Le diable noir

This amusing Méliès feature has several of the kind of visual effects that made him famous, and most of them work quite well. The story starts when "The Black Imp" plays a series of practical jokes on an unwary traveler, and it then follows the battle of wits that ensues. The action that follows uses quite a few props, most of them simple everyday objects used in humorous and sometimes creative ways. Most of the camera tricks are done with skill, and the movie thus gets plenty of mileage out of some simple material. Most of it is fun to watch, and it's a good display of skill with the camera. It's definitely worth seeing if you have any interest in these earliest movies.

This is another fun and inventive film from director Georges Méliès. Like many of his others, it's film that is basically a means for Méliès to display his skills with film trickery. Also, like many of his films he demonstrates his skills within an imaginative setting, so the movie retains a great deal of charm. The film depicts the actions of a devilish imp, who has invaded an apartment. He disappears and reappears all over the room at will. When a poor unfortunate man enters the scene, the imp torments him with his magical mischief. This involves furniture moving at will all over the room, with a clever sequence involving multiplying chairs. The main trick that Méliès uses in Le Diable Noir is stop-motion photography and it's only fair to say that he uses it very well. It's been put together with such care that it's not all that easy to notice when the jump-cut has been made. Like many of the directors other works the overall feel of the film is playful as opposed to menacing. Definitely a nice little flick to watch if you are interested in the very earliest films ever made.

The jump cut was the key element in early movie conjurer Georges Melies bag of tricks, and as he grew more experienced in the production of films so his use of this trick grew more sophisticated. This ingenious little movie shows off Melies' adeptness to good effect, and it's clear that a lot of imagination has been used in a simple tale.

A mischievous devil appears in a hotel room and is just preparing for a snooze when a traveller enters the room. Angered by this intrusion the devil plays a series of tricks on the traveller (who is played by Melies) until he drives him to near madness so that he has to be escorted from the room by hotel staff.

The use of the jump cut is used to good effect here, and they are particularly effective thanks to their unusual seamlessness. Usually in these early films it's easy to see where the cut has taken place. In this film, even though our knowledge of the technique means we know the exact moment when it has been used, very often here we can't actually see the cut. Definitely one of Melies' better films.

Black Imp, The (1905)

*** (out of 4)

aka Le Diable noir

Also known as THE BLACK DEVIL, this here is another high point for director Melies. In the film a man checks into a hotel for some rest not knowing that he's about to be haunted by a demon living in the room. It starts off simple as the man can't seem to be able to hang his coat up but quickly turns to a chair disappearing below him and eventually the demon pops out for a quick scare. This is yet another film that Melies is best remembered for and it's funny to see how many times he actually did this story. There's no question he was a fan of checking in somewhere only to be haunted as it's a subject he'd use many times throughout his long career. The special effects with all the chairs and furniture are easy to spot but that really doesn't take away anything from the film because it's just so charming. You can't help but have a smile on your face as one item disappears after another and the man grows crazier and crazier.

This is not Melies best work but it is a cute, fun little film short. It's about a imp in a room that a man has rented to stay the night. The man gets ready for bed but the imp decides to play some games with the guest.

7/10