For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Suggested by the 1919 German film, "Das Kabinett des Dr. Caligari", by Robert Weine. Sound recording: Jack Solomon. Westrex Sound System. Executive producer: Robert L. Lippert. A Robert L. Lippert Production. Filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios, Hollywood.Copyright 23 May 1962 by Associated Producers, Inc. Released through 20th Century-Fox. New York opening simultaneously at the Victoria and the 68th Street Playhouse: 26 May 1962. U.S. release: 26 May 1962. U.K. release: 2 September 1962. Sydney opening at the Regent (yes, the prestigious Regent). 9,467 feet. 105 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Young woman is held prisoner in a weird mansion.COMMENT: This attempt to cash in on the huge commercial success of "Psycho" (same author, same photographer) is only mildly successful at best. Perhaps in the hands of a more distinguished cast (say Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier), viewer interest may well have been heightened. As it is, the movie unfurls at what seems a pretty slow 106 minutes. Not very frightening either, as most of these terror effects are telegraphed well ahead. The direction too is mostly humdrum, though effective use is occasionally made of the wide CinemaScope screen.

*Spoiler/plot- Cabinet of Caligari, 1962. A young lady's car breaks down and she has to walk to get help to the nearest walled home. Once invited in, she discovers the house is run by a strange bearded man who is very controlling of her and asks very direct embarrassing challenging questions. This makes her so uncomfortable and she tries to enlist the help of the other house guests and house staff to escape with success. She later tries to seduce the bearded man which brings on an epiphany in her attitude and we find out the real truth of her. She was an older woman who had let her mental illness color her perceptions of the whole situation. She is cured and goes back to reality.*Special Stars- Glynis Johns, Dan O'Herlihy, Lawrence Dobkin, J. Pat O'Malley, Estelle Winwood, Costance Ford.*Theme- The human mind is a magical thing.*Trivia/location/goofs- B & W. English. Dan O'Herlihy plays a double role; good and bad. Script written by the same screenwriter as Hitchcock's "Psycho". Body double used for Ms Johns nude seduction scene. Although several horror/suspense movies (most notably Psycho) were advertised with the warning that patrons would not be seated after film began or during climactic final minutes, ads for this one included the unenforceable caveat that no one would be allowed to leave the theater during the last 13 minutes (the ending).*Emotion- A psychological thriller in the mold of 'Psyco'. I very good impressionistic film that grabs the viewer with suspense, unfortunately the ending is doing deliver as much creativity as the set-up did in the film's beginning.*Based on- Psychological theories of mental illness.

The Cabinet of Caligari is a psychological thriller inspired by the famous German silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Aside from the names the two main characters, Jane and Caligari, and the final plot twist, this film has little resemblance with the early predecessor. The writer, Robert Bloch, a prolific author of short stories, novels and screenplays is best known for Psycho, the novel on which the Hitchcock film is based. Unlike the silent film, this is not a horror, but a psychological story akin to an episode of Twilight Zone –one of the better episodes. The acting and directing are first rate and Bloch's story intrigues and surprises even if the ultimate plot twist becomes clear before the final sequence. The opening image, light at the end of a tunnel, and disturbing music are the only clue that things may not be what they appear. An attractive blond, Jane, exits the tunnel and drives freely in her sports car, sans shoes, until she suffers a flat and finds herself, Rocky Horror Picture style, seeking refuge within the estate of the eccentric Caligari. The estate is not a creepy old mansion, but a tasteful, modern home with comfortable accommodations. After a night's rest, Jane meets Caligari's numerous unsettling guests. Unsettling, only because they accept without question or concern that Jane is being kept in the estate against her will. A large locked gate, guards and dogs prevent Jane from leaving. Most of the guests are kind and understanding. A few, including a handsome young love interest, offer to help Jane escape as long as she opens her mind to their cooperation. An elderly woman named Ruth befriends Jane and offers to help her leave, until Jane later discovers Ruth being tortured by the cruel Caligari and his staff. Jane too suffers humiliation and pain at the hand of the sadistic Caligari. She must rely on her own resolve to escape the nightmare, discovering that most things are not what they appear. While not as ground-breaking as the early film with a similar title, The Cabinet of Caligari is an enjoyable psychological thriller.

Driving through a tunnel into the great unknown of "freedom", with her shoes off no less, Jane(Glynis Johns) faces quite a predicament with her car's tire blows out. After a mile or so trek down the lonesome, uninhabited road leading to the gate of a mansion, Jane believes she's found help when the resident's owner, Caligari(Dan O'Herlihy)offers to send someone to fix her vehicle. Told the vehicle has more than just tire damage, Jane's offered refuge, but finds herself trapped within the (electric) gates of the estate with Caligari not allowing her access out. The rest of the film shows Jane's attempts at getting out of the clutches of Caligari and finding others within the estate seemingly trapped as her. But, as Caligari would later inform her..nothing is what it seems.Thanks to the success of "Psycho" which perhaps opened a door to explore more psycho-sexual subject matter, that film's writer, Robert Bloch, had an opportunity to explore similar terrain. Caligari, a sinister figure who seems to remain in his little office, unscrupulously forward with questions of Jane's sexual history, desiring to know everything about her. He makes it known that he will not touch Jane, and seems like a perverted sadist who gets his jollies listening to female captives baring their record, naked to him. Characters present on Caligari's estate, Christine(Constance Ford), his dutiful servant who seems eager to carry out any wish, no matter how cruel it might seem, Paul, a mannered gent with a quiet calm whose role seems uncertain, often consoling a tormented Jane wishing to leave. Mark(Richard Davalos), a handsome fellow Jane befriends at a gathering of folks at Caligari's dinner table..Mark is transfixed with her, but only can see her at night, for some reason, so wishing to part with her from the estate. Frank(Lawrence Dobkin)who offers Jane a chance to possibly break free, who seems to be in charge of holding others inside, only allowing certain people out(..like a nosy cook/maid). Ruth(Estelle Winwood)seems to be in the same predicament as Jane, a prisoner only allowed access out to the town every once in a while. When Ruth promises Jane a chance to leave, it seems she is beaten to death by Frank with Caligari standing present with Christine. But, overall, it's a film about Jane and her attempts to leave the estate which holds her captive. Watching as she slowly deteriorates emotionally, Glynis Johns provides us with a sympathetic character who seems robbed of her freedom, forced into remaining in this place with eyes around every corner encountered by friendlies who wish to chat and converse. I will say that the ambiguous nature of the behavior of the characters present in Jane's orbit and their dialogue which often hides certain things from her, talking in riddles, comes together when the film reaches it's climax. Bloch, I felt(..perhaps, I'm one of a few), crafts a nifty little psychological tale where you are kept guessing, like Jane, as to what are the true motivations of everyone around Jane, and why is she being held against her will. I found the lurid dialogue, for a film made in '62, rather startling because the confrontations between captor and prisoner often probe areas of a sexual nature. Johns has a magnificent scene where she attempts to seduce Caligari, desperate at this point, believing he might be impotent, hoping to fracture his psyche a bit...by cracking his foundation, she would've at least given him a taste of his own medicine. The film is as Caligari tells Jane..nothing is as it seems. Keep that in mind. Director Kay and writer Bloch really keep you at bay, with Jane encountering some strange situations that are often head-scratching..that is, until you find out the "real truth" of what ails Jane.Perhaps a sleeper if one can shake off the comparisons to the German silent masterpiece of the same name..just approach this as a different film, and you might enjoy it more.