X-Rays (1897)
by popegrutch
So, to make things even more complicated, apparently a British director, George Albert Smith, also released a movie called “The Haunted Castle” in 1897, which was more or less a remake of the original movie by Méliès. It’s apparently lost, though, so I won’t be discussing it in this post. No, instead I’m going to talk about another contender for the prize for “first British horror movie,” which is this humorous but macabre little entry. In it, a couple in Victorian dress flirts on a park bench, while a bearded fellow with a camera-shaped box marked “X-Rays” turns them both into skeletons. This does nothing to curb their ardor, however, and he eventually gives them their flesh back, at which point the lady slaps the fellow and the scene ends with him alone and forlorn. As compared to Méliès, the photography seems to be up to par, but the background scenery and costumes are somewhat lacking. Apparently the woman on the bench was Smith’s wife, which is not unusual for the in-house productions of the time, where one used the people at hand for “actors” and performers, although many production companies rapidly expanded their talent pools.
Alternate Title: “The X-Ray Fiend”
Director: George Albert Smith
Starring: Tom Green, Laura Bayley
Run Time: 44 seconds.
You can watch it for free: here.
Century Film Project 
[…] to this kind of film seems more in line with the atmosphere I expect for Halloween (see also “The X-Rays”). It is child-friendly and not overly horrifying, but it’s somehow more atmospheric and not as […]
[…] at one point, and the whole thing feels a bit more serious than the comparable Méliès and Smith movies I’ve been discussing, but that may just be the classical subject matter adding weight to […]
Was it supposed to be scary or titillating? In some ways it reminds me of the x-ray eyes see through clothes ads of yesteryear.
Thank you for your comment! So far, I haven’t found any 19th century examples that seem to be intended to be scary. Like most of the early “trick” or “magic” films, I tend to read this one as intended to provoke wonder (at the ability of filmmakers to do achieve effects “impossible” on stage) and humor. I suppose it could be seen as titillating, but not so obviously so as, for example “What demoralized the barber shop.”