The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

I'm not really one for silent films, but I love a good creepy thriller. This one, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (or Das Kabinet des Dr. Caligari in the origional German) is both, and was one of the first. Filmed in 1920 and directed by the legendary Robert Wiene, it is one of the most influential German Expressionist films and is considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era and many consider it to be the first proper horror ever made. It paved the way for the so-called 'brain melting' and 'what is reality?' films such as Inception and Shutter Island. It is also cited as having introduced the twist ending into the world of cinema.

The plot is relativley simple, in a small town of Holstenwall, a man named Francis tells a story of how, at a fair, his best friend Alan and his fiance Jane meet Dr. Caligari and his somnumbulist (sleepwalker), Cesare, who can predict the future. Cesare reveals to Alan that he only has until dawn to live. The prediction proves true when Alan is found murderd. Cesare becomes the prime suspect and then abducts Jane before dying of exhaustion from running from the townspeople. Dr. Caligari returns to a mental asylum, where the truth is revealed. Though the film isn't very scary and the production quality not too good, I can guarantee you that if you were watching this in 1920 (or in the middle of the night with all the lights off alone at home as I did) you'd be pretty damn freaked out, especially when Cesare opens his eyes. The film itself is presented  in flashback form, also one of the first films to do this. It stars Werner Krauss, the legendary silent movie actor with over 120 - yes, really - films to his name, as Dr. Caligary and Conrad Veidt as Cesare. If this movie is something that sparked your intrest, you can watch it here,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrg73UBxJRI

Other mentionable silent horror movies are:

• Le Manoir du Diable (or Devil's Manor, also considered one of the first horror movies, 1896)
• Frankenstein (1910)
• The Student of Prague (1913)
• The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920)
• Häxan (1922)
• The Hands of Orlac (1924)
• Waxworks (1924, also featuring both Krauss and Viedt)
• The Monster (1925)
• The Unknown (1927)
• The Cat and The Canary (1927, second only to Dr. Caligari in my view)

All of these movies are available for veiwing on Yutube. This will be my last post on silent horror movies. I promise.