Werner Krauss,
Conrad Veidt,
Lil Dagover,
Friedrich Feher,
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
... see more 
In one of the most influential films of the silent era, Werner Krauss plays the title character, a sinister hypnotist who travels the carnival circuit displaying a somnambulist named Cesare (Conrad Ve... read more
Directed by: Robert Wiene
Release Date: February 26, 1920
DVD Release Date: October 15, 1997
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Stats: 1,709 reviews
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Flixster Reviews (1,709)
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March 23, 2012Beyond being an iconic milestone in the evolution of cinema, Robert Wiene's masterpiece is still as entertaining as ever. The truly great films never go out of style.
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February 16, 2012Probably the best silent film I have ever seen, Caligari has a clear emphasis on German Expressionism while also being a methodically psychological horror film about the supernatural and the surreal imagination of the insane. Silent films started off as filmed plays, and in that ... read more
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December 26, 2011An interesting and strange film that captures the imagination, then leaves you feeling like you've just had a smoke of weed. For it's time it's very current and shows how far cinema has come and what different styles were popular back then and has inspired many directors, art dir... read more
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October 27, 2011fb1664868775Truly haunting images.
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December 17, 2010this film has influenced so many others. the story is excellent, the art direction is unique, and the music sets the stage perfectly. without question one of the first and one of the best horror films ever made.
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December 12, 2010I loved the stylised sets and the twist at the end. However at first I was a little unappriecative, as it builds quite slowly for such a short film. My copy also has rather confusingly designed dialogue cards/screens which can be difficult to read, but after a while you get used ... read more
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December 5, 2010An icon of the German Expressionism, this is a radically anti-bourgeois work of art that influenced an entire post-war era and managed to express with its chilling stylized visuals the deepest feelings of a society in crisis and its search for artistic innovation.
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October 25, 2010A fantasy crime/horror thriller, an icon of the silent era and cinema in general. You just have to see it at some point in your life.
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October 24, 2010A lovely jumping point for learning about German Expressionism in the cinema - if not its FIRST example, perhaps, then certainly one of its best known, behind Metropolis. The dreamlike nonsensicality of the plot and the flat cardboard sets, so sharply and strikingly designed that... read more
Critic Reviews
October 7, 2011
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
August 13, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
This is more than just a textbook classic; the narrative frame creates ambiguities that hold certain elements of the story in disturbing suspension. A one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Full Review
October 25, 2006
Variety Staff, Variety
Robert Wiene has made perfect use of settings designed by Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann and Walter Roehrig, settings that squeeze and turn and adjust the eye and through the eye the mentality. Full Review
February 9, 2006
Time Out
Undoubtedly one of the most exciting and inspired horror movies ever made. Full Review
October 8, 2012
Total Film
One of the first -- and still one of the greatest -- psychological horror movies. Full Review
October 3, 2011
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
With its unusual look and neatly folding method of storytelling "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" is an artistically uninhibited silent horror film that still sends chills. Full Review
August 26, 2010
Catherine Bray, Film4
Pre-dating even early genre landmarks Nosferatu (1922) and Metropolis (1926) by some distance, Robert Wiene's silent film is both influential and one of a kind. Full Review
February 7, 2010
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Even if taken as social or Freudian statement, Caligari's real star attraction is in the visuals. Full Review
August 31, 2009
Jay Antani, Cinema Writer
still creepy good entertainment on a rainy day Full Review
January 17, 2008
Beth Accomando, KPBS.org
A classic. Visually stunning and more experimental than anything coming out today.
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