The Film Breakdown: House of the Devil (1896)
Using the ability to shapeshift, as featured in both Goethe and Marlow’s adaptations,
Mephistopheles first appears upon the screen as a bat. Mephistophele’s shapeshifting into a bat is original to Méliès, and is not featured in either Goethe or Marlowe’s adaptations. Whether this is a vampire bat or not is never clarified. The bat alone is on the screen, hauntingly flapping its wings in what looks to be a corridor, before it transforms into . . .
. . . the human form of Mephistopheles, his wings transforming into the ends of his cape.
He then magically creates a large cauldron in the middle of the room. Though the title of the film reference’s the devil’s manor, this may be inspired by the Witch’s Kitchen of Goethe’s Faust, as that room had symbols related to black magic, and I do notice a star on the bottom of one of the pillars of Méliès’ set.
Then, in the middle ground, he conjures up an impish assistant, perhaps a reference to the character Phorkyas in Goethe’s Faust, out of a puff of smoke (as any good magician should). This imp then tends to heating the cauldron. (In the Witch’s Kitchen portion of Goethe’s Faust, a cauldron is also present, though it is tended to by a family of apes.) The actor plays this character with a crouched stance, and I wonder whether he was intending to appear as a little person.
The cauldron begins to smoke, and Mephistopheles conjures out of the smoking cauldron a woman appearing in Roman dress. She could be intended to be a Venus-like temptress, as in the Witch’s Kitchen portion of Goethe’s Faust, a nude Venus-like figure appears who arouses Faust’s lust. She could also simply be Méliès’ way to communicate that the potion in the cauldron induces arousal and lust. According to Mephistopheles in Goethe’s Faust, “With a drink like this in you, take care — You'll soon see Helens everywhere”—Helen’s meaning the beautiful and much-lusted-after Helen of Troy.
Mephistopheles then dismisses the woman in Roman dress and reviews a book of black magic that is being held for him by the impish assistant. The assistant then disappears into the door in the furnace which is heating the cauldron. Mephistopheles then makes the cauldron and oven themselves disappear. He seems to hear someone approaching, so swings his cape around himself and disappears.
Two gentlemen then appear and walk into the middle ground while chatting to one another. I am not sure who these gentlemen are supposed to be but speculate that one might be Faust and the other his assistant, Wagner, perhaps when Faust is still a scholar at university and meets Mephistopheles for the first time, with Mephistopheles demonstrating his power to Faust. Or they may instead be Valentine, the brother of Faust’s lover who does not approve of Faust leading his sister into sin and disrepute, and a friend. Later in Goethe’s story, Mephistopheles openly mocks Valentine shortly before helping Faust to kill him when Valentine challenges Faust to a fight. A third option is these are simply characters added by Méliès to be victims of Mephistopheles’ trickery, with no further meaning to them.
While the two men are chatting obliviously, Mephistopheles’ impish assistant suddenly
appears in a puff of smoke, carrying a pitchfork. As the two men face each other speaking, the impish assistant pokes one of the men in the backside with his pitchfork and then disappears quickly as the poked gentleman reacts in pain and confusion at what has struck him. As both men look in the direction from which this offense occurred, the imp reappears on the other side and again strikes. The men look behind them in time to see the impish assistant disappear.
One of the gentlemen, being a coward and shaking his knees, tries to leave. While the other gentleman attempts to make him stay, the cowardly gentleman is too frightened and runs out of the shot. The remaining gentleman reacts in a manner to communicate a frustrated ‘good riddance’ to his companion leaving and then tries to make sense of what has just transpired.
As he goes towards a bench in the room, it suddenly disappears and reappears on the other side of the room. The gentleman is shocked and confused by this. He goes to grab the bench, only for it disappear and reappear back in its original position. The gentleman makes gestures which communicate his confusion and his attempts to understand how this is happening.
He then goes to the bench and seeing that it is now remaining in its spot, attempts to sit on it, only find himself sitting on a skeleton. He quickly jumps up in shock and fright. The gentleman stares at and backs away from the skeleton, which is sitting relaxed with its left leg extended. The gentleman then removes his sword and as he strikes the skeleton, it turns into a bat. The man at first backs away in shock, but then attempts to grab the bat, which again transforms into the human form of Mephistopheles. Whatever character this gentleman is supposed to portray, he obviously recognizes the human form of Mephistopheles, as, for the first time since his strange encounters began, he cowers in fear.
Mephistopheles again conjures him impish assistant in a puff of smoke, who appears standing on the bench. To prove his power to the gentleman, Mephistopheles removes his cape, bundles it, and hands it to his impish assistant. The imp takes the balled-up piece of clothing, tosses it on the floor, and then performs a somersault using the cape as cushion for where his head would strike the ground. He does not complete the somersault, however, as when his head touches the cape, both the imp and the cape disappear.
The gentleman attempts to leave, but is blocked by 3 hooded figures, who, obviously being puppeted by Mephistopheles, close in on the gentleman and hover over him as he lowers to the ground and seems to lose consciousness. Quickly awakening, the gentleman seems to now be under the spell of Mephistopheles.
Mephistopheles brings out the lady in the Roman dress and it is obvious the gentleman is taken with her. He kneels and kisses her hand, only for the beautiful woman to transform into...
. . . An old, hooded hag carrying a staff. In horror, the gentleman backs away from the lady. He then draws his sword, but as he strikes the hag, she multiplies times six. All six hags lift their staves as though to strike the gentleman.
The gentleman again backs away only to re-advance upon the reappearance of his cowardly friend. The two gentlemen then attempt to strike the hags with their swords, only for the hags to again transform into witches, complete with brooms.
Upon seeing this transformation, the cowardly friend again retreats. The witches follow him as he circles around the room, and he attempts to escape by jumping out the window or over the balcony. This may result in the cowardly gentleman’s death, as the other gentleman seems concerned by this action, and even Mephistopheles seems surprised by the act.
The gentleman had put his sword away upon seeing the hags turn into witches. He seems
to attempt to get the witches’ attention or shoo them away, as they form a circle and begin to dance. As he nears them, they disappear. The gentleman closely inspects the area where the witches had been dancing and then throws his hands up in frustration. He then folds his arms, performs another action to say, “to hell with it”, and marches indignantly to leave—only to be blocked by Mephistopheles himself.
Mephistopheles attempts to either put the gentleman under a spell or cast a spell on him, as the gentleman slowly backs away. The gentleman then turns to run, spies an object, climbs the bench, and pulls from offscreen a large crucifix. The gentleman triumphantly holds the crucifix in his right hand, utilizing the cross as both sword and shield, as Mephistopheles cowers and retreats, the shadow of the crucifix consuming him.
Transfiguration, the devil, bats, witches, skeletons, cauldrons, creepy imps, temptresses, black magic—we can see why this qualifies as a horror film.
It has been suggested previously that the character of Mephistopheles in this film is a vampiric character and, therefore, the first screen portrayal of a vampire. Some have argued that Mephistopheles’ ability to turn into a bat and his ability to hypnotize, as well as the witches perhaps representing vampire brides, and his defeat by a crucifix, point to this being a vampiric figure.
I disagree. Bats have always had an association with the devil in terms of appearance; for
example, in Dante’s Inferno, Satan is portrayed as having bat-like wings. And, again, Mephistopheles is an agent of the devil. Also, there is no indication that the bat in this film is a vampire bat.
Goethe’s Faust mentions the witch’s sabbath on Walpurgis night. There is also the figure of the witch in the Witch’s Kitchen portion of Faust. Additionally, witches have been traditionally depicted as celebrating the devil on the witch’s sabbath, including in a painting by Goya.
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As Mephistopheles is an agent of the devil, it only makes sense that a crucifix would be necessary to exorcise him. Additionally, I believe a vampire being defeated or harmed by a crucifix was original to Stoker. So, as this predates Dracula, there was no trope at this time of vampires being affected by crucifixes. Therefore, I believe that the cross was only utilized by Méliès to exorcise the demon, Mephistopheles.
Additionally, Méliès specified the character’s name, Mephistopheles, which is a major character from literature. The story of Faust deals with alchemy and witches and demons—and, as a powerful demon and agent of the devil, Mephistopheles is certainly capable of performing all these feats that this character performs in the film. Additionally, the title of the film specifies “diable”, which, translated from French, means “devil”. So, I see no reason to think this film is to be about anyone other than Mephistopheles. However, I do think it’s reasonable to theorize that Méliès added some vampiric elements to his portrayal of Mephistopheles.
For those arguing that the character of Mephistopheles is portrayed as a vampire, or at least has elements of a vampire, it is possible, as bats and vampires were already a part of the popular imagination at the time of this film. Beyond the obvious relationship of the words vampire and bat because of the flying, blood-sucking mammal, some other correlations of bats and vampires or bats transforming into vampires happen chronologically as follows:
The Baital Pachisi, c. 11th Century
In Hindu mythology, there is a vampiric-type figure known as a vetala. The Baital Pachisi is a
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collection of stories, written in Sanskrit, compiled sometime before the 12th century. These were introduced to a Western audience through its loose adaptation by Sir Richard Burton, the explorer, writer, and translator, as Vikram and the Vampire in 1870. (As a side note, the explorer and translator Sir Richard Burton is not to be confused with the actor Richard Burton, who was twice married to Elizabeth Taylor—and no, the two are not related.) Here is a short passage from the “Introduction” to Vikram and the Vampire (1870), which seems to be one of the first times in literature a vampire is described not as a bat itself, but as a bat-like creature hanging by his feet from the limb of a tree:
“and so [the Raja] sat there for a while to observe the body, which hung, head downwards, from a branch a little above him. Its eyes, which were wide open, were of a greenish-brown, and never twinkled; its hair also was brown,[43] and brown was its face--three several shades which, notwithstanding, approached one another in an unpleasant way, as in an over-dried cocoa-nut. Its body was thin and ribbed like a skeleton or a bamboo framework, and as it held on to a bough, like a flying fox,[44] by the toe- tips, its drawn muscles stood out as if they were ropes of coin. Blood it appeared to have none, or there would have been a decided determination of that curious juice to the head; and as the Raja handled its skin it felt icy cold and clammy as might a snake. The only sign of life was the whisking of a ragged little tail much resembling a goat's. Judging from these signs the brave king at once determined the creature to be a Baital--a Vampire.” (Burton, 1970)
Punch Magazine, 1885
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A cartoon in the British satirical magazine, Punch, from 1885, which calls the Irish National League “The Irish Vampire", portrays the League as a vampire bat. The bat’s face is that of Charles Stewart Parnell, the founder of the Irish National League. (Punch, 2022) This cartoon illustrates that the relationship between vampires and bats was already in the public consciousness by 1885, though whether this was before Burton’s writings in 1870 or not I can’t determine.
Méliès lived in London for a year in 1884, and he returned to Paris in 1885, so he would have been aware the pop-cultural association between vampires and bats being used in British culture in items like the Punch cartoon (1885) and in Richard Burton’s Vikram and the Vampire (1870).
I would like to again note that this film predates Stoker’s Dracula by one year. So, obviously, Méliès could not have taken any of this imagery or these ideas from Stoker. Bram Stoker had managed the Lyceum Theatre in London prior to writing Dracula. Because of this position, he knew many high-profile individuals, like the previously mentioned Sir Richard Burton, and was close with Sir Henry Irving, the first actor to receive a knighthood. Stoker’s wife had previously been courted by Oscar Wilde.
Stoker and Méliès would have actually both been involved in London theatre during the same time period, though, obviously, it’s unknown if they knew of one another. Considering there are many motifs in Méliès’ film that also appear in Stoker’s Dracula, I am curious as to whether Stoker saw this film and was, perhaps, influenced by it. While I believe Méliès uses the crucifix to exorcise a demon, as this demon also was able to transform into a bat, I wonder if this is where Stoker developed the idea for crucifixes to ward off vampires.
In an introduction to Dracula in the University of Leeds’ Special Collections, Dr. Emily Ennis claims that this Georges Méliès film was shown in London from 1896-1897, and that Stoker, working as manager at the Lyceum, “almost certainly saw Méliès’ film and positioned the novel Dracula in relation to it.” (University of Leeds Library, 2022)
So, while I don’t think that Méliès’ House of the Devil is a vampire film, I do think it’s possible that it helped to influence the creation of Dracula. That these horror tropes seem vampiric is only because Bram Stoker later used them for his own work, which then permeated popular culture and became part of the mythology of vampires.
Sources
Burton, S. R. (1970). Vikram and the Vampire: Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance. Retrieved from Sacred Texts: https://www.sacred-texts.com/goth/vav/index.htm
Calvert, P. (n.d.). Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) as 'Mephistopheles' in 'Faust' by W. G. Wills. National Trust Collections. Smallhythe Place, Kent. Retrieved from the National Trust Collections: https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1117183
Carey, E. (2018, October 4). Madame Tussaud: the astounding tale of survival behind the woman who made history. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/04/madame-tussaud-edward-carey-little
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Library of Congress. (2022). Shift to Projectors and the Vitoscope (1895-1896). Retrieved from Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-motion-pictures/shift-to-projectors-and-the-vitoscope/
Library of Congress. (n.d.). Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies. Retrieved from Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-motion-pictures/early-motion-picture-productions/#:~:text=It%20was%20dubbed%20the%20Black,it%20aligned%20with%20the%20sun
Punch. (2022). Cartoons about Ireland from Punch. Retrieved from Punch: https://magazine.punch.co.uk/image/I00008OZb2QpkY40
Solomon, M. (2012). Georges Méliès: Anti-Boulangist Caricature and the Incohérent Movement. Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, vol. 53, no. 2, 305-327.
The Georges Melies Project. (2022). The Story of Georges. Retrieved from The Georges Melies Project: https://www.thegeorgesmeliesproject.org/
The Ragtime Webring. (2022). Rags and Pieces by Scott Joplin (1895-1905). Retrieved from Internet Archive Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20090606111507/http://www.perfessorbill.com/pbmidi15.shtml
Trevathan, C. E. (1896). "Bully" Song. Retrieved from National Museum of African American History & Culture: https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2014.275.19
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