Directed by: Georges Méliès
It is also known as The Haunted Castle and The Devil’s Castle – however, it should not be confused with Méliès’ remake Le château hanté / The Haunted Castle (1897). It is also possible that George Albert Smith made a version of the film in 1897, but as no copies exist, it is likely that it was merely misattributed to him.
The film continues to showcase Méliès’ fascination with the fantastical and mastery of special effects, this time combining the two into a narrative. The first third establishes the location as otherworldly: a bat appears and transforms into the devil who then proceeds to conjure objects and creatures. The scene returns to normalcy by the time two men arrive. One of them is quickly scared off by the devil’s assistant and the other remains to endure further pranks and apparitions. In the end, he confronts the villain with a crucifix.
By most accounts, it is considered the first horror film and a strong case can be made for it being the first vampire film. Although the antagonist is the devil, he possesses attributes associated with vampire lore: he transforms from a bat to human, summons demonic brides and other creatures who serve him (displaying mesmeric control), and is ultimately banished with a cross.
Bibliography
Flowers, T. S. (2016). ‘Universal Monsters in Review: The Silent Era (1895-1929)’, Machine Mean, 21 September. Available at: https://machinemean.org/2016/09/21/universal-monsters-in-review-the-silent-era-1895-1929/ [Accessed: 27 December 2021].
IMDb contributors (n.d. a). The Devil’s Castle (1897)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213033/ [Accessed: 27 December 2021].
IMDb contributors (n.d. b). ‘The Haunted Castle (1897)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000153/ [Accessed: 27 December 2021].
IMDb contributors (n.d. c). ‘The House of the Devil (1896)’, IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000091/ [Accessed: 27 December 2021].
Jones, J. (2015). ‘The First Horror Film, George Méliès’ The Haunted Castle (1896)’, Open Culture, 27 October. Available at: http://www.openculture.com/2015/10/the-first-horror-film-george-melies-the-manor-of-the-devil-1896.html [Accessed: 27 December 2021].
Wikipedia contributors (2021). ‘The Haunted Castle (1897 British film)’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 February. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haunted_Castle_(1897_British_film) [Accessed: 27 December 2021].
Reel Lessons 