A welcome cinema outing (preceding a "Masters of Cinema" Blu-ray release next month) for this painstaking restoration of Robert Wiene's timeless classic, arguably the most visually influential movie of the silent period. Every stark expressionist frame now seems archetypal, as carnival hypnotist Caligari unleashes the somnambulist Cesare to do his wicked bidding. Horror cinema was built upon such milestones, but this gothic masterpiece has seeped into the very soul of movie-making itself, continuing to cast its unbreakable spell – thrilling, chilling, electrifying.
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari review – a timeless classic and a visual archetype
Every frame of Robert Wiene's 1920 German silent film has an influence far beyond the horror genre, writes Mark Kermode