teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU (Thomas E. Billings) (11/29/89)
DR. CALIGARI
A film review by Thomas E. Billings
Copyright 1989 Thomas E. Billings
Synopsis:
The granddaughter of Dr. Caligari (THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI) runs a
fashionable psychiatric clinic. There she conducts experiments on her
patients, which include a nymphomaniac and a cannibalistic mass-murderer. At
times surrealistic, at times relatively funny, this is a generally very poor
midnight movie.
U.S.A., color, 1989.
Director: Stephen Sayadian
First, note that this is a new U.S. film, and it is not a sequel to the
famous 1919 German silent film, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. The only thing
it shares with the German film is the name of Dr. Caligari. Instead, this is
a very low budget film that tries to be a cult film (and could succeed). The
film is by Stephen Sayadian, the Director of CAFE FLESH.
The plot line is fairly simple. Dr. Caligari works at the Caligari
Insane Asylum (referred to in the film as the "CIA"). There she is continuing
her grandfather's research on the hypothalmus gland, a part of the brain that
controls all "primal" urges, including sex (her special interest).
Her patients include a nymphomaniac housewife, and a cannibalistic
mass-murderer who enjoys shock therapy. The daughter and son-in-law of the
clinic director also work at the clinic, and oppose Caligari's plans and her
use of patients as experimental subjects. Together they try to stop
Dr. Caligari.
All of the action in the film takes place in a neon, day-glow sort of
fantasy world. That is to say that the set designs are fairly imaginative.
The problem is that they also look very cheap, i.e. extremely low budget. The
dialogue is pretty poor, a deliberate attempt at campiness that frequently
fails. The acting is strange, for the actors make deliberate stylistic
movements and exaggerated gestures while speaking.
Although the film has its funny moments, there are very few of them. Thus
the film fails to be funny, something that is required of midnight movies.
Given the other limitations of the film, I would not recommend seeing it.
Distribution. Being screened at a limited number of theaters in the U.S. Here
in Berkeley it is shown weekly, as a midnight movie.
Reviewer contact: teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU