The Cabinet of Dr. Calagari (1920)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari
Directed by Robert Wiene
Written by Carl Meyer and Hans Janowitz
1920/Germany
Decla-Bioscop AG
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube

Francis: You fools, this man is plotting our doom! We die at dawn! He is Caligari!

I had forgotten how groundbreaking this film is.

Two young friends are in love with the same woman.  A carnival comes to town.  One of the main attractions is Dr. Caligari and his somnambulant slave Cesare (Conrad Viedt), who can predict the future when wakened by the good doctor. Cesare tells one of the friends he will not live to see the next dawn.

Cesare’s prediction comes true.  The surviving friend spends the rest of the story trying to get the goods on Caligari.  But things are not as they seem …

This has the distinct expressionist style of the German Weimar films and was one of the first horror films.  I really like the theatrical sets and the stylized acting.