The First Dark Horror Films

Following up from my previous post, I loved Alison Cybe's comment that vaudeville was the closest thing to film at the time, which reflects in some of these earliest horror films. It's interesting to see how horror film started emerging as a genre by the end of the 1900s as a decade.

So, below I'll post all the titles we watched and my most general thoughts about the films. I'll mention my favorite, the one I'd recommend, and then do the same with Absinthe's fav. As usual, I welcome thoughts!

Faust and Marguerite (1900)
Another vaudeville piece. Interesting how the "disappearing woman" is a trope in these films. But again, vaudeville.

Bluebeard (1901)
This is the first piece that really is based on a horror story. There are a lot of dead bodies, and it does a great job setting up suspense. It actually showed death (even though most people come back to life). One character is stabbed and seen struggling, kicking, and screaming while he's pinned to a pillar. Kinda gruesome surprisingly. For me at least, this is the first "real" horror film I've found. It's a George Melies piece, and he definitely gets an association with early horror film. Lots of great set design.

The Haunted Curiosity Shop (1901)
Somewhat vaudeville, but I'm getting lots of demon shop and poltergeist vibes from it, too. The special effects pick up in this one. Seems like a small showcase of what they could do.

Treasures of Satan (1902)
This was a cute little film about Satan's moneybags refusing to be stolen. Not super dark, but it was cute. I think it would make a good fully developed ghost story though!

Le Monstre (1903)
This time we get our poltergeist-vaudeville in xenophobic form with Egyptophilia. A necromancer plays with a dead lover in front of the living lover, probably giving him the worst PTSD ever. As comically as it's portrayed, this would suck emotionally as a written out horror story.

Le Diable Noir (1905)
This one had a black imp in a vaudeville narrative in what seemed to be a hotel room. The set design was very hellish and well done. Maybe a progenitor for some of the haunted hotel narratives? I could see it. But again, a very vaudevillish piece.

Le Maison Hauntee (1906)
One of the first haunted house films? It's very tongue in cheek. A great showcase of special effects at the time even in set design was minimal. I was impressed by the way they communicated certain ideas with their limited effects at the time, like the ground rotating or wind dragging things out. And lots of poltergeist shenanigans.

Le Barbe (1906)

Had an interesting shaving scene. Interesting makeup effects. But otherwise not too interesting.

Satan s'Amuse (1907)
This one had a bored Satan having his servants entertain him. I think this is the longest film we'd seen so far, about ten minutes. And it was a trip. There were pyrotechnics, film on top of film, special effects, and skeletal costume designs for Satan. Kind of a fun trip. Not much creepy, but it's interesting seeing a mildly less vaudeville depiction of Satan at least.

The Sealed Room (1909)
For me at least, this is the second major horror film ever. It's based on a Poe story and done by D. W. Griffith. We get a full cast of characters, love, cheating, and inevitable punishment. I know Absinthe and I knew where it was going throughout especially with the text boards throughout (I constantly forget what they're called) telling us what was about to happen. And the end, Sin and I were trying to decide how long it would take for someone to actually suffocate to death in a room like that. Even if it was perfectly sealed, it had to take way longer than the film made it seem. They could have just had a slide that said, "Two Days Later" or something. But it was good. Probably the "smoothest" or most familiar to us kind of film. Seemed less like a homemade 1890s film and more like the silent films we're used to.

So, my favorite film, the one I'd recommend was definitely Bluebeard. I love the original story of course, and it was so interesting seeing the first film reproduction of it. It was genuinely creepy for me, even though I had to Google what was happening with the angel and devil stuff. It tackled symbolism well, and the set design was just so impressive. It worked for me.

Absinthe recommends Satan s'Amuse for its "tricks and imagery." But he also recommends Bluebeard just for its story.

And again, so far, you can find all of these on YouTube!

The 1900s definitely did seem a step up from the 1890s. But I know Sin and I are both excited to get into the 1910s. There are only seven "major" films we found from that decade, but they look like we're getting into "feature-length" films finally. And many of them are based on horror books! Woot.

Comment question of the day is this: What's the earliest horror film you know you've seen?