The avant-garde horror movie that caused riots in the cinema
While horror cinema boomed in the 1970s with the dawn of slashers such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween, the genre has existed since the medium of film emerged. The first horror movie is often considered to be 1896’s Le Manoir du Diable by Georges Méliès. However, this was more of an experiment with camera trickery rather than a display of fear-inducing terror.
However, the genre began to develop with the release of adaptations of stories such as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Frankenstein. While the term ‘horror movie’ wasn’t used until 1931’s Dracula, many films before then were early progenitors of the genre, such as 1920’s The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.
Directed by Robert Wiene, the movie is a key work of German Expressionism, becoming one of the most influential movies ever made. From its shadowy monochrome imagery to its thematic content, Wiene’s film inspired countless horror movies, both in Germany and abroad, particularly in Hollywood.
The film follows Werner Krauss’ Dr Caligari, a hypnotist who uses a somnambulist, Cesare, as a prop for murder. Complete with a shocking twist ending and unusual set design, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari is an unforgettable film that paved the way for modern horror cinema. Purposefully dreamlike (nightmarish might be a better term), the film subverts convention by placing the audience inside its theatrical, dramatic setup, where shadows are painted directly on buildings and architecture is jagged and slanted.
Despite the film being widely praised as a masterpiece, it still sparked some controversy. In 1921, the movie was shown in Los Angeles’ Miller’s Theater, where audiences quickly became hostile towards the film due to its German origins. The First World War had only ended a few years prior, and many Americans wanted nothing to do with German art. Thus, people protested the movie being shown, demanding that their money wasn’t given to the country they’d just been at war against.
Many people who rallied against the film were war veterans, but regular civilians also joined in, enraged by the cinema’s spotlighting of a German movie. Signs which read ‘WHY PAY WAR TAX TO SEE GERMAN-PICTURES?’ were waved about, resulting in plenty of commotion. Eggs were thrown, and angry protestors overpowered the police. In the end, the cinema agreed to remove The Cabinet of Dr Caligari from its listings and play The Money Changers, a 1920 American film by Jack Conway.
Since then, the film has become considerably more respected, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find an American film studies syllabus that doesn’t include Wiene’s masterpiece. Watch the trailer below.
