DR. CALIGARI (1989)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 78 Minutes 55 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Full Frame (1.33:1)
Director: Stephen Sayadian
Cast: Madeleine Reynal, John Durbin, Laura Albert, Gene Zerna, Fox Harris, Jennifer Balgobin, David Parry
Director Stephen Sayadian aka Rinse Dream (Café Flesh) helmed this deranged, unofficial sequel to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) with Madeleine Reynal (Space Mutiny) playing the titular Dr. Caligari, the kinky granddaughter of the original Doctor C. from the '20 flick. She operates the C.I.A. (Caligari Insane Asylum, 'natch) which advertises "Better Living Thru Chemistry", but even that mantra doesn't come to close to explaining the bizarre experiments she's carrying out inside the asylum. She's currently treating a new patient named Mrs. Van Houten (Laura Albert, The Jigsaw Murders) who has been brought in by her uptight hubby Les Van Houten (Gene Zerna, Project Eliminator) to cure her nymphomania. Caligari's radical psychosexual therapies include exposing Van Houten to a wall made up of body parts, including a large mouth which she makes out with, which doesn't do much to deter her extreme sexual nature. Caligari's even more radical treatments involve glandular brain-fluid exchanges, and later she extracts the brain fluid from the nymphomaniac Mrs. Van Houten and injects it into the head of a electroshock therapy addicted cannibalistic serial killer Gus Pratt (John Durbin, Dollman), who is addicted to, and vice versa, which causes the patients to exhibit the psychopathy of the other, which leads to all manner of deranged fun times for lovers of the absurd. Also playing out is a power struggle at CI.A. with Dr. Avil (Fox Harris, Repo Man) his daughter Ramona (Jennifer Balgobin, Vibes) and her husband Dr. Lodger (David Parry, Beverly Hills Cop III), the latter pair wanting to wrestle control of the asylum away from the increasingly unhinged Caligari.
Director Stephen Sayadian aka Rinse Dream (Café Flesh) helmed this deranged, unofficial sequel to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) with Madeleine Reynal (Space Mutiny) playing the titular Dr. Caligari, the kinky granddaughter of the original Doctor C. from the '20 flick. She operates the C.I.A. (Caligari Insane Asylum, 'natch) which advertises "Better Living Thru Chemistry", but even that mantra doesn't come to close to explaining the bizarre experiments she's carrying out inside the asylum. She's currently treating a new patient named Mrs. Van Houten (Laura Albert, The Jigsaw Murders) who has been brought in by her uptight hubby Les Van Houten (Gene Zerna, Project Eliminator) to cure her nymphomania. Caligari's radical psychosexual therapies include exposing Van Houten to a wall made up of body parts, including a large mouth which she makes out with, which doesn't do much to deter her extreme sexual nature. Caligari's even more radical treatments involve glandular brain-fluid exchanges, and later she extracts the brain fluid from the nymphomaniac Mrs. Van Houten and injects it into the head of a electroshock therapy addicted cannibalistic serial killer Gus Pratt (John Durbin, Dollman), who is addicted to, and vice versa, which causes the patients to exhibit the psychopathy of the other, which leads to all manner of deranged fun times for lovers of the absurd. Also playing out is a power struggle at CI.A. with Dr. Avil (Fox Harris, Repo Man) his daughter Ramona (Jennifer Balgobin, Vibes) and her husband Dr. Lodger (David Parry, Beverly Hills Cop III), the latter pair wanting to wrestle control of the asylum away from the increasingly unhinged Caligari.
This low-budget but outrageously stylized production utilizes black-walled void spaces populated by some impressively artificial set design that feels deranged from the get-go, giving it a very stagey The Forbidden Zone vibe, with skewed angles and garish colors, it's quite a hallucinatory experience and makes for a surreal watch. The off-kilter flick is aggressive stylized, they cram a lot or weirdness into it, including some oddball patients by way of a woman (Catherine Case, Scanner Cop) with comically exaggeratedly elongated tits that look like a Salvador Dali painting, and a Videodrome inspired scene of Mrs. Van Houten flicking the bean in front of a TV set that has a flicking-tongue playing in it! The characters are all espousing some of the most off-the-wall and absurd dialogue you will ever hear, it's quotable stuff, but so unnatural and delivered with weird affectations, which only serves to make it more interesting, especially that of Albert's demented Marlene Detriecht delivery as Caligari and Durban's manic-cannibal.
The story is just meh to be honest, and the acting is so-so (but fun), but the amount of deranged weirdness that is crammed into this 80-minute flick is outrageous and worthy of applause; a wall-to-wall cornucopia of of surrealistic art-damaged insanity, oozing wounds, hallucinatory perversion and deranged dedication to sexual shock. I'm not familiar with director Stephen Sayadian's larger body of works other than by reputation, but apparently this is his only non-porn title, and I must admit I am quite interested in checking out some of his porn titles to see if this weird production design and unhinged-from-reality ideas are carried over into the porn realm, if so that might be worth a watch!
Audio/Video: Dr. Caligari (1989) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from cult cinema archivists Mondo Macabro in 108Op HD. Source elements are in terrific shape with nary a blemish to distract the eye, grain levels look organic and black levels, skin tones, and color saturation are all quite pleasing. The vibrant colors pop quite nicely against the deep inky black backgrounds, with an eye-stinging garish palette that draws attention to itself, lots of use of green, yellow, orange and pinks. We also have the option to view the film in 1080p HD widescreen or full frame (1.33:1) both looking to have come from the same source with identical color-grading and image equality, the widescreen is a cropped version of the original full frame presentation. The sole audio optional is uncompressed English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is clean and crisp, there are no source-related issues like hiss or distortion, and the jazzy score from Crowded House keyboardist/producer Mitchell Froom sounds great.
Extras for this release are plentiful, starting of with an Audio Commentary with writer, director Stephen Sayadian that gets into the rehearsals, fetching production design, the sound design, co-writing the screenplay with Jerry Stahl, and how certain shots were achieved and the influences he brought to the film. There's also the 30-min Beyond the Door - Interview with Stephen Sayadian who gets into how the film came about, shooting it on a soundstage, the soundtrack and the film's initial reception. In the 18-min Meet the Doctor - Interview with Madeleine Reynal, who played the titular Dr Caligari, she speaks about her early career, auditioning for the role, the make-up process for her character and how shooting the film was quite a surreal experience, and her fav orite scenes. The 20-min The Scandalous Mrs. Van Houten - Interview with Laura Albert, she speaks about the unique look of the film and how wardrobe factored into that, her memories of shotting specific scenes, and how well everyone got along while making the movie under the direction of Sayadian. The last of the interview us a 10-min Bongo His Glug-Glugs - Interview with Co-Writer Jerry Stahl who gets into the origins and influences on the script and co-writing with Sayadian, and how it was received Extras are buttoned-up with a 3-min Original Theatrical Trailer, an Isolated Music and Effects Track (DTS-HD MA 2.0), the 13-min Mondo Macabro Promo Reel. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original movie poster image.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with writer, director Stephen Sayadian
- Beyond the Door - Interview with Stephen Sayadian (30:27)
- Meet the Doctor - Interview with Madeleine Reynal (Dr Caligari) (18:18)
- The Scandalous Mrs. Van Houten - Interview with Laura Albert (20:16)
- Bongo His Glug-Glugs - Interview with Co-Writer Jerry Stahl (9:43)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2.40)
- Isolated Music and Effects Track (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
- Audio Commentary with writer, director Stephen Sayadian
- Beyond the Door - Interview with Stephen Sayadian (30:27)
- Meet the Doctor - Interview with Madeleine Reynal (Dr Caligari) (18:18)
- The Scandalous Mrs. Van Houten - Interview with Laura Albert (20:16)
- Bongo His Glug-Glugs - Interview with Co-Writer Jerry Stahl (9:43)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2.40)
- Isolated Music and Effects Track (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray:
