I enjoy watching quality silent horror films, particularly those by German Expressionists. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari captures the chilling essence of horror through captivating cinematic perspectives.
Directed by Robert Wiene and written by Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz, the 1920 German film centers on a young man named Francis. He remembers a terrible incident at the Holstenwall annual fair involving him, his friend Alan and his fiancée, Jane.
Francis and Alan attended The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari exhibit at the fair. A mysterious psychiatrist shows how Cesare has been sleepwalking for most of his life.
The doctor has Cesare show his clairvoyant powers. Alan asks Cesare about his future, and Cesare tells Alan that he will die before dawn. Alan tries to shake this off as nothing.
But the following day, Francis finds Alan dead and suspects Cesare of killing him. Francis spies on Dr. Caligari and Cesare to prove who killed Alan.
The next night, Cesare is about to stab Jane in her bed but grows infatuated with her when he realizes how beautiful she is. Instead of murder, Cesare abducts Jane.
The abduction causes a disturbance in the house and awakens Jane’s father. Realizing Cesare had kidnapped his daughter, he and his servants give chase. Cesare realizes he cannot outrun her father and his servants, so he gently lays Jane on the ground and runs away.
Francis joins the police to investigate Dr. Caligari. Yet, the psychiatrist easily slips away. But Francis follows him into a place for the insane. There, Francis enters the asylum and finds the truth behind the mysterious death and kidnapping.
The original 1920 horror classic is now available on HD Ultra Blu-Ray in a meticulous 4K restoration by the F. W. Murnau Stiftung. Also included is a new orchestral score by Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Blu-Ray also includes the documentary Caligari: How Horror Came to the Cinema, a restoration demonstration, and audio commentary by composer Jeff Beal.
Film aficionados believe The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari jolted the postwar masses and catapulted the German Expressionist film movement into history.
The plunge into the mind of insanity that severs all ties with the rational world. A nightmare realm in which light, shadow and substance create a world in which a demented doctor and a carnival sleepwalker perpetrate a series of ghastly murders in a small community. Wiene delivered a well-crafted horror film.
Wiene was a German screenwriter, director and producer during the silent era. His most widely known movie is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. He also wrote and directed other films of various genres and styles.
Because he was of Jewish descent, he fled Germany into exile in Paris, France, where he died at age 65 in 1938.
