Horror Film History: Early 1900's Horror Shorts (Part 1)
Faust and Marguerite (1900)
Faust and Marguerite is a romantic opera in three acts, dating from 1855, based on the Faust legend. The score was composed by Meyer Lutz. The libretto was written by Henri Drayton based on the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe play Faust. The 1900 film Faust and Marguerite is an adaptation of the play. It was directed by Edwin S. Porter, three years before he directed The Great Train Robbery.
Chinese Magic (1900)
A British fantasy film directed by Walter R. Booth in which a stage magician transforms himself into a bat.
(unavailable online)
Bluebeard (1901)
Bluebeard (French: Barbe-bleue) is a 1901 silent French drama directed by Georges Méliès. The film is based on the fairy tale of Bluebeard written by Charles Perrault who also wrote Cinderella.
A sinister aristocrat known as Lord Bluebeard is looking for a beautiful woman to become his wife. Lured by his great riches, many noble families bring their most eligible daughters to meet him, but none of the young women want to marry him, both due to his ghastly appearance and because he has already had seven previous wives - all of whom have mysteriously vanished without a trace. Bluebeard's great wealth, however, persuades one father to give his daughter's hand to him. She has no choice but to marry him, and after a lavish wedding feast she begins her new life in his castle.
One day as Bluebeard is going away on a journey, he entrusts the keys to his castle to her, and warns his wife never to go into a certain room...
The Haunted Curiosity Shop (1901)
The Haunted Curiosity Shop is a 1901 British short silent horror film, directed by Walter R. Booth, featuring an elderly curio dealer alarmed by various apparitions that appear in his shop. The film, "was clearly devised purely as a showcase for Booth and Paul's bag of tricks," and according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "it's an effective and engrossing experience."
The Treasures of Satan (1902)
Les Trésors de Satan, released in the United States as The Treasures of Satan and in Britain as The Devil's Money Bags, is a 1902 French short silent film directed by Georges Méliès.
In a room in a medieval castle, Satan examines six money bags, and then locks them in a large chest. A blond man, creeping into the room on his knees, jumps toward the table where he expects to find the money bags. Realizing the money is in the chest, he forces it open, but the lid slams down on his fingers. When he opens it again, the money bags are jump and frolicking of their own accord. The man slams the lid down and sits on it, but he falls off when six young women in devilish outfits emerge one by one from the chest. They transform the money bags into spears and chase the man around the room; when the man tries to take refuge in the chest, it magically changes position. The women disappear, but the chest itself comes to life before transforming into a demon and tormenting the man. Satan and the demon throw the man in the safe, and they and the women dance around it as fire and smoke issue from it. Finally, the safe explodes to reveal the original money bags, safe and sound.
The Devil and the Statue (1901)
Another short by Georges Méliès. A magnificent Venetian oratory. On the left a large bay window through which may be seen the Grand Canal of the city of Venice. In the centre a colonnade and a hemicycle; to the right is a statue of the Madonna. At the beginning of the scene Romeo in his gondola sings to Juliet a sentimental song, then goes away. Hardly has he departed when the colonnade falls to pieces, disclosing the devil. Juliet, frightened, runs to the window and calls Romeo. The latter attempts to enter and protect his fiancée, but at a gesture from the devil the window is instantly covered with a grating and Romeo makes frantic efforts to break it. The devil begins to dance a wild dance before Juliet, who is beside herself from terror. The devil gradually becomes the size of a giant (a novel effect). Juliet implores the statue of Madonna, which becomes animated, descends from its pedestal, and stretching out its arms orders the devil to disappear. The devil grows smaller and smaller and finally becomes a tiny dwarf, then he is lost in space. The window resumes its first form and Romeo embraces his beloved, with the benediction of the Virgin.
The Monster (1903)
The Monster (French: Le Monstre) is a 1903 French short silent trick film directed by Georges Méliès. An Egyptian prince hires a priest to resurrect his dead wife. The priest recovers the wife's skeleton from a tomb and says a prayer over it. The skeleton takes on life and begins to dance. The priest wraps the skeleton in cloth, creating a shrouded monster which dances manically and grows rapidly. The priest says another prayer, and the monster to shrinks back to normal size and transforms into the prince's wife. The priest wraps another shroud around the princess and throws her to the prince. When the cloth is unwound, all that remains is the skeleton.
The Infernal Cauldron (1903)
Le Chaudron infernal, released in Britain as The Infernal Cauldron and in the United States as The Infernal Caldron and the Phantasmal Vapors, is a 1903 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès. It was released by Méliès's Star Film Company and is numbered 499–500 in its catalogues. In a Renaissance chamber decorated with devilish faces and a warped coat of arms, a gleeful Satan throws three human victims into a cauldron, which spews out flames. The victims rise from the cauldron as nebulous ghosts, and then turn into fireballs. The fireballs multiply and pursue Satan around the chamber. Finally Satan himself leaps into the infernal cauldron, which gives off a final burst of flame.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faust_and_Marguerite
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000285/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebeard_(1901_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haunted_Curiosity_Shop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treasures_of_Satan
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0225504/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monster_(1903_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Infernal_Cauldron
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