TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

justinthibault-00000 Recommend watching it once, is considered one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Have to appreciate its innovation, but that's all you really can appreciate a century later...

cricketbat Since this is considered one of the first horror films ever made, it's no surprise that I enjoyed it. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari seems to have set the standard for how a horror film should look and feel. The plot was compelling and the acting was entertaining. Now I'm going to be a film geek for a moment: One of the best examples of German Expressionism I have seen.

peytone As a young adult, most would be surprised that I watch classic films. Since it is October, I decided to check out The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a film I had heard much about while researching classic horror. Many consider this to be the first true horror film, and its influence can be seen in films like Frankenstein (1931).This genre-influencer is about a carnival trickster named Caligari who shows off a somnambulist (sleepwalker) named Cesare at a fair one day, and magically wakes him up. Creepily portrayed by Werner Krauss, the doctor seems to know nothing about a series of murders that suspiciously occur in the town while he is there. Mystery ensues as the protagonists (whose names I can't remember even though I watched this less than 30 min ago) try to figure out who Caligari really is.Being familiar with silent movies, I was prepared for a bit of slowness. This is usually something I can deal with, but I did not like how slowly the intertitles scrolled and how long the takes lasted. The pace was uneven a bit because of this. I found the plot very predictable, especially the fact that Cesare is the murderer, because the shadow in the wall during the murder scene is clearly him. The filmmakers try to fool us by having our heroes arrest an actual murderer, but to me it was an obvious red herring. However, the twist ending (which I will not spoil here) genuinely surprised me and left me glad to have finished watching the film.The sets in this film rely on the German expressionist art movement. They are a bit jarring to look at at first, and are noticeably fake, but I got used to seeing them as the film progressed.The performances by Krauss and a young Conrad Veidt (whom you may remember from Casablanca) are very good. The main character is also good, though I forget his name.Overall, there are better silent horror flicks out there. I would recommend Nosferatu (1922) or The Phantom of the Opera (1925) rather than this film, especially Nosferatu, which is still chilling to watch. Caligari, I feel, has lost a bit of its remarkability in the 96 years since its release, probably because it influenced many other classic horror motifs and tropes which appeared in films like the Universal Monster movies, of which I have been a longtime fan. People who may watch this film will come across elements that are now cliché. Only watch this one if you really want to; the ending makes it worth viewing for horror buffs, but be prepared for a slow ride towards it.

Leofwine_draca The first feature-length horror movie ever made (not counting the hundreds of shorts made in the previous two decades, usually under five minutes each), this is classic stuff and rightly so. With an age-barrier of nigh on a century you might think that this movie, seen today, is very dated, and you'd be right. The lack of dialogue (although there's a fine music score), the theatrical acting and static direction may make this movie an effort to watch but the effort is well worth it. My main problem with these older films is that sometimes they can be very boring with little action, but that's not a problem here; the pacing is fast and the film is short which makes the time fly by.The plot, involving Caligari and his murderous somnambulist, may seem deceptively simplistic at first glance, but there are lots of little tricks thrown in to fool the viewer. Also, other characters whose lives act as other plot strands, flowing in and out of the central thrust of the story. All this and a twist ending to boot.The acting is generally top-notch, if you allow for the acting style of the period. Werner Krauss makes the most of his bookish Caligari, complete with horn-rimmed glasses and odd-looking attire; his outlandish and very atypical character makes him highly watchable. Stealing the show, though, is a very young Conrad Veidt (later to go on and pursue a successful Hollywood career) playing the somnambulist, around whom most of the action is centred. Veidt's striking appearance (black clothing, white eyes, black sunken eyes) fits together well with his understated acting approach so that he appears very deathly and almost like a living corpse; just looking at him gives you the creeps. The supporting characters are humane and normal and thus forgettable, but fine.What is most striking about this movie are the sets, most of which were constructed form paper or cardboard. The abstract drawings, and the oddly surreal, angular walls create a visually stimulating fantasy world for the sinister events to take place in. Much has been made of the "painted shadows" employed to give the movie more of a balance between black and white and the effort pays off. Karl Freund's photography certainly brings out the atmosphere of the sets and they're unforgettable. Like Tolkien did with Lord of the Rings, all involved with the making of this film transpired to create a believable fantasy world which is similar to, yet very different, from our own; an alternate reality perhaps. Whatever the motivation, the expressionist art displaying itself here made the movie a classic.Seen today, the horror is subtle and all of the murders offscreen (aside from one memorable shadow-play). A far cry from the movies of today and, indeed, the wealth of absurdly violent (heads, bodies being chopped apart) shorts made in the early 1900s. Yet the image of Veidt stalking his victims through long corridors have undoubtedly influenced all that has come after it, from Lugosi's Dracula to Michael Myers in HALLOWEEN. Altogether, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI is a horror classic which should be seen at least once by any fan with a passing interest in the genre, or indeed in the cinema, as this is a highly influential and important film in every respect.