$12 General Admission, $9 Member, $7 child age 14 or younger

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This German Expressionist masterpiece makes great use of its chilling premise and stylized set design. Caligari’s Expressionist style ultimately led to the dark shadows and sharp angles of the film noir urban crime dramas of the 1940’s, many of which were directed by such German emigres as Billy Wilder and Robert Siodmak. But even before then, it transformed the horror genre in the 1920’s to the 1930’s.

In one of the most influential films of the silent era, Werner Krauss plays the title character, a sinister hypnotist who travels the carnival circuit displaying a somnambulist named Cesare (Conrad Veidt). In one tiny German town, a series of murders coincides with Caligari’s visit. When the best friend of hero Francis (Friedrich Feher) is killed, the deed seems to be the outgrowth of a romantic rivalry over the hand of the lovely Jane (Lil Dagover). Francis suspects Caligari, but he is ignored by the police. Investigating on his own, Francis seemingly discovers that Caligari has been ordering the somnambulist to commit the murders, but the story eventually takes a more surprising direction.

The horror film is born…

“Robert Wiene has made perfect use of settings designed by Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann and Walter Roehrig, settings that squeeze and turn and adjust the eye and through the eye the mentality.” -Variety Staff

“Pre-dating even early genre landmarks Nosferatu (1922) and Metropolis (1926) by some distance, Robert Wiene’s silent film is both influential and one of a kind.” -Catherine Bray