Behind the Couch

Last night Belfast’s The Crescent Arts Centre played host to a very special screening of the classic German horror title, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , complete with a live score courtesy of Dublin based instrumental ensemble, 3epkano. Formed in 2004 by Matthew Nolan and Cameron Doyle, 3epkano, pronounced three-ep-can-oh, which derives from Andrei Tarkovsky's film Зеркало ( The Mirror ), specialise in composing and performing contemporary soundtracks for classic films from the silent era of cinema. Spirits surround us on every side... they have driven me from hearth and home, from wife and child. Made in 1920, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. Now considered one of the most influential films of the German Expressionist movement, and indeed of horror cinema, it tells of the sinister Caligari, a mad carnival performer who uses a cadaverous somnambulist to carry out his nefarious deeds, including manipulation, murder and kidnap… Oh my! Beg...

1934 Dir. Edgar G. Ulmer Fifteen years after he was made a prisoner-of-war by his general's betrayal, Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi) has tracked down the old friend who betrayed him; crazed architect and Satanic priest Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff). Poelzig's menacing Hungarian abode, built on the mass grave of 10,000 soldiers who died because of his treachery in WW1, is the place where the two wage a dark, psychological battle, with the lives and souls of stranded honey-mooning American couple Joan and Peter Allison (Jacqueline Wells and David Manners) as the wager. The Black Cat is a significant genre entry for many reasons, the most obvious being that it was the first film that featured both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi together. Despite the title however, The Black Cat does not resemble the titular tale by Edgar Allan Poe. Indeed the only relevance the title bears to the film itself is that Lugosi’s character suffers from Ailurophobia (fear of cats). While a ...