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| “ | The rumours are that Harry Houdini himself once owned this cloak, and it frightened him, so he got rid of it. | „ |
| ~ Matthew Wise explaining the history of the cloak |
| “ | Dante came in possession of a cloak. Nobody is really sure where he got the cloak. | „ |
| ~ Jeremiah Blackstone describing the cloak |
Harry Houdini's Cloak is one of the two main antagonists (alongside John McMullen) of the Dante The Great segment from the 2014 found footage horror anthology film V/H/S: Viral.
It's a magical cloak that allows the titular Dante The Great to perform incredible magical feats when he wears it. In truth, the cloak is being possessed by an unnamed demon that requires human sacrifices in order for its magic to work, thus leading to Dante feeding people to the demon so he can continue performing.
History[]
Matthew Wise, a theatre critic being interviewed about Dante's arrest, reveals that the cloak’s origins are tied to the legendary magician Harry Houdini, who is said to have discovered it late in his career. Following his mysterious death, the cloak vanished, rumored to have been cursed or imbued with supernatural power. Years later, it reemerged in the possession of John McMullen, a washed-up stage magician from Alabama whose life changed the moment he discovered it, and began performing incredible feats of magic under the stage name Dante the Great.
After acquiring the cloak, Dante’s performances evolved from amateur illusions to seemingly impossible feats of real magic — teleportation, levitation, conjuring fire, and manipulating objects in midair. Dante credited all of his success to “his secret,” though he guarded the cloak’s existence from the public and even from his assistants. Over time, it became clear that the cloak was not simply a tool, but a living, sentient entity that demanded blood sacrifices in exchange for its power. Caught up in his pride, Dante began abducting and murdering volunteers, stagehands, and even police officers to feed the cloak and maintain its supernatural strength.
The more Dante used it, the more dependent — and corrupted — he became. The cloak would move on its own, lashing out at those who disobeyed or threatened him. When authorities began investigating his crimes, Dante’s assistant, Scarlett, discovered the horrifying truth: the cloak could act independently, even attacking and killing without a wearer. During a police raid, Dante was fatally wounded, but the cloak reanimated him, dragging him into the air before violently dispatching the officers one by one. After a standoff with Scarlett, which led to her stealing the cloak and using it on her own accord, she was able to trick Dante using the cloaks power and fed him to the cloak, thus ending his reign of terror.
In the aftermath, Scarlett took possession of the cloak herself. The final footage shows her performing a new act under Dante’s stage name, implying that the cloak had found a new host — and that its cycle of seduction, murder, and corruption would continue.
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 Villains
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Overarching Antagonist Main Antagonists Secondary Antagonists V/H/S Amateur Night Second Honeymoon Tuesday the 17th The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger 10/31/98: V/H/S/2 Phase I Clinical Trials A Ride in the Park Safe Haven Slumber Party Alien Abduction V/H/S: Viral Dante the Great Parallel Monsters Bonestorm V/H/S/94 Holy Hell The Empty Wake The Subject Terror V/H/S/99 Suicide Bid Ozzy's Dungeon The Gawkers To Hell and Back V/H/S/85 No Wake/Ambrosia God of Death TKNOGD Dreamkill V/H/S/Beyond Stork Dream Girl Live and Let Dive Fur Babies V/H/S/Halloween Coochie Coochie Coo Ut Supra Sic Infra Fun Size Kidprint Home Haunt Siren Kids vs. Aliens V/H/S: Video Horror Shorts | ||