“That’s the funny thing about desire… if it’s not crude, it’s not pure.”
Stephen Sayadian’s 1989 cult classic DR. CALIGARI was released to critical acclaim before slipping underground, proliferating through various nocturnal subcultures as the ultimate midnight movie experience. Now, thanks to a glorious 4K restoration (soon to be released by Mondo Macabro), the 21st century will finally get the DR. CALIGARI it deserves.
Co-written by Sayadian and Jerry Stahl, this film plunges viewers into the pitch-black depths of an institutional labyrinth controlled by a witty sexual sadist who claims to be the granddaughter of the original Dr. Caligari, and is eager to continue his legacy.
Those in Caligari’s care find themselves subjected to inhumane experiments exploring the absurdity (and fragility) of human constructs such as gender, sexuality, and sanity. A rebellion is brewing among the Caligari Insane Asylum’s more ethical clinicians… can they manage to derail the mad doctor’s supervillainous schemes, or are they doomed to become the latest subjects in her diabolical research?
