The Haunted Castle (Le Manoir du diable)(1896)

The Haunted Castle is considered by most to be the first in what became the horror genre of film. Is it horror? Not in the sense that it’s made to scare the viewer however elements of common horror film themes are abundant. We have bat’s that transform into what appears to be
vampires, appearing and disappearing skeletons, ghost, withes, and what seems to be some sort of incarnation of Satan. The setting is in a creepy old castle adding to the argument that this is in fact an early attempt at a legitimate horror film. They really packed in a lot in three minutes. The French name of the film, Le Manoir du diable, translates directly to the Manner of the Devil. I can’t even imagine the effort that went into filming this in that time period and to see the amount of special effects, one after another, is truly is a testament the the film makers commitment to the project. This is a great piece of film history and is actually really enjoyable to watch.