The House of the Devil

Original title: Le manoir du diable

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

4.2K

YOUR RATING

Supernatural Horror Horror Short

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.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

4.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos19

+ 13

Top cast3

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Jehanne d'Alcy

Young woman
(as Jeanne d'Alcy)

Jules-Eugène Legris

Mephistopheles
(unconfirmed)

Georges Méliès

Mephistopheles

Director
- Georges Méliès
Writer
- Georges Méliès
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

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Did you know

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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
At around 00:03:00, while the ghosts are dancing in a circle, one of the ghosts makes contact with the wall and the entire set shakes considerably.

Connections
Featured in Horror Hotel: Nosferatu (2015)

User reviews36

Review

Featured review

The House of the Devil

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.