THE HAUNTED CASTLE 1896 B/W French short silent film 3 mins.

A short film with many names Le Manoir du diable or The House of the Devil, released in the United States as The Haunted Castle and in Britain as The Devil's Castle. Directed by Georges Méliès. The film, which depicts a brief pantomimed sketch in the style of a theatrical comic fantasy, tells the story of an encounter with the Devil and various attendant phantoms. It is intended to evoke amusement and wonder from its audiences, rather than fear. However, because of its themes and characters, the film has been considered to technically be the first horror film. Such a classification can also be attributed to the film's depiction of a human transforming into a bat. The film is also innovative in length; its running time of over three minutes was ambitious for its era. The film was presumed lost until 1988, when a copy was found in the New Zealand Film Archive.

Director Georges Méliès (above). Considering the time frame this short film was made in and for 3 mins in length the action is non stop. I have also read up a bit about the directors life story a man ahead of his time. Hats off too Georges Méliès.