"Le Manoir du Diable" ("The Haunted Castle") - Georges Méliès, 1896
(www.youtube.com)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPmKaz3QuzoFirst threatrical release was on Christmas Eve, 1896, at the Theatre Robert Houdin, 8 boulevard des Italiens, Paris.
Georges Méliès was considered the "father of special effects".
Now imagine an audience unused to visual effects (During a train scene in silent film, in which the train appeared to be coming right at the audience, people were injured when everyone stampeded out of their seats for the edges of the theatre).
Not bad for 128 years old.