Satan en prison (1907)
*** (out of 4)
aka Satan in Prison
George Melies loved certain subjects and if you go through his filmmography you're going to run across certain stories that the French director did several times. This is one example and is another remake of his film THE HAUNTED CASTLE. This time out, Satan himself winds up in prison where he's put into an empty cell and before long he begins to add pieces such as a table, chairs and eventually a woman. Melies liked making films like this one where he'd simply use his magic to build up a set. He did this type of film quite a bit throughout his career and while this one here takes a while to get started once it does hit its stride it makes for a pretty good entertainment. As in the previous films, the special effects are certainly the highlights and while the trick shots are obviously done through editing, I think the quality had certainly improved by this point in the director's career. The edits were quite simple and not nearly as noticeable as they had been a decade earlier. As usual, Melies brings a lot of charm to the main character and helps get a few nice laughs.