THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI Review On "Violent Maniac's Cage"

CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, THE

(1919)

Long considered to be the first true horror movie, Dr. Caligari is the archtype mad scientist out to do evil deeds with the aide of a sleepwalker named Cesere. Cesere murders those whom the the Doctor feels are too close to his evil deeds. The setting is both nightmarish and expressionistic in its use of exagerated sets and weird angles. The shock ending is only the icing in a movie that literally invents a whole genre of horror devices- the mad scientist, the zombie, the helpless heroine carried onto the roofs. Freaks-(1932) Tod Browning gives the viewers a look at a carnival sideshow and shows us a world were the freaks are every bit as human as we are. A midget inherits money and is seduced by a greedy aerialist into marriage. From there she hopes to poison him and run off with her lover yet is caught and hunted by the freaks for hurting one of their own. Browning wisely portrays geniune carnival performers as circus freaks and shows the audience that it is the normal humans who are the monsters and the freaks as normal. A classic which has to be seen.

Review by: Losman

Email: losman@express-news.net

This site is created and maintained by Violent Maniac < CMAYO@THEZONE.NET >