Le Diable au couvent

Devil in a Convent, The (1899)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

aka Le Diable au couvent

Very entertaining film from director Melies has the devil entertaining a convent where he disguises himself as a Priest to take advantage of some nuns. The special effects here are very good as the devil slowly removes all the religious stuff from the convent and turns it into his home full of devilish statues. This is a very interesting approach to a religious film as well as we see the devil take over but soon the religious people come together to try and fight him and send him back to Hell. There are a few brief laughs but for the most part the film takes itself pretty seriously. This is certainly one of the director's better films.

A priest is officiating at a convent, when suddenly he is transformed into the devil, who frightens away the nuns and turns the place into a outlet of Pandemonium. Another of Melies' wonderful combinations of stage and film magic, this tells a fine little story of the triumph of faith.

But how did he get into the convent in the first place?

This is one of the many previously lost or infrequently seen Melies pictures that have been made available by Serge Bromberg, David Shepherd and a myriad of other hands in the newly issued DVD set GEORGES MELIES: FIRST WIZARD OF CINEMA. Required viewing for anyone interested in the history of movies ..... and a lot of fun.

This is one of the more engaging films from this period. A little hard to take in everything that's happening on the screen but lots of funny and entertaining moments. Who doesn't enjoy scaring a bunch of nuns or manifesting a legion of imps?

During the 15 or so years Georges Méliès made films, he often used plots where he was the Devil. Mostly it was just an excuse for him to dress up in his familiar demon suit and do his magic tricks....making things appear, disappear or change before your very eyes. Such tricks were shocking and exciting in 1899, though folks seeing it today quickly realize that the trick involved turning the camera off and then on to make things seem to change before your eyes.

In this case, Satan appears at a nunnery. At first, he pretends to be a priest, but during his sermon, he becomes his true self. Lots of chasing about follows. Ultimately, the Archangel Michael appears and defeats Old Scratch.

This film is very familiar...and with over 500 short films to his credits, you can understand why Georges Méliès seemed to repeat himself so often. I honestly think he played devils in at least two or three dozen of his movies...probably more! Entertaining and fun...but familiar. It might have been improved had the copy I saw had the chase music from Benny Hill...it actually would have fit this film quite well.

The Devil comes out of the ground at a convent and chases the nuns away. Once he has hold of the place, a whole host of demons join him and they begin to intimidate everyone. Of course, in true Dracula fashion, as soon as those crosses show, up the devils have had it. The costuming is fun. There is a lot of tricky maneuvering and staging since there are so many more characters.