B Plus Movies

Edit: Due to some constraints at work, I won’t be publishing a Wednesday B+ Movie Review. A new review will be up on Friday, March 13th .

Film making has come a long way from it’s roots. Technologies from green screen and CGI to wire fu and Steadicam have added tools upon which directors can draw to bring stories to life in ways that those who invented the first motion picture cameras would undoubtedly have found unimaginable.

Sometimes though, it’s impressive to see what was done with the art form in its infancy, such as the marvelous film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

A silent film, complete with the dialogue cards between shots, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a peek back into the history of film and specifically into the evolution of the horror film. The plot revolves around a man telling the tale of meeting Dr. Caligari and Cesare, a somnambulist . The good Doctor keeps Cesare in the title referenced cabinet, presenting him in a sideshow act where Cesare steps out and warns and audience member that they will be “dead by dawn”. Questions start being raised when the grim predictions come true.

Running just over an hour, in grainy black and white, it would be easy to dismiss this film as a curiosity only of interest studying history or that have already seen all that Hollywood has to offer from it’s more modern catalogue. The thing is, even over 85 years from it’s release,  The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is an amazing film to watch. The use of distorted backdrops and creepy lighting give this movie a twisted, tense feel that most slasher flicks only hope to achieve. The storytelling is top notch and provides some genuinely disturbing moments that even modern audiences jaded by the likes of Saw and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre can appreciate. More than a simple or obsolete cinematic reference, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is creepy, well made and very watchable despite its antique presentation.

The original version of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is available today as well as a critically acclaimed 2005 remake. It has been referenced in many works of music and cinema and its influence can be seen in the works of Tim Burton and other modern film makers who delve into the dark and bizarre. Probably the oldes movie I’ve ever personally seen, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari gets the B+ rating and is recommended viewing for anyone who can accept that good cinema was possible before Industrial Light and Magic ever burned a frame to celluloid.