THE INFERNAL CAULDRON (1903)

 

(original French title: LE CHAUDON INFERNAL; American title: THE INFERNAL CALDRON AND THE PHANTASMAL VAPORS; U.K. title: THE INFERNAL CAULDRON. Director/screenwriter/producer/star: Georges Méliès)

 

Review

In this two-minute, G-rated silent short, two excitable, almost cartoonish devils stuff three humans into the titular flaming cauldron so that they can summon their sacrifices’ ghostly essences. While there’s not much storyline, the visual aspects, especially for a brief 1903 work, are amazing— Méliès, INFERNAL’s only credited player, appears as one of the bluish-green, shirtless devils (Belphegor, according to Méliès’s Star Film Company); the struggling souls are clad are soft pink, with other soft colors (yellow, orangish brass) sprinkled in the background. All of this was hand-colored by the prolific Méliès, a French illusionist and director whose talents innovated filmmaking with his (according to Méliès’s IMDb page) “use of special effects, popularizing such techniques as substitution splices, multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves and hand-painted color”, pyrotechnics, soft focus, and storyboards. Méliès is especially famous for his 1902 film A TRIP TO THE MOON.

Great two-minute thrill, worth your time.