Just perfect...

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

*Spoiler/plot- Cabinet of Caligari, 1962. A young lady's car breaks down and she has to walk to get help to the nearest walled home. Once invited in, she discovers the house is run by a strange bearded man who is very controlling of her and asks very direct embarrassing challenging questions. This makes her so uncomfortable and she tries to enlist the help of the other house guests and house staff to escape with success. She later tries to seduce the bearded man which brings on an epiphany in her attitude and we find out the real truth of her. She was an older woman who had let her mental illness color her perceptions of the whole situation. She is cured and goes back to reality.*Special Stars- Glynis Johns, Dan O'Herlihy, Lawrence Dobkin, J. Pat O'Malley, Estelle Winwood, Costance Ford.*Theme- The human mind is a magical thing.*Trivia/location/goofs- B & W. English. Dan O'Herlihy plays a double role; good and bad. Script written by the same screenwriter as Hitchcock's "Psycho". Body double used for Ms Johns nude seduction scene. Although several horror/suspense movies (most notably Psycho) were advertised with the warning that patrons would not be seated after film began or during climactic final minutes, ads for this one included the unenforceable caveat that no one would be allowed to leave the theater during the last 13 minutes (the ending).*Emotion- A psychological thriller in the mold of 'Psyco'. I very good impressionistic film that grabs the viewer with suspense, unfortunately the ending is doing deliver as much creativity as the set-up did in the film's beginning.*Based on- Psychological theories of mental illness.

No need to recap the plot or what there is of it.In short, the movie's a mess. The fact that events throughout are being distorted by Jane's (Johns) troubled mind may explain the surreal approach, but doesn't lift the repetitive narrative. I suspect that if one were interested enough, the movie could be analyzed for supposed symbolism. For example, there's the revolving door that appears to revolve Jane in and out of her tormentor's office; or why it is that she's in every scene, staging which does make ultimate sense. But the tricks that are supposed to build suspense (What's going on in this weird place) soon become tiresome once they seem to go nowhere. At the same time, the jarring film score is like lemon on pickle. The arty photography is interesting at times, but fails to lift the repetitive storyline.Now, I'm as big a fan of Johns as most anyone. Her fish-girl in the charming Miranda (1948) is perfect casting. Here, however, her little girl voice and abject behavior appear to be questionable casting, becoming at times shrill and bothersome. Nonetheless, I suspect getting someone of her movie stature was a coup for lowly Lippert Productions, traditionally a budget outfit, to say the least. Anyway, esteemed writer Bloch misfired on this one. Perhaps he got too subtle with his permutations on reality, but I'll leave that to a midnight study group. For me, the results are more tedious than interesting or even weird.

Driving through a tunnel into the great unknown of "freedom", with her shoes off no less, Jane(Glynis Johns) faces quite a predicament with her car's tire blows out. After a mile or so trek down the lonesome, uninhabited road leading to the gate of a mansion, Jane believes she's found help when the resident's owner, Caligari(Dan O'Herlihy)offers to send someone to fix her vehicle. Told the vehicle has more than just tire damage, Jane's offered refuge, but finds herself trapped within the (electric) gates of the estate with Caligari not allowing her access out. The rest of the film shows Jane's attempts at getting out of the clutches of Caligari and finding others within the estate seemingly trapped as her. But, as Caligari would later inform her..nothing is what it seems.Thanks to the success of "Psycho" which perhaps opened a door to explore more psycho-sexual subject matter, that film's writer, Robert Bloch, had an opportunity to explore similar terrain. Caligari, a sinister figure who seems to remain in his little office, unscrupulously forward with questions of Jane's sexual history, desiring to know everything about her. He makes it known that he will not touch Jane, and seems like a perverted sadist who gets his jollies listening to female captives baring their record, naked to him. Characters present on Caligari's estate, Christine(Constance Ford), his dutiful servant who seems eager to carry out any wish, no matter how cruel it might seem, Paul, a mannered gent with a quiet calm whose role seems uncertain, often consoling a tormented Jane wishing to leave. Mark(Richard Davalos), a handsome fellow Jane befriends at a gathering of folks at Caligari's dinner table..Mark is transfixed with her, but only can see her at night, for some reason, so wishing to part with her from the estate. Frank(Lawrence Dobkin)who offers Jane a chance to possibly break free, who seems to be in charge of holding others inside, only allowing certain people out(..like a nosy cook/maid). Ruth(Estelle Winwood)seems to be in the same predicament as Jane, a prisoner only allowed access out to the town every once in a while. When Ruth promises Jane a chance to leave, it seems she is beaten to death by Frank with Caligari standing present with Christine. But, overall, it's a film about Jane and her attempts to leave the estate which holds her captive. Watching as she slowly deteriorates emotionally, Glynis Johns provides us with a sympathetic character who seems robbed of her freedom, forced into remaining in this place with eyes around every corner encountered by friendlies who wish to chat and converse. I will say that the ambiguous nature of the behavior of the characters present in Jane's orbit and their dialogue which often hides certain things from her, talking in riddles, comes together when the film reaches it's climax. Bloch, I felt(..perhaps, I'm one of a few), crafts a nifty little psychological tale where you are kept guessing, like Jane, as to what are the true motivations of everyone around Jane, and why is she being held against her will. I found the lurid dialogue, for a film made in '62, rather startling because the confrontations between captor and prisoner often probe areas of a sexual nature. Johns has a magnificent scene where she attempts to seduce Caligari, desperate at this point, believing he might be impotent, hoping to fracture his psyche a bit...by cracking his foundation, she would've at least given him a taste of his own medicine. The film is as Caligari tells Jane..nothing is as it seems. Keep that in mind. Director Kay and writer Bloch really keep you at bay, with Jane encountering some strange situations that are often head-scratching..that is, until you find out the "real truth" of what ails Jane.Perhaps a sleeper if one can shake off the comparisons to the German silent masterpiece of the same name..just approach this as a different film, and you might enjoy it more.

I had originally seen this movie at the age of fifteen; it continues to make a deep impression upon me. Though the plot does seem to move rather slowly by today's standards, it remains an amazing story of a young girl who has decided to come into touch with herself. Jane's validity depends upon her own understanding of reality versus fantasy. I am fortunate to have explored, through the DVD, the pleasures and horrors, as she leads the path that ultimately forces her to confront her inner fears. This "remake" may go beyond the original, but still exemplifies the importance of the caring and needs that we need to provide to our own. We are their caregivers. I was especially impressed by Constance Ford's role.