Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep.
A work of art! The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari is quite rightly considered by many to be the first true horror film and while the medium of film has changed so drastically over the past century, I mean no hyperbole or patronisation when I say that this film manages to be unnerving. Obviously considering the time period the film is made in, there are certain limitations. There is no sound of any kind beyond the soundtrack. The film is seperated into acts presumably because the reels wouldn't have been sophisticated enough to hold an entire movie. There is some amount of reading to do too due to cards being the only way to convey dialogue. Despite all of this though, The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari still drew me in. The most striking element is of course the set design. You will struggle to find such a strong representation of German Expressionism elsewhere. You can definitely see where the likes of Ken Adam, Tim Burton and possibly Terry Gilliam got their influences from. The set
