Today I watched an old Silent Movie I’d always meant to watch, but never had time too. (Silent movies REALLY involve zero opportunities to multitask, which is like death to me). Here is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

This is a beautiful dark cinema masterpiece that blurs the line between pure fantasy and real life. The sets are all cubist masterpieces that evoke paranoia and claustrophobia, and are almost Seussian in execution.

The costumes and makeup are whimsical but also eerie, like you’re watching a very dark Betty Boop cartoon. The Story itself is a chilling masterpiece, not unlike a Lovecraft, Dunsanee, or Poe work. It focuses around a mysterious old man at a circus with a prophetic somnambulist named Cesare. At the same time a rash of grusome stabbings break out.

The movie keeps us on our toes through flashbacks, flash-forwards and seeing things constantly in other peoples minds, which leads you to wonder, who exactly is telling the story, and who is the sane one? At the same time, the puppet somnambulist, Cesare creates a very compelling character which I’m sure has inspired several hundred works.

I highly enjoyed this movie and very much recommend it.

You can actually see the whole movie here. Enjoy!