1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

#6- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Fehér
Directed by: Robert Wiene


Plot Summary: Francis begins telling an elderly friend a story from his past, involving how he met his wife Jane in his home village of Holstenwall. They visit a carnival with a new exhibit from the mysterious Dr. Caligari. Caligari's act involves the hypnosis of a somnambulist named Cesare. Francis and Jane begin investigating Caligari and Cesare, under suspicion that they are responsible for the recent series of deaths in Holstenwall, unaware that Caligari knows of their investigation and has ordered Cesare to kill Jane.


For the month of October, I'm going to do something a little different than my conventional structure of having a review up only on Thursdays. Since October is the month of Halloween, I will be giving my thoughts on 11 horror movies spanning the various decades and eras of the genre, making it roughly a review every 3 days. Starting my look at the horror genre is a silent film from Germany, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a horror film that I will argue still holds up as a scary movie with modern audiences. 

The strongest element the film has to offer is in its creepy settings and images. Since it's a silent movie, the sets and images have to be the main form of communicating the story and plot. The main story is told through flashbacks and gives us wonderful settings that are full of distorted and misshapen set pieces, giving it the look of a dreamlike world. Many might feel that with no sound, it isn't scary (considering that most modern horror movies rely on jump scares and loud sounds to create "horror"), but it honestly helps. With no one talking and no loud sounds to tell me what's scary, I find that I am mesmerized by the images and that creates the feeling of horror. The images are THAT creepy to look at that sound is not needed to tell the viewer that it is supposed to be scary, and while there is music that accompanies the version of the film I saw, it does not feel out of place and is able to carry the idea of the horror presented to the other senses.

The duo of Dr. Caligari and Cesare are played by Werner Krauss and Conrad Veidt, respectfully. They play the typical master and servant relationship, yet are able to stand out my mind as a top horror duo. Without using words, I found myself creeped out by their eyes. Cesare obviously has a decent amount of makeup under his eyes to allow them to stand out, but there's something about Caligari's face and eyes that illicit an eerie response from myself as a viewer. When Francis and Jane are investigating the duo, without them actually being on screen, you can still feel the haunting presence that at any time, Caligari and Cesare could show up. Now THAT is scary.

Besides being a prime example of German Expressionist movement in film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari also has numerous contributions to film. It is often credited as the film that introduced the twist ending to cinema (and no, I won't spoil it). The character and concept of Cesare could be looked at as a predecessor to not only the Frankenstein monster, but also to the zombie genre of horror films. Considering that it's a film that was made in Germany, it is very interesting to see it grow in popularity with mainstream film audiences around the world, making The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari one of the most important films in the silent era of cinema.


Rating:  4 out of 5 stars.

At only an hour and eleven minutes, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is able to convey a story of terror that is able to hold up to this day. The imagery allows the viewer to feel like THEY are the ones in the hypnotic state and it is often recognized as one of the first horror films. I strongly recommend it to all fans of horror and silent films.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and movie images are copyrighted by Goldwyn Distributing Company