“La maison ensorcelée”, directed by Segundo de Chomón, is a mesmerizing silent short film that blends early cinema’s pioneering special effects with a surreal, nightmarish atmosphere. The film follows a group of weary travelers who take shelter in what appears to be a simple, unassuming house. However, they soon find themselves trapped in a nightmarish reality where the laws of physics and logic no longer apply.

As they settle in, the house begins to reveal its sinister nature. Objects move on their own, chairs vanish beneath them and furniture rearranges itself in an almost playful yet menacing manner. The travelers, bewildered and terrified, struggle to make sense of their surroundings as invisible forces toy with them. Their attempts to find respite are continually thwarted by an onslaught of supernatural occurrences.

Chomón, often regarded as the Spanish counterpart to Georges Méliès, employs stop-motion animation and trick photography to create an unsettling yet visually stunning series of illusions. The film’s eerie charm lies in its relentless unpredictability; every frame is imbued with a sense of playful horror, a hallmark of early cinematic experimentation. Unlike traditional ghost stories, “La maison ensorcelée” does not rely on a central antagonist. Instead, the house itself is the source of terror, an enigmatic entity that bends reality at will.