The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

film by Wiene [1920]

Also known as: “Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari”, “Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari”(Show More)

Written by

Lee Pfeiffer

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, German silent horror film, released in 1920, that is widely considered the first great work in the genre. It also was the first film in the German Expressionist movement. The mysterious Dr. Caligari (played by Werner Krauss) arrives in a rural German village with his companion Cesare (Conrad Veidt), a man in an eternal state of sleep who can be ordered to perform his master’s commands. A series of gruesome...