The Cabinet of Caligari (1962)

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

*Spoiler/plot- Cabinet of Caligari, 1962. A young lady's car breaks down and she has to walk to get help to the nearest walled home. Once invited in, she discovers the house is run by a strange bearded man who is very controlling of her and asks very direct embarrassing challenging questions. This makes her so uncomfortable and she tries to enlist the help of the other house guests and house staff to escape with success. She later tries to seduce the bearded man which brings on an epiphany in her attitude and we find out the real truth of her. She was an older woman who had let her mental illness color her perceptions of the whole situation. She is cured and goes back to reality.*Special Stars- Glynis Johns, Dan O'Herlihy, Lawrence Dobkin, J. Pat O'Malley, Estelle Winwood, Costance Ford.*Theme- The human mind is a magical thing.*Trivia/location/goofs- B & W. English. Dan O'Herlihy plays a double role; good and bad. Script written by the same screenwriter as Hitchcock's "Psycho". Body double used for Ms Johns nude seduction scene. Although several horror/suspense movies (most notably Psycho) were advertised with the warning that patrons would not be seated after film began or during climactic final minutes, ads for this one included the unenforceable caveat that no one would be allowed to leave the theater during the last 13 minutes (the ending).*Emotion- A psychological thriller in the mold of 'Psyco'. I very good impressionistic film that grabs the viewer with suspense, unfortunately the ending is doing deliver as much creativity as the set-up did in the film's beginning.*Based on- Psychological theories of mental illness.

The Cabinet of Caligari is a psychological thriller inspired by the famous German silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Aside from the names the two main characters, Jane and Caligari, and the final plot twist, this film has little resemblance with the early predecessor. The writer, Robert Bloch, a prolific author of short stories, novels and screenplays is best known for Psycho, the novel on which the Hitchcock film is based. Unlike the silent film, this is not a horror, but a psychological story akin to an episode of Twilight Zone –one of the better episodes. The acting and directing are first rate and Bloch's story intrigues and surprises even if the ultimate plot twist becomes clear before the final sequence. The opening image, light at the end of a tunnel, and disturbing music are the only clue that things may not be what they appear. An attractive blond, Jane, exits the tunnel and drives freely in her sports car, sans shoes, until she suffers a flat and finds herself, Rocky Horror Picture style, seeking refuge within the estate of the eccentric Caligari. The estate is not a creepy old mansion, but a tasteful, modern home with comfortable accommodations. After a night's rest, Jane meets Caligari's numerous unsettling guests. Unsettling, only because they accept without question or concern that Jane is being kept in the estate against her will. A large locked gate, guards and dogs prevent Jane from leaving. Most of the guests are kind and understanding. A few, including a handsome young love interest, offer to help Jane escape as long as she opens her mind to their cooperation. An elderly woman named Ruth befriends Jane and offers to help her leave, until Jane later discovers Ruth being tortured by the cruel Caligari and his staff. Jane too suffers humiliation and pain at the hand of the sadistic Caligari. She must rely on her own resolve to escape the nightmare, discovering that most things are not what they appear. While not as ground-breaking as the early film with a similar title, The Cabinet of Caligari is an enjoyable psychological thriller.

I had originally seen this movie at the age of fifteen; it continues to make a deep impression upon me. Though the plot does seem to move rather slowly by today's standards, it remains an amazing story of a young girl who has decided to come into touch with herself. Jane's validity depends upon her own understanding of reality versus fantasy. I am fortunate to have explored, through the DVD, the pleasures and horrors, as she leads the path that ultimately forces her to confront her inner fears. This "remake" may go beyond the original, but still exemplifies the importance of the caring and needs that we need to provide to our own. We are their caregivers. I was especially impressed by Constance Ford's role.

NOTE SPOILER: Unlike some readers and viewers on this site I found this version of "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" intriguing in its use of dialogue, artistically well intentioned, and part of an ever widening and popularizing of clinical psychology at the time the film was made. The lead actors give their all, and rather than being a re-make of the original German expressionist horror film, the film neatly details the delusion and paranoia surrounding one person's experience of breakdown, with its associations of denial, and distortions of the world outside the self. Working against the film is the cheap trick of borrowing the original German title.