And now for the other list I’ll be updating in october. The horror movies that I personally have the most fun watching. These can be movies that are truly great films, but I for one reason or another just couldn’t fit on the other list, or they can be outright crap that I just enjoy for the make up effects or the cheesy plot/acting. I’ve stated before that if I was to pick a favorite genre it would be horror, and I stand by that. To me watching a horror movie is some of the most fun a film watcher can have. Either it’s a legit good horror movie and you get the piss scared out of you, or it’s just hilarious. To me these are the ones that I like to go back and watch every October, and without further ado, here it goes:
Number 10:
The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari (1920)
Yeah, I am a person born in 1986 that loves one of the oldest surviving horror films. But at the same time, how could I not? I won’t even bother asking if you’ve seen it, I’m sure most of you haven’t unless you’ve had to take an International Film Studies class, but you really should. It’s a movie that told in flashback, describing the event that happened around a carnival involving a man named Caligari (Werner Krauss) and his attraction, A somnambulist named Cesare (Conrad Veidt, better known in geek circles as titular Man Who Laughs [the inspiration for The Joker] but best known for being the Nazi Major in Casablanca). Cesare is said to be in a trance and can predict the future, and when the friend of our main character asks when he’s going to die, it’s not the most pleasant answer. That night he is murdered and all the suspicion starts to be cast on Caligari and Cesare, leading to one of the most iconic chases that has been repeated and homaged for decades upon decades as well as one of the first jaw dropping twist endings that you’ll ever see.
The big thing that must be noted, and often is cited as one of the film’s strengths is that the set look slightly off. Things are all at an angle, they don’t look all that natural. The movie has a very dream like quality to it that many Tim Burton fans may have become all too familiar with. Added to this is haunting atmosphere that it permeates throughout which is even more impressive since this movie is silent.
This is a movie where the camera is there to take in the scope of everything, and everything in view is a twisted nightmare. So many great techniques for horror films started here, and while I do think that this one does suffer a little from antiquity, it is still a great watch.
Since this is mostly about the visuals there isn’t much to say, but I will go on this tangent because I feel it is important to discuss: This movie is in the public domain, like many other films from the slient era, as such this movie is very easy to find. However, I’m giving a shout out for people to seek out the version released by Kino Video. It keeps the film’s original tinting and toning to help add to the overall effective nice and has a great option to either view it with a traditional silent score or a contemporary orchestral score (this for the record, is my recommended score.) It’s not super cheap, but it’s well worth the money if you want to take a look at it.
5 nightmarish horror out of 5
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