other films of the era, it's clearly among the very, very best. Back in 1896, most films consisted of babies eating, folks breathing and other 'exciting' activities. There was seldom an attempt to tell a story and special effects consisted of....well, there were no special effects! So, when I see Georges Méliès with his silly bats, imps and devils appearing and disappearing, I can't help but admire him as this is among the first films to even try such 'advanced' special effects. Sure, you might laugh at it now, but audiences of the day were mesmerized as these effects seemed to appear and disappear as if by magic--though it's obvious to folks now that the director simply stopped and re-started the film to achieve the effect. Interesting...and kind of fun.

The House of the Devil

[skybrick736 · 5/10 · 8 August 2014]

The opportunity to watch a film from 1896 is astonishing in itself even if the film is the same repeated magic trick and edits. I wouldn't call it comic per say like a view of the previous reviewers thought but a film to try and get a thrill out of an audience. Georges Melies with his little gem may have kick started the horror genre to a place it may not be at with this type of movie. House of the Devil has horror elements and essentials such as ghosts, witches, skeletons and the devil himself in form of a bat. It's an easy three minute watch, with some cool tricks, but its nothing too extraordinary. Take a look if you want to watch something very old and neat from a time way way forgotten.

Amazing for the time in all sorts of ways

[Tornado_Sam · 20 July 2018]

There are dozens of ways that this three minute movie is amazing for the day. "Le Manoir du Diable" is one of filmmaker Georges Melies's earliest trick movies. Originally, his output until then mostly consisted of your typical Lumiere subjects: trains arriving in stations, women washing clothing, blacksmiths at work, etc. But, having discovered special effects earlier the same year, he began experimenting with them, reproducing a stage magician's act with "The Vanishing Lady" and going even further to turn out "The House of the Devil".

I have many things to say about this film. I'll begin with the 'first vampire movie' thing. Yes, there is indeed a bat included--but it is actually Mephistopheles, an incarnation of the devil, which it turns into. Only looking at movies today about vampires do we look back at this and misinterpret it. It's just like some people are saying that the eclipse in Melies's "The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and the Moon" features a 'gay' eclipse and that Melies was encouraging homosexuality or whatever. It's not true. I cannot believe how stupid people can be nowadays.

Is it a horror film? With that I am inclined to agree. According to Wikipedia, "The House of the Devil" was originally meant to amuse rather than scare. The thing is, it looks so much like a horror. The ghosts that appear actually DO look a little creepy. And there's the bat turning into Mephistopheles. It may not have originally meant to have been a horror, but one cannot deny that the whole theme makes it so from start to finish.

As for the rumor going around that Melies played Mephistopheles, I have something to say about that too. Wikipedia's article makes no mention of Melies having ever appeared in this short at all; however, according to my own beliefs, he played the cavalier character who is the victim of Mephistopheles's traps. Melies's acting always has a certain joyful charm whenever he is in front of a movie camera, whether he's playing a frightened inn guest, a magician or the devil. The devil here doesn't really feel like Melies at all, but instead comes across as sinister and lurking. On the other hand, the cavalier not only looks like Melies, he comes off as very lively, amusing and every bit as childish as you'd expect from Melies's acting. The actor for Mephistopheles's role still remains uncertain, though Georges Sadoul, a film historian, believes him to have been played by Jules-Eugene Legris, a performer at Melies's Theatre Robert-Houdin.

Now that we've cleared that up, we can get on to see just how amazing this movie is for the time. As I said before, Melies's earliest films were exactly like other films of the day--documentaries of ordinary life with no attempt to tell a story of any sort. There was sometimes acting but not any sets at all--and NO special effects. Looking at this now, it seems silly. Just a bunch of guys appearing and disappearing in a castle. But back all the way in 1896, it was amazing. Audiences had no idea how anyone could film stuff like this--they were spell-bound. Not only does "The House of the Devil" contain special effects, it has a really (and this is sincere) cool looking set which sets the scene for the interior of the castle. In fact, it's a few sets really. Behind the main set, there is another doorway guarded by a cardboard knight (which was later reused in Melies's films "A Nightmare" and "The Haunted Castle", I believe). Behind that is another painted backdrop which is supposed to look like other doorways, later replaced by a balcony set so the second cavalier can jump off. (A little odd, that change of sets, but Melies hadn't yet invented multi-scene narratives). The cauldron also looks cool for just a piece of flat painted cardboard.

There's the costumes too. They look totally awesome. The ghosts' masks are really cool and still a little spooky. The outfits for the cavaliers look great and not a bit hand-made at all. It is all extremely lavish and every bit as convincing as though you were there. Besides that, there's also some good special effects work. The dwarf appearing in puffs of smoke effect looks very convincing, while both transformations from bat to devil are actually surprisingly well done. While all Melies used was just a simple splice to do all the effects, I think it actually looks better than could be hoped for.

The whole thing was filmed out in Melies's garden in Montreuil, but watching it you wouldn't really know it since the sets are so convincing looking (at least to me). While it may be a bit padded, that is actually a good thing since a three minute movie from 1896 was very rare. And while the story is simplistic, it is still impressive since you hardly ever saw films with plots at all at this point in filmmaking. This is truly amazing for the time and proof that Melies was one h--l of a guy.

Shockingly good

[AnonymousbutDilpreet002 · 9/10 · 3 January 2020]

When people saw a real film on screen for the first time in 1896, they were scared by a train as they thought it was real. Now, imagine the kind of impact a film like Le Manoir du diable would have created in audience's mind. It definitely was scary then.

It's hard to believe all these special effects were used more than a century ago. Now, they don't look special but we have to give credit to Melies for starting it.

not a horror but a comedy

[r-j-marsh · 5/10 · 13 April 2007]

this film, although generally seen as the first horror, was in fact originally intended to amuse rather than scare. its only when you look at it with todays understanding of horror conventions that we see it as such. yes, it does correspond with the whole dark and impending thing and have aspects of the supernatural and creatures that we, as a modern cinema going audience connect automatically with horror, but if you view it as those at the time would have, you start to see that contrary to being a fear inspiring piece, it is actually a very interesting and cleverly put together series of artistic images. also, bearing in mind the level of filmic technology available at the time, is a fairly superior piece, but most definitely not a horror.

Fun and lively antecedent to the modern horror-comedy

[jamesrupert2014 · 8/10 · 19 February 2020]

Georges Méliès' primitive, three minute, 'horror-comedy' film opens with a giant bat turning into a black-clad devil who then magically torments a couple of soldiers before the braver of the two drives the fiend away by brandishing a large cross. The film is shot from a single camera on a small set made up as a castle and there are lots of substitution-splices as the devil conjures up various imps and spirits, changes a young woman into an old hag, and produces a steaming caldron out of thin air. The old film (thought lost until 1988) is an amusing precursor of the 'haunted house' genre and includes a couple of tropes later to become core to the cinematic 'vampire' tradition: the transformation from a bat and the power of the cross over the creatures of the night. Fun but my high rating needs to be taken in context.

Is this really the first vampire movie?

[tangopalace · 5/10 · 23 May 2010]

According to The Encyclopedia of Horror Movies, Edited by Phil Hardy, that's what this film is supposed to be. The version of this on YouTube is listed as 1 minute 28 seconds in length, but the entire beginning portion is a newer introduction showing miniature sets that resemble the actual sets in the 1896 film. Related films of Georges Melies include LE DIABLE AU COUVENT (1899) and A LA CONQUETE DU POLE (1912), in which a gigantic "abominable snowman" type monster crushes a human explorer. LE MANOIR DU DIABLE is very much a stage pantomime, with the characters running about, and absolutely no subtitles. You have to watch their mimed actions to determine the plot line, which is very basic to begin with. By the way, no one in America that I've met seems to know how to pronounce Georges Melies' name correctly. The closest I can do for you, phonetically, is: ZHOR-zha MaLEE.

The House of the Devil

[Michael_Elliott · 25 August 2011]

Le manoir du diable (1896)

*** (out of 4)

aka The House of the Devil

Early Georges Melies trick film has a bat appearing inside a castle when it then transforms into the Devil himself. Soon this creature is using spells to make other creatures come to life. LE MANOIR DU DIABLE is going to be a big interest to those Melies die-hards such as myself but I think horror fans will also get a real kick out of this. To say this isn't one of the earliest examples of a horror film would be rather crazy because not only do we get the Devil and black magic but there are also ghosts, a skeleton and various other ghastly images. When viewed against today's technology I'm sure there are some that might laugh at these effects but once you consider these were being done in 1896 you really can't help but applaud them. Melies was clearly years ahead of everyone else and the effects still hold up quite well today. I really loved how the different people began to appear even though the editing effects are quite obvious. Another nice touch was some of the black comedy thrown in and for just one example check out how the skeleton is used. Another major plus is that Melies plays the main character so well and with such energy.

Melies' magic, part one

[jamesjustice-92 · 10/10 · 24 October 2022]

Georges has made over 500 short feature films throughout his almost two-decades-long career but only a few of them truly stand out as innovative, groundbreaking and rightfully new - all the rest unfortunately repeats the formula of those great ones, reuses it or is simply not that interesting from a standpoint of a person from the 21st century, spoiled by too many movies of nowadays. Back then the art of moving pictures was at the dawn, being the newest invention, and all over the world there were people grinding their teeth in it but Georges Melies was among the first ones to figure out what he can do with it - entertain people.

At the end of 1896 the world saw "The Devil's manor" (Le Manoir du diable) - the first horror, the first vampire movie and the longest movie as of then - almost three and a half minutes. When I first watched this short feature it didn't have any accompaniment so I figured I'd input a song that's about the same length as this movie and my very first choice turned out absolutely fantastic - Iron Maiden's "Running free" from their 1980 debut album fits the narrative almost perfectly. The movie itself shows Melies doing what he was best known for later - tricks, to awake a feeling of something magical in a viewer, to amaze him with a story of a devil terrorizing the castle's inhabitants with his unearthly powers by using simple editing; this technique he perfected during his career and it was used on many movies and TV shows ever since, Bewitched for instance, and still is.

Méliès off the mark

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 13 October 2013]

It didn't happen too often that the possibly most notable early silent movie director, Georges Méliès, overshoots the mark, but this is one example where he did. Nobody's perfect, I guess. This film is packed with the the diabolically supernatural as well as with Méliès' usual magic tricks, show etc. Lots of it is related to a kettle here. Unfortunately he goes for quantity over quality from start to finish and packs so much action in this short film that it's just one spectacular thing happening after the other and the story pays the price for it. I wish he had focused a bit more on precision instead of turning this basically into a showcase of 3 minutes that also lacks quality in terms of the physical aspect of the film itself. It's really almost impossible to see and understand what exactly is going on. Sometimes less can be more and this is one perfect example. Not recommended. Méliès has done better many times.

How it All Started

[rak-27003 · 8/10 · 16 August 2022]

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.

Not a official Vampire Movie

[vladyriny · 2/10 · 5 May 2009]

This film is not a vampire film classification! But on first glance, this film is no official Vampire Film and second film was also too short, but 2 minutes! The French film - Le Manoir Du Diable (1896) (The Devil's Castle) was the first short horror movie. The 'real' count of the Vampire Films started in the year 1909 - Titel: ''The Vampire of the Coast'' (1909). This -> Trivia: May be the first horror and "vampire" film is nonsense! ''In a castle, a flying bat turns into the Devil'' - this says enough that this vampire is essentially no! The titles of this Movie say it enough: Also Known As: Manor of the Devil, The Devil's Castle, The Devil's Manor, The Manor of the Devil (english) - This is not about a Vampire, but the Devil!

Leading the pack points

[tvcarsd · 10/10 · 3 September 2020]

Firstly, I love occult theme supernatural movies. Secondly, I love horror movies. Thirdly, mega points for being the first. So who cares if the 'movie' was so short when back then if you were the first out you set the bar for how long a movie should be. Awesome stuff, historic moment!

The House of the Devil

[nekrotikk · 1 December 2018]

The first comedy horror? This short film is packed with fantastic effects for the time. It blends some great slapstick moments in with the overall gothic horror atmosphere. The film shows a bat transform into the devil who proceeds to conjure all manner of creatures. Two soldiers walk in to see this, but they can't leave as easily as they entered.