By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I love crazy, dark,weird and sexy. Dr. Caligari is an strange piece of indie cinema sexploitation that though has a following, doesn’t quite get the respect it deserves. I feel like this is a movie that was only rented from video stores by 13-year-old me and boys desperate to see tits, but too young to get porn. In the 90s and before the internet, getting adult films was more difficult and embarrassing. That said, anyone could get away with renting an avant-garde, artistic film; and yeah….sure…..that’s the reason teenage me rented this more times than I’d ever admit
To sum up the plot as best as I can, let’s start with Dr. Caligari (Madeleine Reynal). She’s the most celebrated psychotherapist in the country and runs a kick-ass, revolutionary insane asylum where the tag line, “better living thru chemistry” has its own sign.
The patients dress in bright yellow and are chained to their beds. The institution is decked out with cool colors, sets and designs. It’s a surreal and insane place that looks more like a fun house than an institution; and in many ways it is.
Caligari’s methods are quite unorthodox. Some are outraged by her techniques, while others are just astounded by the amount of research she has accomplished.
Mrs. Van Houten (Laura Albert) was a previous patient seen by Dr. Caligari, who is in the midst of a relapse. Her husband Les (Gene Zerna) calls the doc informing her that his wife’s nymphomania has returned. He’s right. It has. BIG TIME!
Poor Mrs. Van Houten is losing touch with reality as she is constantly in the middle of having sex fantasies. Her delusions are filled with nightmare inducing erotic imagery, but then again so are her daily surroundings. In one delusion, Van Houten sees another Caligari patient, Gus Pratt (John Durbin) who is a psychotic killer. She watches herself have sex with Pratt in front of other patients while he dawns a crazy mask and green jumpsuit. Again, it’s a fucked up movie.
Houten and Pratt actually share brain fluid due to one of Caligari’s experiments that went somewhat awry, though no more awry than any of her other experiments. Rest assured, it doesn’t make any more sense if you watch it. It’s just a whole lot more fabulous if you do.
Les can’t keep up with his wife’s sexual appetite and is outraged! He calls Caligari demanding answers. When she questions how many orgasms he gives her, he responds, “I ran out of fingers.” That is my favorite line of the film. It always cracks me up. Les gets huffier when Mrs. Van Houten comes in. She traps her husband in his chair and can’t decide whether she wants to kill him or have sex.
Dr. Caligari’s experiments are shown in a series of bizarre scenes that essentially make up the third act.
Sure, DR CALIGARI isn’t scary, but it’s something you can’t turn away from. There are certain screwed up scenes you may want to turn away from, but it’s too odd and peculiar to not keep staring. For that alone it makes for a unique, if not pleasurable, watch. That combined with the feminine prowess of Laura Albert makes this a production with much re-watch value.
The acting is admittedly all over the place, but for a film that is all camp and spectacle, it works.
I highly suggest giving this one a go. It’s like WIZARD OF OZ (1939) and ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951) on stronger LSD and with a more blatant sex drive. Some compare it to BEETLEJUICE (1988) and there are some similarities on the art side of it, but overall it’s more of a female led odyssey into insanity. If for nothing else the set designs, costumes and sensuality make it necessary viewing
It’s a difficult find, but currently it’s on YOUTUBE for free so get it before the copyright cops take it down.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6.5/10
