Otto Messmer (1923)

Happy Halloween!

The short follows Felix as he attempts to help a farmer get a pesky ghost out of his house. The short is an early media depiction of paranormal investigation and elimination, known then as “ghost-breaking” and better known now as “ghostbusting”.

Felix is trying to get some sleep in a graveyard, but keeps getting bothered by a ghost. He follows the ghost to the house of an old farmer, and the ghost proceeds to terrorize the old man, and when the farmer calls for help from the police, the ghost terrorizes them, too. Felix, however, suspects something fishy is going on, and with the help of the farmer’s donkey, gets to the bottom of things.