The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

THE GIST: Franzis recounts of the time he and his best friend Alan went to a fair to see a future-telling-somnambulist named Cesare, controlled by a mysterious Dr. Caligari. Cesare predicted that Alan would not survive the night and in the morning he was indeed found dead. Franzis, suspecting Cesare, started tailing him.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent horror film that doesn't really stand the test of time.

While the story might not be without merit, and the moving images onscreen likely generated quite a bit of scares (or was it awe?) in audiences at the time, one hundred years later they hardly register on the terror scale.

I don't really want to sound too critical of old movies, because the technology was obviously limited at the time. So, if we're looking at it through the lens of what it could have meant at the time, then sure, it was a great achievement, but if we're trying to propose it today's audiences by saying, "Look how magnificent this movie still is!" then I disagree.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Watch it with an academic eye and you might be impressed. Otherwise, I really cannot recommend it.

Grade: 3