The Cabinet of Caligari (Roger Kay, 1962)

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Lino
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:18 am
Location: Sitting End
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#1 Post by Lino » Wed Jun 28, 2006 7:48 am

Ever since this one came out last year and I saw the trailer for it on The Innocents DVD, it keeps haunting me even though the reviews I've read so far are not very forthcoming. Has anyone actually seen this and can recommend it? I'm thinking of giving it a go if only for its moody atmosphere and crazy visuals (the only thing the reviewers seem to agree on). Any thoughts, then?

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... review.htm

filmnoir1
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:36 pm

#2 Post by filmnoir1 » Wed Jun 28, 2006 9:49 pm

This is one of the most German films because it set the benchmark for the look and feel of German silent film. Also the idea of a world where there is a criminal mastermind hidden in the shadows is akin to what we live in today. I highly recommend this film.

djali999
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 11:41 am
Location: Florie-dah

#3 Post by djali999 » Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:42 pm

Don't confuse the two: we're talking about The Cabinet of Caligari here, the 1962 American thriller directed by Roger Kay and written by Robert Bloch, not Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari, the 1920 German silent directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer.

To add to the confusion there's the over the top Dr. Caligari of 1989 and apparently a 2005 sound remake which begot this depressing notice on Internet Movie Data Base, repository for all taste in cinema:

"This movie was excellent. The acting was great. Dr. Caligari was the best, I want to see him in more movies. I hope it wins at scream fest. Did anyone else see it? What did you think? I did not see the original but, now I want to. Daamen Krall is a superb actor, has anybody ever heard of him before. I took my boys to see it, and they loved it too. It was pretty creepy though. The man in the cabinet was spooky, the way his eyes looked. I was disappointed though that the only African American person in this movie was the first to be murdered. Why is it always the African Americans are murdered first? I liked how after the film, you could ask questions for the cast and crew of the film."

ByMarkClark.com
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:59 pm
Location: Columbus, OH
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#4 Post by ByMarkClark.com » Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:11 pm

The 62 CALIGARI is a thinly disguised PSYCHO rip-off penned by Robert Bloch, with no real similarity to the Robert Weine silent masterpiece. It's extremely slow-paced and talky, not particularly well-acted and for the most part not very interesting visually. The finale includes a brief sequences that emulates the set design from Weine's CALIGARI. Beyond that, the film the 62 CALIGARI most resembles is probably William Castle's HOMICIDAL.

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