Movies From the Hat 7 – #31 – Steve’s Pick – The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez (1991)

This is my 3976th Review

Thanks to Steve of Movie Movie Blog Blog for this recommendation.

Here are his thoughts on the film.

Number of Times Seen – 1 (15 Apr 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A Wall street yuppie is followed by two mysterious men who wish to make him their latest victim.

My Take on it – When Steve suggested this film, I was a bit intrigued due to the general idea of making a silent film that only relies on a musical score to tell its story.

The problem is that this film is extremely boring and nearly incomprehensible.

The added gimmick of not even using cue cards as subtitles forces the viewer to try and decipher what is going on but due to the way this is presented, it’s nearly impossible to do so.

The cast features three very talented actors (Peter Gallagher, Joan Cusack and Mikhail Barishnikov), yet none of them are really able to convey to the audience anything helpful about what is truly going on.

I’m not usually the biggest fan of silent films and most of the ones I’ve enjoyed have been comedies (Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy to name a few) that rely heavily on slapstick to keep things interesting.

This film doesn’t manage to stay entertaining at all and just drags on without telling us much of what is happening.

Sorry Steve but this film just wasn’t my cup of tea at all, better luck next time, my friend.

Bottom Line – Totally incomprehensible film. The lack of dialogue or cue cards with subtitles makes this film even stranger than one would expect. The cast features Peter Gallagher, Joan Cusack and Mikhail Barishnikov but none of them manage to really help the viewer understand the storyline any better.  Not the biggest fan of silent films that don’t usually include slapstick humor, so it’s not that surprising that I wouldn’t enjoy this film very much. I’d prefer a Chaplin, Keaton or Laurel and Hardy film to this one on any day…. Definitely not my cup of tea…

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Made as an experimental film and screened only once at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival and never theatrically released. (From IMDB)

Rating – Razzie Worthy (1/10)

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