The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari| Review

1920's Germany was having a boom in filmmaking due in part to the new wave of cinema in the region, German Expressionism. Film was becoming this new and revolutionary invention, and for Germany to carry one of the spearheads of the craft at the time was a huge bonus for studios and productions in the country. One of the prominent films to come out of this era was, of course, Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari. If not for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, films like The VVItch, Pan's Labyrinth, and Tim Burton's Batman would never see the light of day. But what lies so special about The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari that other films at the time failed to do so, the emphasis on horror. Take, for instance, Nosferatu (1922), a horror film in itself, may never even happened if not for this masterclass in debuting the horror genre to the masses. Regardless of the impact on film making, it carries its own backings with having impressive visuals, a great narrative, and a very unexpected twist ending that still requires spoiler alerts to this day. The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari overall remains to this day very influential in the horror genre, as well as a masterclass in both visual and narrative-driven storytelling.

Time Stamp: March 26, 2020