The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Movie Review

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari] (1921)

Rent The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Carl Mayer, Hans Janowitz (story)
Directed by: Robert Wiene
Starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher
Rated: --
Watch the trailer

Plot
An insane asylum director has a sleepwalking patient who predicts the future. 

Verdict
A silent film isn't the easiest thing to watch, but this isn't bad. Creepy and suspenseful, it feels like an amateur film with promise, and that is a compliment. If you want to watch a silent film, and I don't know why you would, this might be the ticket. Despite the very few number of silent films I've seen, this is easily my favorite.
It depends.

Review
I wasn't expecting much coming off of two of D.W. Griffith's acclaimed silent films that didn't land for me. When the title cards appeared with jagged backgrounds and uneven lettering, forcing me to decipher whether I saw words or an impressionist painting, I was concerned watching this would be a chore. Luckily the font changed.

It was much easier to keep up with what was happening in this compared to the other two silent films I watched. The set design which is more stage play that movie adds to the eerie effect. Like the artwork, it's twisted and surreal. It's creepy looking even for 1920.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari -A silent film that isn't bad.

Dr. Caligari's show involves the sleepwalker Cesere, who resides in a coffin and predicts the future. A man asks Cesere when he'll die, and is told "tonight." The dead man's friend investigates and discovers that Dr. Caligari is an insane asylum director, using his patient Cesere to imitate an old fable. The story is distilled to it's basic elements. A contemporary movie remake would feel bloated as back story and character arcs would be shoehorned in.

A silent film is a difficult watch today because it's outdated. We're so much better at telling stories now. Even The Artist (2011) didn't go full silent, benefiting by modern camera work. Despite that, no one wanted to produce it. It's success was an anomaly. This movie is film class or film history material, the average viewer won't enjoy it.