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The House of the Devil

Original title: Le manoir du diable
  • 18961896
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 3m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
The House of the Devil (1896)
  • Short
  • Horror
With the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.With the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.With the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Georges Méliès
  • Writer
    • Georges Méliès
  • Stars
    • Jehanne d'Alcy
    • Jules-Eugène Legris(unconfirmed)
    • Georges Méliès
Top credits
  • Director
    • Georges Méliès
  • Writer
    • Georges Méliès
  • Stars
    • Jehanne d'Alcy
    • Jules-Eugène Legris(unconfirmed)
    • Georges Méliès
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 27User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos19

    Jules-Eugène Legris in The House of the Devil (1896)
    Jules-Eugène Legris in The House of the Devil (1896)
    The House of the Devil (1896)
    Jules-Eugène Legris in The House of the Devil (1896)
    The House of the Devil (1896)
    Jules-Eugène Legris in The House of the Devil (1896)
    Jules-Eugène Legris in The House of the Devil (1896)
    Jules-Eugène Legris in The House of the Devil (1896)
    The House of the Devil (1896)
    The House of the Devil (1896)
    Jules-Eugène Legris in The House of the Devil (1896)
    Jules-Eugène Legris in The House of the Devil (1896)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jehanne d'Alcy
    • Young woman
    • (as Jeanne d'Alcy)
    Jules-Eugène Legris
    • Mephistopheles
    • (unconfirmed)
    Georges Méliès
    Georges Méliès
    • Mephistopheles
    • Director
      • Georges Méliès
    • Writer
      • Georges Méliès
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Film historians argue that this is the first film depiction of a vampire. While director and actor credited his character as Mephistopheles, a legendary demon, many horror elements associated with vampires exist in the film and are exhibited by the character. These include the transformation from bat to human form, conjuring a harem of demonic brides, apparent mesmeric control, and the ability to conjure humans and creatures to serve him. Many of vampire stereotypes featured here remained tropes in early films about vampires.
    • Goofs
      One of the ghosts (all of whom are wearing a white sheet over their head) cannot see where he is going, and walks right into a wall.
    • Connections
      Featured in Horror Hotel: Nosferatu (2015)

    User reviews27

    Review
    Top review
    5/10
    The birth of horror
    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.
    helpful•8
    1
    • Red-Barracuda
    • Apr 30, 2010

    FAQ1

    • Where can I watch this film?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 24, 1896 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • France
    • Language
      • None
    • Also known as
      • The Haunted Castle
    • Filming locations
      • Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France
    • Production companies
      • Georges Méliès
      • Star-Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      3 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Silent

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