Rhapsody in 35MM

Each season, we will focus on a particular genre of film and explore its roots in hopes to illuminate the shadows and dark corners of film history. Throughout each season, we will discuss aspects of film history that are routinely overlooked and provide little-known details on interesting parts of film history that should be brought to light.

Ep. 3: Sunday in the Dark with Georges – Melies’ The House of the Devil 02/13/2026

Ep. 3: Sunday in the Dark with Georges – Melies’ The House of the Devil Ep. 3 traces humanity’s long fascination with horror and spectacle—from ancient theatre, folklore, and public executions to phantasmagoria and magic lantern shows—and argues that these pre-cinematic forms directly shaped early horror film, culminating in Georges Méliès’ 1896 short Le Manoir du Diable (The House of the Devil), often cited as the first horror film. Rooted in Méliès’ background as a stage magician and illusionist, the film draws on Faustian literature and theatrical trickery, using bats, demons, witches, skeletons, transformations, and magical effects to frighten audiences in a safe, entertaining context, much like earlier spectacles. While some scholars have interpreted the character of Mephistopheles as the first cinematic vampire due to bat imagery, hypnotic power, and defeat by a crucifix, the episode contends that the character is clearly a demon—an agent of the devil—consistent with Goethe and Marlowe’s Faust and with the film’s title, which explicitly references the devil. Nevertheless, because associations between bats and vampires already existed in popular culture before Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), and because Méliès’ film was screened in London while Stoker was active in theatre there, the episode suggests that The House of the Devil may have influenced Stoker’s vampire mythology, even if it is not itself a vampire film, illustrating how early cinematic horror helped solidify tropes that later became central to the genre. Check out our website at and subscribe so you don’t miss a new posting. Please make sure to follow us on the social media platform of your choice (or all of them!) Rate and comment so more people can find us. See the blog post for credits: https://www.rhapsodyin35mmpodcast.com/post/ep-3-remixed-sunday-in-the-dark-with-georges-melies-the-house-of-the-devil Until next time! /episode/index/show/7b92056b-57af-4bc8-b2ce-83e4f550c60e/id/39971065

Ep. 2: A New Dimension in Terror: Tropes and Techniques 01/31/2026

Ep 1: What's in a Name? The Etymology and Science of Horror 01/31/2026

Rhapsody in 35MM

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