Dr. Caligari

Dr. Caligari

Dr. Caligari

I first saw this movie when I was about 14. I didn't really get it. It was definitely...different. Anyway, years later I had help from Mr.Leary's friend and finally figured out what it was about. It's about screwing with your head and making you enjoy it. Great impressionist sets and lighting. Truly bizarre acting and dialogue. Sometimes someone will just pop out of the bottom of the frame, say something and then drop back out of frame. The days of enhancing my viewing experiences are over, but I carry many fond memories of this film with me. Good luck finding a copy...a used one is your best bet.

Steven Sayadian co-wrote this film and two others with Jerry Stahl, who was the subject of a Ben Stiller film called Permanent Midnight. The other two films are the X-rated gems entitled "Cafe Flesh" and "Night Dreams." The latter is considered one of the great adult films ever made and for good reason...it's truly amazing! If you liked Caligari you should really check out Night Dreams: yes it is XXX but the style is all surreal and dark with a fair dose of bizarre comedy. Also part of the soundtrack is from Wall of Voodoo! (Their version of Ring of Fire is in one very sexy sequence). Cafe Flesh is less surreal but I highly recommend it for the science fictional-* plot alone. www.SexyHorrors.com

This is definitely one of the strangest alt-indie-freak films I have seen. The characters are almost caricatures, but their actions are choreographed with their lines as they pose around each other. Madeline Reynard is electrifying as Dr. Caligari, a descendant of the infamous Caligari. She is working on an insidious plot to transfer personality traits between patients in a mental hospital by swapping brain fluids. Her plans go awry when some staff members catch on and she uses a cannibalistic masochist (Shivver Boy) in her experiments. I definitely recommend this movie for your collection, if not to scare your "normal" friends but for the giant latex tongue.

Artistic expression jumps off the screen and into your face! Hauntingly beautiful and highly stylized effort is a nice try, if perhaps a bit off-target. An Expressionistic tribute to the old German silents, now with sex added for slightly more shock value. The actress in the title role is more deadpan than Buster Keaton, but other performances tear up the joint in their far-out histrionics. The dialogue sounds like Lewis Carroll on valium, and the whole effect is like a drug-induced sexual nightmare. Especially effective is Lane Fox as a hospital administrator who gets in touch with his feminine side. David Parry also worth remembering as Fox's repressed chain-smoking son-in-law. And don't miss Tequila Mockingbird as the show-stopping and affectionately wet "door tongue." mik

This movie has all the tastelessness of an early John Waters film coupled with a Dali like surrealism. This is one of my favorite films of all time (which probably speaks volumes about my own mental health). It flaunts modern convention of cinema and social morays both, the doctor is both hateful yet strangely attractive, the way one might stare at a twisted corpse that has been run over by a train. It's horrific, yet we can't take our eyes off of it. And of course it co-stars the late Fox Harris, known for his portrayal of the creator of the neutron bomb in Repoman as well as the cheesy lounge singer in Straight to Hell, along with a long string of other B-movies. This movie is not for everyone, but everyone should see it, especially in large groups where you, the enlightened, can watch them and laugh more at their reactions than at the movie itself! And by the way, Aunt Bea still gives me randy pants! Chincilla, chincilla, chinchilla!

If you you want full-on vaginal stimulation, and complete disregard for men and the male species,this is a must for anybody. Put your Bikini kill, Red Aunts, and L7 on hold,strip down to your panties, grab your baby oil and pop this video into your VCR. Dr. caligari has great dialog, can start a riot in any grrrl spouse or husband. Guess what? A woman can't be satisfied by her husband, and her husband really tried, but I guess she could stay off the wiener wagon, so he sends her off to an insane asylum. Someone had the sense to play this at "A Nightclub" in Minneapolis,brings out the best in a 1980's art film, compliments on culture,and integrity of the human race. I'll make it twist like a rubberband until it snaps.

I saw this flick when it first came out and just recently re-discovered it on the 2 for $5.00 table at the local video store. YOW it is goofier than I remember. High-1980's weirdness. A bit of the incomprehensible nutty flavor you'd expect from an Alfred Jarry play, minus the gravity. Dreadful production values, but cool costumes and great innovative homemade sets - really cool overall look and feel. Entertaining, clever, creepy and crappy all at the same time. The script?!?! Err...unique...(how's that for diplomacy?). One of a kind film. Belongs in the same category as Liquid Sky and the first couple of years of music videos made for MTV.