The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Now to take a step back in time, much further than usual to be precise. To the era of silent cinema. Silent movies are often ignored by my generation, whats the point sure? We have movies with talking and in colour as well. let the past be the past. Not really, to understand the present you must appreciate the past. And as a die hard horror fan, there is two silent movies that are an important part of the history of horror. These were The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from 1920 and Nosferatu from 1922.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a German expressionist film. The plot i find a bit difficult to explain as with most silent films so do bear with me. Its set in the German mountain village of Holstenwal and tells the story of a deranged Dr. Caligari and his sleepwalking sidekick named Cesare (who he keeps in a cabinet) who are connected to a series of murders in the town. Its told in flashback form. That's just putting it very bluntly.

Visually, this film looks like something out of a dream, really far out and trippy for its time. Really tall doors and windows that are bent in really weird ways and accompanied by a very haunting soundtrack. Silent movies relied heavily on the music to keep you drawn into the story and this is a very good example.

Gonna cut this review short as i know very little about silent movies to give any real insight into this but i will say, if your a fan of horror, its worth checking out as its one of the first horror movies and very good for its time.

8/10