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Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1920)
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Reviews Counted:15
Fresh:13
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.4/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: An terrifying assault on the eyes, Benjamin Christensen's 1922 documentary is a landmark film of witchery, possession, and sadism. Originally released under the Swedish title HAXAN, this eerie,... An terrifying assault on the eyes, Benjamin Christensen's 1922 documentary is a landmark film of witchery, possession, and sadism. Originally released under the Swedish title HAXAN, this eerie, unusual film experience uses seven chapters to illustrate a history of myths and beliefs regarding the occult. The film uses animation, creature effects, nightmarish sets, reenactments of satanic rituals and intense sexual imagery to weave a tale that ranges from being darkly humorous to severely disturbing. The original version ran 104 minutes and exists both in black and white and in a tinted Swedish Film Institute version. HAXAN is commonly available as the re-cut WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES, a version that runs 74 minutes. Voice over narration by William S. Burroughs and a score by Jean-Luc Ponty in this cut only strengthened the film's status as a cult classic. [More]
Starring: Oscar Stribolt
Starring: Oscar Stribolt
Director: Benjamin Christensen
Director: Benjamin Christensen
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Reviews for Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages
In fact Haxan is a deeply rationalistic piece of humanism, exposing the horrors of superstition and hysteria rather than of witchcraft itself.
A silent curiosity made in Denmark in 1922, with an episodic, rhetorical structure that would have appealed to Jean-Luc Godard.
Begins as a documentary about witches but turns into a real, honest-to-goodness horror film with scary images of witches, devils, evil spells, etc.
Ostensibly an exposé of religious persecution born from ignorance of science ... or, when filtered through the bong water of the psychedelic '60s to become Witchcraft Through the Ages, a trippy exercise in surreal pop filmmaking extravagance.
A weird and rather wonderful brew of fiction, documentary and animation based on 15th and 16th century witchcraft trials, Christensen's film has a remarkable visual flair that takes in Bosch, Breughel and Goya.
One of the earliest films that takes misogyny and sexual repression as its subject.
Before you think the filmmaker is one sick dude, he also develops scenarios to show how innocent women are deceived and trapped into witch accusations...
The film stands as a fascinating historical document, and, more surprisingly, as a thoroughly watchable film.
Viewers who think "silent" films are boring and primitive would do well to start with this one as an example of how advanced they really were.
Benjamin Christensen's pioneering look at ancient Scandinavian witchcraft is impressive and genuinely disturbing.
Its view of witchcraft seems dated (especially compared to the new graphic-novel treatment of Jack the Ripper in theaters). In fact, Haxan seems almost quaint, which I don’t think was the director’s intent.
A truly unique work that still holds the power to unnerve even in today's jaded era.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
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| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
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