Le Manoir du diable

Infobox Film
name = Le Manoir du diable


caption =
director = Georges Méliès
producer = Georges Méliès
Star Films
writer = Georges Méliès
starring = Jeanne d'Alcy
Georges Méliès
music =
cinematography =
editing = Craig Herring
distributor =
released = December 24, 1896
runtime = 2 minutes
country = flagicon|France France
language = Silent
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0000091

Le Manoir du diable ( _fr. The House of the Devil) is a two-minute-long French film directed by Georges Méliès. The film contained many traditional pantomime elements and was intentionally meant to amuse people, rather than frighten them. Nonetheless, it is considered to be the first horror film.The film is often called other things by mistake, some of these include:

* "The Haunted Castle"
* "The Devil's Manor"
* "The Manor of the Devil"

It was released on Christmas Eve, 1896, at the Theatre Robert Houdin, 8 boulevard des Italiens, Paris. It was from this two-minute short that many assume the horror film was born.

Plot Summary

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.

External links

*imdb title|0000091