Movie #102- "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920)

Was this the first modern horror film?  And was this the first to use the twist ending that is so vogue in current film and television?  While those arguments may be made about "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", one cannot dispute the forward thinking aspect of the film.  Using German Expressionism, the set pieces are filled with lines, angles, shadows, and plenty of dark corners.  In some scenes, the settings are disproportionate to the actors on the screen.  It's a circus played out as a nightmare.
Over the years, the list of silent films I've seen is fairly short.  And I know one of the elements that can serve as a stumbling block is the acting.  Obviously the times required the actors to rely on facial expressions and exaggerated hand gestures.  Yet at several points of the movie, the expressions accentuate the madness circulating around the characters.  That's especially with the good doctor because it adds an extra layer of creepiness to the character.
I do question the quality of the print that I viewed as I've read the varying degrees that others have seen.  From my view, this film is so ahead of its time, the technology actually belies it.  The flickering images do add to the horror, but a crisper picture may have given a better showcase to the vastly imaginative sets.  While it's a classic, I can't begin to image what the filmmakers would have produced if they had a few more tricks at their disposal.

Rating: 9/10
Movies I've previously seen: 6
First time viewings: 96