It’s easy to forget how old movies are as an art form, and that’s even more true with horror films. The genre relies so heavily on modern special effects that it may seem like it didn’t exist before special effects, but horror started with Michael His Myers and Freddy Krueger. not. It all started with the almost forgotten clip “Le Manoir Du Diable”, produced by Georges Méliès and dating back to 1896.
Georges Méliès
Born in Paris, Georges Méliès was trained in stage design, theater scripting and puppetry from an early age. After his success as a businessman, he bought his own theater and ventured into the world of entertainment as “movies” became more popular there. Not content with showing other people’s films, he soon bought a camera and began working on so-called shows.
Theater and Stage With his background in design, Méliès understood the limitations of live theater and the exciting possibilities of film, experimenting with different techniques to create special effects. One of his most important discoveries was the result of camera glitches that caused objects to appear and disappear on film. Méliès recreated the effect to create eerie imagery in films of his newfound horror genre. His first work of his was “Le Manoir du Diable”.
Le Manoir Du Diable
Le Manoir Du Diable, literally “The Devil’s House”, but known in English as “The Haunted Castle”, is only three minutes long but packs a lot into its 180 seconds or so. I’m here. It begins with a bat flying around an evocative castle, transforming into a man in the blink of an eye, summoning smoking cauldrons and bent-over helpers out of nowhere to help create a woman, instantly transforming her into a man. Change to another room. reason. Two men soon arrive to investigate, but one flees in terror, the other is haunted by bats, skeletons, and ghostly figures who appear out of nowhere, before confronting a nefarious wizard. . Finally, he drives the demon out of his castle with a large cross.
The Horrifying Legacy
Méliès made several other horror films, including 1897’s L’Auberge Ensorcelee and 1898’s La Caverne Maugite. He is also best known for producing the first horror comedy, Une Nuit Terrible, in 1896. We will fight a comical battle with a huge spider. These films were known for groundbreaking special effects that wowed audiences, inspired modern and future filmmakers, and paved the way for favorite Supernatural slashers.