An amusing short which features plenty of the usual Georges Melies camera tricks, which are as impressive as ever. It's amazing to see decapitations and the like on screen this early, but they get shown in their full glory. The highlight comes at the end of the film where the executioner himself is chopped in half and both halves try to put themselves back together again. It's a memorable moment.
Melies' shorts, like this one here, usually only had the one location with a painted background. They highlighted loads of early forms of special effects and also explored techniques which are still used in films today. As a method of experimentation, they're fascinating, and surprisingly well made. This is as good as an example as any of the genius of Melies. It's also a good early example of the "body horror" sub-genre which made films like RE-ANIMATOR so famous, eighty years later.
Melies' shorts, like this one here, usually only had the one location with a painted background. They highlighted loads of early forms of special effects and also explored techniques which are still used in films today. As a method of experimentation, they're fascinating, and surprisingly well made. This is as good as an example as any of the genius of Melies. It's also a good early example of the "body horror" sub-genre which made films like RE-ANIMATOR so famous, eighty years later.