After a 100 Years, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Still Scares

Horror movies are in the middle of a renaissance. Sure, us fans know they have always been valued forms of entertainment, now horror is being taken a little more seriously. But let’s take a look at one of the founding films of the genre, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). Chances are you’ve seen some media that owes its style to the existence of this film. Any fans of Tim Burton? More on that later.

For those who don’t know, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a silent German expressionist horror film. Early drafts were originally going to feature a commentary on hospital care for recovering soldiers following World War One, but the powers that be weren’t a fan. All things considered it’s probably for the best. I honestly don’t know how they would have put it in and still had the story they did. Instead Dr. Caligari is twisted thriller though a strange and dreamlike set.

Young Francis (Friedrich Feher) has been recently traumatized by spirits, apparently driving him and his fiancée Jane (Lil Dagover) from their home. Told in a flashback to a sympathetic old man, Francis explains the bizarre and terrible events that brought them to this state.

Back in their village of Holstenwall, Francis and his friend Alan (Hans Heinrich von Twardoski) eagerly compete for the affections of Jane, daughter of the local doctor. A fair comes to town and the mysterious Doctor Caligari (Werner Krauss, who would later participate in anti-Semitic films for Nazi Germany) demands that he gets a permit to exhibit his somnambulist, Cesare. Somnambulist is just a scientific way of saying a sleepwalker. Cesare is an emo boy before his time, with his black hair, black clothes, and shadows under his eyes. After his arrival, the murders start happening.

It is the sets of the film that really sell the murder mystery audiences are watching. They are unreal, with zigzags, leaning buildings, and I’m pretty sure there isn’t aright angle in the whole set.  Viewers will feel like they are losing their minds right along Francis and Alan. As the film is obviously black and white, the colorlessness adds to the bleakness. In the age where many sets are merely cgi, the majority of the backgrounds in Dr. Caligari were painted directly on the canvas. Painters and set designers WalterRiemann and Walter Rohing were given carte blanche in creating the world of Dr. Caligari.

The film concludes with a resolution that some viewers might not like. Yes, the twist at the end of Dr. Caligari can be predictable, but remember, it was one of the first films to have one. Personally, I did not expect it to have one myself. Since many older movie twists are public knowledge (Darth Vader is Luke’s dad, Rosebud is a sled, etc.) I’m going to avoid describing it here.

It should be thought of as one of those films everyone has to watch once. Tim Burton drew inspiration from the German expressionist style in Dr. Caligari. After watching, go back and revisit your favorite Burton film (come on, I know you have one) and see if you can spot Dr. Caligari’s visual legacy. Media wormhole TvTropes, even named a trope after Cesare’s appearance “Looks Like Cesare,” because creators are very fond of the pale complexion, dark hair combination in men.

Like many horror films, it is the villains what make Dr. Caligari as memorable as it is. Conrad Veidt (the bad guy in Casablanca and real life Nazi hater.) stars as Cesare, the somnambulist. Veidt moves with a dancer’s precision, keeping Cesare unsettling for the whole film. Dr. Caligari is a creepy little old man, who must have been part of the inspiration forDanny DeVito as The Penguin in Batman Returns.

I’ve had the privilege of seeing The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with a live orchestra, and if you get the chance to see a silent film like that do it.  I’ve also been able to see Sergei Eisenstien’s Battleship Potemkin at my local art house theatre. You are seeing it as its creators originally intended, almost a hundred years after they were made.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari deserves horror fans respects. It even had a remake of sorts back in 1989 with monster actor Doug Jones as Cesare. Put it on at your next Halloween party or marathon and enjoy.