'The Black Imp' brings special effects fun

The Black Imp (1905)

Starring: Georges Melies

Director: Georges Melies

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A traveler rents a room already inhabited by a playful demon. It turns out that there truly is no rest for the wicked, as the imp does not appreciate having a roommate.

"The Black Imp" shares many similar elements as "The Apparition", which was made and released in 1903. First, both have hotel guests who is tormented by a supernatural being. Second, said victims are deserving of the torment, because they both sexually harasses the hotel maid. Third, both guests at first seem unfazed by objects and people teleporting about, transforming and appearing or disappearing in the room. (As I said in my review of "The Apparition", France of early 20th century must have been a very different place than it is today.)

All in all, "The Black Imp" feels like a remake of "The Apparition", with Melies applying lessons learned since 1903 and getting more elaborate with the stop-motion effects and other trick photography methods. Comparing the two films is interesting, as well as fun, as they are near-plotless vehicles for showing off Melies' exploration of cinematic magic--and the joy of creation and discovery of special effects techniques is palpable. 

Once "The Black Imp" gets going, it's a non-stop sequence of rapid-fire effect shots, including a very impressive bit where the hotel guest suddenly finds himself in midair and then plummets to the floor. The effects are so seamless that I wonder how Melies pulled it off... and it made me wonder why he didn't use a similar technique in later films to, for example cause the Moon Maiden in "The Dream of an Opium Fiend" (1908), Having the Moon Maiden float from her perch to the floor instead of using a step ladder would have been much more impressive.

I've embedded "The Black Imp" below. If you have five minutes, you should check it out. The acting is a bit hammy (to put it mildly) but even though it's 115 years old, it's lots of fun and the special effects are impressive.