The sort of stuff happening in "Le Château Hanté" (literally "The Haunted House" but somehow titled in English "The Devil's Castle") is very, very, very familiar if you are acquainted with the films of the French filmmaker Georges Méliès. Méliès was a stage magician who began using many concepts from magic in films starting in 1896...just a year before he made this picture. One of his favorite tricks was to stop filming mid-scene and then change things in the picture and then have the cameraman continue cranking the camera...in order to make it seem as if something disappears, appears or changes before your eyes). In this case, a poor guy (the director himself) is in a house and furniture starts appearing and disappearing before his eyes. In addition, people and a knight also appear...freaking the poor guy out in the process. It's clever for the time BUT if you have seen a fair share of his films, you'll also realize he'd done the same thing and similar things many, many other times.
7 Reviews
The Knight in Red
rak-2700316 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The Haunted Castle (1897)
or
Le Chateux Hante
Georges Melies produced this 45-second-long silent short movie as a condensed remake of his 1896 "The Devil's Castle".
In this remake, two men enter an antechamber in a castle; one offers a chair to the other and then exits. The remaining man is dressed in red. He attempts to sit down, but the chair moves away from him, and he falls to the ground. When the man re-approaches the chair, it turns into a ghost, then into a skeleton, and then into an armored knight; before it disappears. Turning, the man finds himself confronted by the Devil. He attempts to escape, but a ghost blocks his way.
It appears that Melies used the same set that was used in his 1896 short.
The film was painstakingly colored by hand.
This movie is currently rated a good 6.3 on IMDb. I rated it a 7. It is on YouTube.
Georges Melies produced this 45-second-long silent short movie as a condensed remake of his 1896 "The Devil's Castle".
In this remake, two men enter an antechamber in a castle; one offers a chair to the other and then exits. The remaining man is dressed in red. He attempts to sit down, but the chair moves away from him, and he falls to the ground. When the man re-approaches the chair, it turns into a ghost, then into a skeleton, and then into an armored knight; before it disappears. Turning, the man finds himself confronted by the Devil. He attempts to escape, but a ghost blocks his way.
It appears that Melies used the same set that was used in his 1896 short.
The film was painstakingly colored by hand.
This movie is currently rated a good 6.3 on IMDb. I rated it a 7. It is on YouTube.
Not really creepy
Horst_In_Translation13 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I really wasn't scared at all by this short film although unexplained occurrences (like Blair Which Project) are usually that kind of horror which I find the most intriguing. Always gives me the creeps. Anyway, this short film is still worth a watch for silent film enthusiasts, mostly for the colors used herein, especially the blinding red from the protagonists dress. We witness how the poor guy runs into ghosts, skeletons and knights as he enters the haunted castle. And when he wants to sit down to relax and calm down from all the spooky stuff going on around him, the chair vanishes as well. Oh my. This 45-second short film is another solid example of why Méliès is called the magician of early filmmakers.
G. A. Smith or Méliès?
Tornado_Sam24 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Before I discuss this film, I want to straighten out the confusion about this movie's identity. According to most people online, Méliès made two haunted castle movies: a black-and-white, three- minute short from 1896, and a hand-colored, one-minute movie released a year later. However, other sources argue that this hand-colored movie (the one I'm reviewing here) is actually a G. A. Smith film from the same year, intended as a ripoff of Méliès's original 1896 short. I find this second claim doubtful, because the set design appears to be almost the same as the earlier film (it was probably reused), and the costumes also appear to be identical. Méliès once again appears in his role as the lord/nobleman, Mephistopheles shows up too (although I'm not sure if he's played by Jules-Eugene Legris like in the original) and even the cowardly cavalier from before makes a brief appearance at the 'beginning'--the start and end occur while movement is still going on in frame, so it's possible some is missing at both spots. I find it hard to believe Smith could really imitate the whole visual look with such accuracy. Further, Wikipedia's article for the Smith film (there was indeed a Smith haunted castle movie) says Laura Bayley, his wife, plays a main role, which isn't apparent here (although it's possible she could be one of the ghosts). Based on this evidence, I am positive that the Smith short is now lost and the Méliès film is now surviving.
Despite being very similar to the other, earlier film, the action in "The Haunted Castle" (this film, not the original which was also released under the same title) is very different. In this film, as opposed to the previous effort, the skeleton actually can stand up and move using wires--it's still obviously only a puppet, but this works much better than the motionless skeleton in the 1896 film. The familiar gag with the moving chairs occurs like before, as well as a slightly haunting appearance of a ghost. It's really just a lot of transformation gags occurring constantly within its brief running time, but it is gags like these that Méliès used later in his haunted hotel shorts to the same effect. His performance as the cavalier is, as always, funny and energetic.
The hand-color is very well done also. Méliès's films were often colorized through the studios of Elisabeth Thuillier (who presumably did the colored copy of "A Trip to the Moon" which you see today) and this film was the first. While much of it is just shaded brown, Méliès's outfit is a brilliant red, which sticks out and looks very colorful. In the end, only really a condensed version of the other movie, (albeit with a closer camera placement) but a pleasant diversion which holds your attention for the forty-five seconds it runs.
Despite being very similar to the other, earlier film, the action in "The Haunted Castle" (this film, not the original which was also released under the same title) is very different. In this film, as opposed to the previous effort, the skeleton actually can stand up and move using wires--it's still obviously only a puppet, but this works much better than the motionless skeleton in the 1896 film. The familiar gag with the moving chairs occurs like before, as well as a slightly haunting appearance of a ghost. It's really just a lot of transformation gags occurring constantly within its brief running time, but it is gags like these that Méliès used later in his haunted hotel shorts to the same effect. His performance as the cavalier is, as always, funny and energetic.
The hand-color is very well done also. Méliès's films were often colorized through the studios of Elisabeth Thuillier (who presumably did the colored copy of "A Trip to the Moon" which you see today) and this film was the first. While much of it is just shaded brown, Méliès's outfit is a brilliant red, which sticks out and looks very colorful. In the end, only really a condensed version of the other movie, (albeit with a closer camera placement) but a pleasant diversion which holds your attention for the forty-five seconds it runs.
Quick Changes
Hitchcoc9 November 2017
Not much of a plot here but visually pretty engaging. This is the second haunted castle movie. A man seems to be in a castle and there is a second figure. As the an approaches the other figure, it is transformed. One time it is a skeleton. The next it is a ghost. On and on for just a bit over a minute. Of course, the guy making the discoveries is beside himself. It never goes anywhere.
Return of Mephistopheles
Cineanalyst12 September 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This brief trick film by Georges Méliès is very similar to his 1896 film "Le manoir du diable". Both films are often referred to by the same or similar English titles, too, such as "The Haunted Castle". But, they are different films, with no apparent connection (as in a sequel) made by the producers. The backdrop in this film seems to be a slightly redone edition of that used in "Le manoir du diable"; in addition, the same costumes were probably used in both productions. Méliès, again, plays the on-screen victim to his own substitution splices (stop substitutions) created behind the screen by also being the film's director and editor. At the end of the film, Mephistopheles reveals himself as the perpetrator of the tricks; he was also the antagonist in the other aforementioned film.
"La manoir du diable", although having been made before this film, is actually a bit more elaborate and longer. "Le château hanté" hurries through a series of appearances, disappearances and substitutions, ending with the revelation of Mephistopheles—all within 44 seconds and a single, stationary camera position. As with most of Méliès's films, this one was also available to be hand-colored. Fortunately, the print available today is partly hand-colored.
"La manoir du diable", although having been made before this film, is actually a bit more elaborate and longer. "Le château hanté" hurries through a series of appearances, disappearances and substitutions, ending with the revelation of Mephistopheles—all within 44 seconds and a single, stationary camera position. As with most of Méliès's films, this one was also available to be hand-colored. Fortunately, the print available today is partly hand-colored.
Another Gem from Melies
Michael_Elliott25 August 2011
Haunted Castle, The (1897)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
aka Le Château hante
A King (played by Melies) shows up at his new castle where he tries to sit in a chair but this chair is haunted and soon begins turning into various things including a woman and a skeleton. This is another very fun short from the famous director and once again the special effects steal the show. Throughout the entire film this one object keeps changing forms and the effects doing this are very good and the edits are hardly noticeable. It's also worth noting that the King's outfit is hand colored red throughout the film and other brief colors (all red) do appear. This one features several nice laughs throughout.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
aka Le Château hante
A King (played by Melies) shows up at his new castle where he tries to sit in a chair but this chair is haunted and soon begins turning into various things including a woman and a skeleton. This is another very fun short from the famous director and once again the special effects steal the show. Throughout the entire film this one object keeps changing forms and the effects doing this are very good and the edits are hardly noticeable. It's also worth noting that the King's outfit is hand colored red throughout the film and other brief colors (all red) do appear. This one features several nice laughs throughout.
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