Georges Méliès
Director·1861–1938·Paris, France
38 horror credits
Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861 - January 21, 1938), full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. One of the first filmmakers to use multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, tracking shots, dissolves, and hand-painted color in his work, Méliès pioneered effects that would define cinematic special effects for decades to come. A prolific innovator in the use of special effects, Méliès accidentally discovered the substitution stop trick in 1896, a method of creating seamless disappearing and/or appearing effects used throughout both films and television for decades to come. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality through cinematography, Méliès is sometimes referred to as the first "Cinemagician".
Two of his best-known films are A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904). Both stories involve strange, surreal voyages, somewhat in the style of Jules Verne, and are considered among the most important early science fiction films, though their approach is closer to fantasy. Méliès was also an early pioneer of horror cinema, which can be traced back to his Le Manoir du diable (1896).
In early 1909 Méliès stopped making films to protest Thomas Edison's Motion Pictures Parents Company monopoly, and presided over the first meeting of the International Filmmakers Congress in Paris. Further financial hardships created by his opposition to Edison and diminishing influence, Méliès disappeared from public life. By the mid-1920s he made a meager living as a candy and toy salesma in Paris, with the assistance of funds collected by other filmmakers. Although he was recognized for his contributions in cinema, Méliès spent most of his later years in poverty before being accepted into La Maison du Retraite du Cinéma, the film industry's retirement home in Orly.
Director37 films
Méliès: Tales of Terror
Director
The Knight of the Snow
Director
The Conquest of the Pole
Director
The Hallucinations of Baron Munchausen
Director
The Diabolic Tenant
Director
The Spider and the Butterfly
Director
In the Bogie Man's Cave
Director
The Witch
Director
The Mysterious Retort
Director
The Merry Frolics of Satan
Director
The Black Imp
Director
Faust and Marguerite
Director
A Miracle Under the Inquisition
Director
Faust in the Underworld
Director
Apparitions
Director
The Infernal Cauldron
Director
The Monster
Director
The Inn Where No Man Rests
Director
The Enchanted Well
Director
The Infernal Cake-Walk
Director
Beelzebub's Daughters
Director
The Treasures of Satan
Director
The Devil and the Statue
Director
Bluebeard
Director
The Astronomer's Dream
Director
Cinderella
Director
Summoning the Spirits
Director
The Devil in a Convent
Director
The Pillar of Fire
Director
Cleopatra's Tomb
Director
The Magician
Director
Le château hanté
Director
The Bewitched Inn
Director
A Nightmare
Director
Le manoir du diable
Director
The Vanishing Lady
Director
A Terrible Night
Director
Writer11 films
The Conquest of the Pole
Screenplay
The Diabolic Tenant
Screenplay
The Witch
Writer
The Merry Frolics of Satan
Screenplay
The Infernal Cauldron
Screenplay
The Astronomer's Dream
Screenplay
The Pillar of Fire
Screenplay
Le château hanté
Screenplay
The Bewitched Inn
Screenplay
Le manoir du diable
Writer
A Terrible Night
Writer
Producer17 films
Méliès: Tales of Terror
Producer
The Conquest of the Pole
Producer
The Diabolic Tenant
Producer
The Witch
Producer
The Merry Frolics of Satan
Producer
The Black Imp
Producer
The Infernal Cauldron
Producer
Bluebeard
Producer
The Astronomer's Dream
Producer
Cinderella
Producer
The Pillar of Fire
Producer
Le château hanté
Producer
The Bewitched Inn
Producer
A Nightmare
Producer
Le manoir du diable
Producer
The Vanishing Lady
Producer
A Terrible Night
Producer
Cinematographer1 film
The Conquest of the Pole
Director of Photography
Editor4 films
The Astronomer's Dream
Editor
The Bewitched Inn
Editor
A Nightmare
Editor
The Vanishing Lady
Editor
Production Designer13 films
The Diabolic Tenant
Production Design
The Witch
Production Design
The Merry Frolics of Satan
Production Design
The Infernal Cauldron
Production Design
Bluebeard
Production Design
Cinderella
Production Design
The Pillar of Fire
Production Design
Le château hanté
Production Design
The Bewitched Inn
Production Design
A Nightmare
Production Design
Le manoir du diable
Production Design
The Vanishing Lady
Production Design
A Terrible Night
Production Design
Makeup & FX1 film
The Astronomer's Dream
Special Effects
Actor32 films
Satans Sacrilegious Saga
Devil
Méliès: Tales of Terror
The Melomaniac
The Knight of the Snow
Devil
The Conquest of the Pole
Le professeur Mabouloff
The Diabolic Tenant
Le locataire diabolique
The Witch
The Fairy Carabosse
The Mysterious Retort
The Merry Frolics of Satan
Satan
The Black Imp
Faust and Marguerite
Méphistophélès
Faust in the Underworld
Mephistopholes
Apparitions
The Infernal Cauldron
Devil
The Monster
The priest
The Infernal Cake-Walk
Devil
Beelzebub's Daughters
The Treasures of Satan
The Devil and the Statue
Bluebeard
Barbe-bleue
The Astronomer's Dream
Astronomer
Cinderella
le gnome de la pendule / le suisse à l'entrée de l'église
Summoning the Spirits
The Devil in a Convent
The Devil
The Pillar of Fire
Cleopatra's Tomb
un profanateur de la tombe de Cléopâtre
The Magician
Le Sculpteur
Le château hanté
Mephisto
The Bewitched Inn
The Traveler
A Nightmare
Man
Le manoir du diable
Mephistopheles
The Vanishing Lady
Le magicien
A Terrible Night
L'homme qui essaie de dormir
Other Crew2 films
Bluebeard
Adaptation
The Astronomer's Dream
Production Designer