‘The Black Imp’: Exploring the haunted hotel subgenre with Georges Méliès
Haunted hotels have been a part of horror cinema for a long time now, almost since the very conception of the cinematic medium. Although there are many examples of this throughout the illustrious filmography of Georges Méliès, the most interesting and entertaining is perhaps his 1905 short The Black Imp.
Ranging from critically acclaimed masterpieces such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining to mainstream examples like 1408, horror fans love haunted hotels. Just this year alone, some of the most prominent horror productions utilised this motif to great effect. Given the recent uproar over Airbnbs, it almost feels like an artistic campaign to ensure people stay away from dubious rented spaces.
Including the likes of Alex Garland’s Men, Ti West’s X and Zach Cregger’s Barbarian, 2022 saw a rise in the number of horror films that dealt with this particular trope. While all the aforementioned projects tackled this setting in their own ways, they definitely owe a lot to one of the first magicians of early cinema – Méliès.
The Black Imp stars Méliès as a guest at an inn who checks into his room to try and relax, only to be tormented by a devilish creature. When he attempts to store his coat in the bureau, the foundational laws of physics and the structural integrity of the physical universe start morphing all around him.
There’s a reason why Méliès has retained his reputation as cinema’s grand illusionist. Even though a century has passed since he made this charming little short, we are still left wondering how he pulled off the mesmerising magic tricks in The Black Imp.
We witness the guest’s descent into insanity as the imp toys with his world, creating infinite replicas of a chair in the room just to mess with him. The spatial politics of The Black Imp are truly fascinating, especially because hotel rooms are a paradoxical intersection between the domains of the public and the private.
For those who have been keeping up with the popular horror releases of the year, revisiting Méliès’ delightful short might be a good way to round up 2022. Just like hotel rooms in horror films are haunted by their tortured histories, cinema will forever be haunted by the inescapable legacy of Georges Méliès.
Watch the short film below.
