Dr. Caligari (1989)

03 Jun 2023

Rating: 2/5

“Your wife has a disease of the libido”

Dr. Caligari performs weird sexual experiments on mental patients. It doesn’t go well

It’s one of those things you might show to a friend to make them go “What the hell?” But it’s faux camp — trying to create disgust and surrealism but doesn’t arrive anywhere beyond its odd erotic imagery. The characters speak abstract referential dialogue to signify their “disturbed” mind, rarely saying anything to one another

Worst of all, it’s just boring — there’s no indicator of where it wants to go, so you just let it unfold for 90 tedious minutes

Neat visuals, though, gross and cartoony, sort of like Nickelodeon’s take on Hellraiser. If only it were enjoyable to watch


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