The Cabinet of Caligari

1962 "To The Unshockables: IT SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS, SHOCKS"
5.8| 1h46m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 25 May 1962 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Info

A delirious young woman feels trapped in a remote mansion at the mercy of a madman.

Genre

Horror, Thriller

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Director

Roger Kay

Production Companies

20th Century Fox

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The Cabinet of Caligari Audience Reviews

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
mark.waltz This is the convoluted psychological thriller melodrama that has seemingly outgoing Glynis Johns hobbling happily down the street searching for help after her car breaks down. She knocks on the wrong door, and ends up being trapped in a beautiful bedroom by the strange title character who keeps a severe eye on her, and his beautiful assistant who also insists that she cannot leave the premises. Dan O'Herlihy is the titled character, a rather mysterious man who may or may not be a doctor, and what kind he may or may not be takes some patience to find out. The lovely assistant is soap opera favorite Constance Ford, denying that she is Caligari's mistress, but also maintaining innocence in Glynis's his accusations that they are leading a perverted lifestyle and keeping Johns locked up to keep it their secret. Others present include dizzy Estelle Winwood, her aging boyfriend J. Pat O'Malley and a handsome young man, Richard Davalos who expresses a romantic interest in Johns. she uses her wits to determine why she is being held against her will, and ends up in some precarious predicament that are dreamlike and quite intense. It becomes pretty obvious what actually is going on about halfway through the film, but I'll give that to you to discover. Obviously influenced by the similarly-named silent film, this is not as artistically brilliant but has some great moments.John gives an excellent performance and is matched by O'Herlihy and Ford. the issue with the film is that it seems to take itself way too seriously, and like other psychological melodramas of the time, is trying too hard to emulate classic mental illness films like the snake pit. However, it is certainly better than "The Caretakers" which dealt with life inside a mental institution and came out the following year. Disturbing and convoluted, this is a perfect example of the 60's artistic flop and a good example why the new eave style of films worked better with European filmmakers.
GL84 Suffering a car accident, a woman comes to the home of a strange doctor entertaining guests who are staying at the house, but realizing that she's a prisoner in the house she tries every possible way to get away from the asylum.This is a dismally dreadful film that has little to like about it. Most of the film's problems result from the fact that it never once feels like a true horror film, for while it has a potentially creepy premise this one stays so low-going and the same way throughout it plays out as a drama. Nothing happens in it, and the fact that it continually uses the cliché of having her try to get out and get caught only for no punishments to be dealt out gets too ridiculous at times and only hastens the plot's completely dull nature. The fact that it takes so long to even do anything is a huge problem, taking a near eternity to even get to the point of the film. It starts off creepy as the continual denials at finding out what's going on, but then after a while it soon becomes aggravating when it refuses to do anything, and it seems as though all it does is simply run through the same lame psychological torments time after time which results in nothing more than aggravation and irritation at keeping the cycle going hoping that the strange behavior of the other inmates is enough to work this out. There's also a big flaw in that she's captured at the beginning, but is given the reasoning behind her imprisonment at the end which in itself is such a lame motive more should've been done with it as this manages to make the others out there even more noticeable. However, there's some good stuff here at times as one of the main ones is that it goes to great lengths to set up a creepy atmosphere. There's a tremendous effort to keep her at the sanitarium, and after awhile these can be somewhat creepy. The fact that not a straight answer is given until late in the film, despite knowing what happens to them at the sanitarium, helps this have a real air of dread to the scenes. The only other factor that works is the twisted ending, which actually has several things going for it. It's the only thing that feels mildly threatening, with the sequence where it feels like a series of photographs on display being especially impressive. It has a great look to it that seems really freaky, and the twist involved with it is a pretty nice surprise. These, though, are all the film has going for it as all of that pales to its complete inability to feel like a horror film.Today's Rating-PG: Mild Violence.
christopher-underwood Something just that little bit different here and something really rather good. The slightly odd or seeming unlikely happenings, including the casting of Glynis Johns all make sense by the end, at least as far as I am concerned. Great sets help create a 'modern' but nevertheless creepy feel and Gerald Fried's score is most effective. A very simple idea is admirably sustained and every now and then when we feel things cannot go on like this for much longer we are jolted, either by the outrageousness of Caligari or by the sudden appearance of another guest. I had never even heard of this film before the appearance of the DVD and wonder if indeed it ever opened in the UK. The sexual references and physical violence certainly surprised me for a film of the early 60's. Well worth seeing.
Mike-764 Jane Lindstrom is on vacation when her car gets a flat tire and she walks a long way before ending up at the house of Caligari who welcomes her in. After a strange night in the house, Jane feels uneasy around Caligari, as well as other people living in the house, so she asks to leave but she finds out that no one can help her to leave and she is unable to escape by herself. She finds a friend in Mark, a young man, as well as Paul, an intellectual man with a medical background. As Jane tries to break Caligari, she finds out that her attempts to free herself from the house and the spell of Caligari is becoming hopeless. This is not a remake of the 1919 classic, but does have the expressionistic elements of the original, as well as have its own feel with Jane's descent into madness. Johns gives one of her best and more complex performances and O'Herlihy is very spooky as the title character. Fried's musical score is used brilliantly in the film and is probably the best aspect of the movie. Bloch's script does have nice twists at the end, but is seems to go nowhere for the first hour of the film. Rating, 6.