THE FIRST HORROR FILM

Widely considered the be the first horror film in cinema history to be distributed to the U.S. and UK and viewed by theater audiences is Georges Méliès 3-minute, 12-second short, THE HAUNTED CASTLE from 1897. Sometimes also known as THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, it was preceded by an earlier, 45-second film, LE CHÂTEAU HANTÉ, containing a hand-colored scene (by Elisabeth Thuillier's color lab) similar to one in the later, longer black and white version.

Ironically, it does not show up in many cinema history books as what is most likely the earliest example of a horror film, even though it contains prototypes employed later by genre pictures: an old, Gothic interior, a giant flying bat, a skeleton, ghosts, a hunchback dwarf and even the Devil himself. While there are comedic elements to the story, it still appears to be primarily intended to scare audiences.

Perhaps best known for A TRIP TO THE MOON (1902) with the familiar image of a rocket from Earth crash-landing into the face of the idealized "Man in the Moon", Georges Méliès, was an illusionist and pioneering master of early cinematic special effects, using trick photography to accomplish shots that would have been otherwise impossible.

In his seminal book, "An Illustrated History of the Horror Film" (Putnam, 1967), noted film critic Carlos Clarens wrote: "To Méliès, the camera became a machine to register the world of dreams and the supernatural, the mirror to enter Wonderland."

Scenes from THE HAUNTED CASTLE:

THE HAUNTED CASTLE:

LE CHÂTEAU HANTÉ:

MY FAVORITE HORROR, SUPERNATURAL AND MYSTERY BOOKS (PART 1)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, on Christmas Day, 1967 I received a copy of Carlos Clarens' "An Illustrated History of the Horror Film". This became my most cherished book in the small library I was slowly building up and I still have it to this day.

This is one of my favorite horror film books not only for nostalgic reasons, but because it is a truly comprehensive and insightful look at the evolution of the genre. The book jacket front flap explains:

From the magic of George Melies to ALPHAVILLE and FAHRENHIET 451, Clarens covers every major film up to the current time that he wrote it. One thing he is most criticized for in his study is his penchant for "critical overkill" (see the review below from CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN #12)). He does come down harsh on films like NOSFERATU, but hey, everybody's got their opinion.

It's not hard to find a copy as it has been reprinted a couple of times. It remains one of my most favorite books in my film library and I highly recommend it.

Carlo Clarens' obituary from The New York Times, 10 February 1987:

Carlos Clarens, a movie historian, died of a heart attack Sunday at St. Vincent's Hospital. He was 56 years old and lived in Manhattan.

Mr. Clarens was born in Havana and was a graduate of the architectural school of the University of Havana. Soon after graduation he went to Paris to study architecture and languages, but his enthusiasm for film making overcame his interest in architecture. He became a production assistant to the French directors Jacques Demy and Robert Bresson.

He came to New York in 1956. His large collection of still photographs from movies became the basis of a rental business, Phototeque, which he ran at the time of his death with his partner, Howard Mandelbaum.

Mr. Clarens was the author of ''An Illustrated History of the Horror Film,'' and ''Crime Movies.'' Fluent in several lanaguages, he wrote English subtitles for foreign-language films, including those for the 1982 film version of ''La Traviata,'' directed by Franco Zeffirelli.

He is survived by two brothers, Fernando Figueredo of Miami, and Angel Figueredo of Englewood, N.J.

Obituary from The New Yorker, 30 March 1987:

Talk story about Carlos Clarens. The Havana-born movie critic and historian wrote two books ("An Illustrated History of the Horror Film" and "Crime Movies"); he wrote subtitles, for people who don't know five languages, as he did; in reviews and articles, he had a sharp but sympathetic eye for the social implications of details. Clarens was for the past 15 years a familiar, enchanting presence among the habitues of this city's film festivals, revival houses, and museum showings. Four years ago, he took his own collection of hundreds of thousands of movie stills out of storage and (with a partner, Howard Mandelbaum) started a photo-rental business, Phototeque. Last month, he died unexpectedly of heart failure, during an asthma attack. All the people who knew him had thought they would grow old wondering how Carlos stayed so young. His obituaries said he was 56. On a recent Monday night, at the Little Theatre at the Public, there was a tribute to Carlos (similar events were held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Cinematheque, in Paris, the city he had lived in, and often returned to, after leaving Havana in the 1950's). The Little Theatre seats 100 people, but this night it overflowed. Fabiano Canosa, the director of film at the Public introduced the speakers. Phillip Lopate, a novelist, spoke. So did Susan Sontag. Mary Corliss, curator of the Film Stills Archive at the Museum of Modern Art, was another speaker, as was Donald Lyons, who writes movie criticism and teaches English at Rutgers. The tribute concluded with 6 excerpts from movies about places Carlos loved.

CARLOS CLARENS AND HIS CLASSIC BOOK

On Christmas morning, 1967, I opened a present that would forever galvanize my obsession with monster movies. Already indoctrinated with FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and others, and after having watched numerous monster movies, I was ready to become a serious Monsterologist.

Under the wrapping was a copy of Carlos Clarens' "The Illustrated History of the Horror Film". I was awestruck. The fact that my parents even bought it for me showed that they were finally giving up on "protecting" me from these awful things!

I can't tell you how many hours I spent looking at the photos, many of which I'd never seen before. Then, when I finally got down to reading it, I found some of the writing to be a little above my 13 year-old head. But read it I did, and found much of it to be accessible for my youthful level.

Over the subsequent years, I've read it several more times with a complete comprehension, and have come to appreciate it even more.

Clarens pulls no punches, and criticizes those films he thought weren't up to par for various reasons. In any event, it was -- and still is -- one of the best books on the subject. Of course, since then there has been many more books on the history of horror films, but to anyone wanting a baseline on the topic, you can't go wrong with this book.

Carlos Clarens.

Carlos Clarens (b. July 7, 1930, Havana, Cuba, d. February 8, 1987, New York, NY) was of Cuban heritage and is recognized as a prominent film historian for his early books on the above mentioned, as well as crime movies. He was multi-lingual and, after leaving Havana, spent time in Paris where he provided subtitles for various films. He died at the age of 56.