By RACHEL BOLTON
Staff Writer
Rating-Sweet
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a classic eerie silent movie. Made in 1919, it is a shining example of German Expressionist cinema. Surprisingly, it’s still creepy today. It’s a spooky treat filled with dark shadows and things that go bump in the night.
The film is a flashback of the main character Francis. He is telling his doctor about the strange incidents that happened to him. Francis lives in small town, which is holding a fair. He and his friend Alan attend and decide to visit one of the exhibits, called the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The doctor is strange hunched up old man. His cabinet holds a man named Cesare, a sleepwalker who has not been awake in 23 years. Dr. Caligari slowly wakes him up and tells the audience to ask him a question, because Cesare can predict the future. Alan is fascinated by Cesare and asks him when he will die. Cesare answers that he will be dead by dawn.
Francis is horrified to learn the next day that the prediction came true. He begins to suspect that Caligari killed Alan. A string of murders soon follow and Francis’ obsession grows deeper. However, Dr. Caligari is not going to go away willingly.
I know many people are turned off by the idea of watching a silent movie. But The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari will still send a shiver down your spine. Because there is no dialogue, the music builds the suspense. The sound of the violins will leave you on the edge of your seats. The sets are fascinating. All the buildings are sloped and bizarrely painted. It creates an environment that is filled with shadows and scary buildings. It provides great contrast between the 1910’s costumes the actors are wearing. The actors themselves appear frightening and otherworldly. The heavy makeup they wear adds to their haunted effect.
The plot of the film is as developed as one can be in a silent movie. It builds up the suspense and it does pay off. The ending is another reason why this movie is notable: it has what may be the first twist ending in cinema.
Try something new this weekend. Watch The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. It’s a perfect way to wrap up the Halloween season. It’s now in the public domain and available to watch online.
