It’s easy to consider this among the earliest examples of what we now classify as horror films; the definition of "horror" was quite different before the 1930s. It's difficult to definitively state whether this or *A Nightmare* holds the title of first, but both employ techniques like abrupt cuts and unique props. Georges Melies demonstrates remarkable skill as an illusionist—a point I touched on when reviewing *A Ni…

Wikipedia indicates that Georges Melies’s *Le Manoir du diable* is considered the earliest horror movie, as noted in August 2011. It's true it’s just a short—roughly three minutes—but film was scarce back then, so I count it as a full-fledged movie. The storyline is simple: a protagonist experiences torment from demonic figures within an elaborate castle chamber. However, that wasn’t the reason people flocked to s…