Because this somewhat weird, German-Expressionist film (with its original colour tinting) is now 94 years old, I really did try to be lenient and cut it some slack with my overall rating of it.
But, with that said, I'm sorry to have to tell you ('cause I'm not going to lie), the best that I could ever possibly give as a score for this silent-era freak-show would only be a measly 3 stars, and that's all. Regardless of its old age, it just doesn't deserve more than that.
For one thing, at 75 minutes, this picture was about 20 minutes too long. And, when it came to its rather bizarre and deliberately distorted set designs, I found them, before long, to be quite boring, and literally under-whelming.
You can be sure, had this fantasy film been made in the USA (circa. 1920), I highly doubt that all the snobs-of-early-cinema would still be falling all over themselves with absolute, undying praise for it, right to this very day.
From my point of view, this vintage film's story was so simple that it came across as being downright simple-minded in nature. And, as far as the Dr. Caligari character goes, he was far from being convincingly sinister and treacherous. On the contrary, this dumpy, old fart struck me as being nothing but a stupid, senile, windbag who couldn't even scare a child.
But, with that said, I'm sorry to have to tell you ('cause I'm not going to lie), the best that I could ever possibly give as a score for this silent-era freak-show would only be a measly 3 stars, and that's all. Regardless of its old age, it just doesn't deserve more than that.
For one thing, at 75 minutes, this picture was about 20 minutes too long. And, when it came to its rather bizarre and deliberately distorted set designs, I found them, before long, to be quite boring, and literally under-whelming.
You can be sure, had this fantasy film been made in the USA (circa. 1920), I highly doubt that all the snobs-of-early-cinema would still be falling all over themselves with absolute, undying praise for it, right to this very day.
From my point of view, this vintage film's story was so simple that it came across as being downright simple-minded in nature. And, as far as the Dr. Caligari character goes, he was far from being convincingly sinister and treacherous. On the contrary, this dumpy, old fart struck me as being nothing but a stupid, senile, windbag who couldn't even scare a child.