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: