The Worst Film Ever

Just perfect...

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This film, The Cake-Walk Infernal, is one of silent pioneer Georges Melies' most well known films. There isn't much of a story as much as a succession of images, which Melies energetically parades across the screen with his usual doses of interesting backdrops and costumed characters. At times, some of Melies' films can be overly stagy, and this is one such film. Some common motifs in Melies' films appear here as in characters or objects appearing, disappearing, and reappearing again, the use of smoke effects for transitions, the use of stop action motion, and Melies' appearance as a character with a devilish costume. **1/2 of 4 stars.

As a few female dancers flow back and forth, the curtain rises on a what looks like it could be Hell. Male demons arise and do an acrobatic dance, which includes some special effects fire from magical filmmaker George Melies. A leader devil appears, likely he is played by Mr. Melies. More dancers and special effects fire appear. Taking center stage for a spell is a dancing couple appearing in what looks like "blackface". Other dark-skinned beings appear, with big white eyes. More demons and special effects fire appear. Before the finale, the head devil has a solo dance, which shows off his ability to lose and regain his limbs.*** Le cake-walk infernal (6/13/03) Georges Melies ~ Georges Melies

It seems incredible to me that a filmmaker who was so far ahead of his peers in 1903 could fall so far behind them within the space of a decade. By 1912 or so Melies' career as a film-maker was over and he ended up selling sweets from a street kiosk for a living. And yet this film is so energetic and inventive, it leaves you wishing he hadn't found it so difficult to adapt as the movies evolved.There's no story to this one as such, just a group of people dancing in various styles against a typically fantastic Melies background which is presumably presumed to be a vision of hell - although the set could easily have been used in Voyage to the Moon. I watched this on YouTube, and the soundtrack was played by a jazz quintet. It's remarkable how well the music suited the visuals and the soundtrack complements the astonishingly lively and kinetic capers on the screen. Definitely worth watching.

Do they dance in Hell? If they do then this is maybe what it is like. We join the scene of naïve celebration among the dancers when a demon bursts through onto the scene to torment the only black dancer with a version of the cake-walk that has the fires of damnation behind it.Back when many films were very descriptive and very 'real' in their subjects, Méliès must have been a bewildering influence. Films called 'man riding a horse' were wowing them in the moving pictures (or movies as they are still called) by doing exactly what they said on the tin, or in other words, such a film would feature a man on a horse, a training coming into a station and so on. Méliès created short films that contain visual images that still retain their appeal today and will be known to many people (even if they don't know that they are his images!) and this is the modern appeal of his films to me. Sure they are simple in terms of substance and are more style over content but remember these are a century old – think of how they must have been viewed then!This is one example but it is not one of his best for my money. The film is weird even watching it now and it is far more about visual impact than about its narrative foundation or substance. It looks great and some of the effects show him to have been years ahead of his time – anyone looking for meaning or plot will be annoyed but the focus is visuals and, in this regard, it still works and is very imaginative and strange.I have watched many rubbish films and many good films that have lasted two hours; this film lasts only a very minutes and is well worth the amount of time it took for me to watch it. Méliès' images are still in the public psyche today and this film, while not his most famous, is another good example of why that is the case.