The 400 Tricks of the Devil

Good old Georges Melies shows his talents again with The 400 Tricks of The Devil. The story is of a group of travelers who are tormented by Satan in various ways. Not 400 but quite a numerous amount of tricks are played on them. The most famous part of this film is probably the scene with the horse and wagon. I say this because on YouTube it was the thumbnail image for every way to watch it and it's the poster on this site. Melies of course shows off his normal great special effects that he is known for, and I have found to be prominent in all of his films that I've seen with the exception of Why That Actor Was Late. Although not as good as say A Trip To the Moon, I still say to check it out if you're a big Melies fan.

The copy of "The 400 Tricks of the Devil" I watched had no sound at all. That means no music for atmosphere and mood. That severely hampers a silent film, because then it is truly silent. Now you have nothing to listen to except the various sounds of your environment and maybe your own breathing.

This was another Georges Melies film. By this point his motion pictures are getting longer and more complex; meaning that they are getting harder to decipher without dialogue or a helping bit of text. The film is an updated comedic adaptation of the Faust legend. At the beginning the devil shows the main character, perhaps a scientist, some magic balls that, if thrown to the ground, produce whatever you fancy. The scientist doesn't know he's dealing with the devil even after the devil refuses money for the magic balls.

Watchable on YouTube.

Visionary Director Georges Melies' THE 400 TRICKS OF THE DEVIL is about the fantastic journey of Crackford and his companion, John, through Europe, into Mount Vesuvius, into outer space, and ultimately winding up in Hell itself.

Considering the year in which the Director made this film, it's a marvel of special effects, slapstick humor, and acrobatics. The sets and props are simple, but add to the overall dream / nightmare atmosphere of the film, especially the magic train, the cadaverous horse and carriage, the trip through stars and comets, and the depths of the inferno. Mr. Melies saves the part of Satan for himself.

Highly recommended for lovers of fantasy, horror, and historical films in general...

"The Merry Frolics of Satan" is a fairly enjoyable fantasy adventure from early cinema magician Georges Méliès. As historian Richard Abel ("The Ciné Goes to Town") points out, these spectacles from Méliès were becoming increasingly elaborate and expensive to produce, especially by comparison to the smaller costs of his competitor's films, such as those by Pathé. As with some of his other pictures around this time, "The Merry Frolics of Satan" was produced specially for music-hall screenings. In this case, it was for the Chatelet's stage féerie "The Merry Deeds of Satan", from which this film is based (Abel).

In the film, Satan, disguised as a person, leads some misfortunate people on a hellish journey, including via a train the size of a child's amusement ride and a phantom carriage pulled by an apocalyptic skeletal horse. In the end, they're roasted by performers dressed in pig-like costumes. "The Merry Frolics of Satan" has its moments, including the phantom-carriage ride where movement is simulated by a moving backdrop of space stuff. This scene has become famous for having been used in many documentary clips on Méliès and early cinema. The print available from Flicker Alley is also hand-colored and tinted and includes narration. Yet, Méliès, unfortunately, also seemed to be relying more on theatrical tricks and less on cinematic ones as he had in his earlier spectacles. Stop-substitution splices and multiple-exposure photography remained the basis for his single-scene trick films, but his longer multi-scene fantasy adventures seemed to be becoming increasingly theatrical. The preference to use trap doors here instead of stop motion and editing for appearances and disappearances seems to evidence this increased theatricality.

This fantasy/horror feature has plenty of good visual effects, as you would expect from a Georges Méliès movie. It features quite a variety of backgrounds, camera tricks, and other devices from the French movie pioneer's seemingly endless bag of tricks. There isn't really much to the story itself, so it seems clear that the plot was mainly a vehicle to set up the special effects.

The story has the devil choosing to torment a couple of travelers, in a variety of imaginative ways and places. There is quite a bit of action, although most of it simply displays Méliès's camera skill, rather than advancing the story. This may well have been one of the features for which he wrote a narrative designed to be read when the feature was screened, since it isn't always immediately clear what the purpose is for some of the scenes. But in any case, the story logic is not supposed to occupy as much of the viewer's attention as are the interesting visuals.

The themes are similar to those in many earlier Méliès features, and he seemed to enjoy coming up with diabolical sights and bizarre antics. Since there isn't a lot of brand new material here, it probably doesn't rank among his best features, but it's another good demonstration of his creativity and skill.