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05/16/08
Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1920)
87 %
Tomatometer
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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,... [More]
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Reviews for Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages
1 - 17 (sorted by date)
Top CriticIn fact Haxan is a deeply rationalistic piece of humanism, exposing the horrors of superstition and hysteria rather than of witchcraft itself.
09/25/07
A silent curiosity made in Denmark in 1922, with an episodic, rhetorical structure that would have appealed to Jean-Luc Godard.
08/15/07
Top CriticBegins as a documentary about witches but turns into a real, honest-to-goodness horror film with scary images of witches, devils, evil spells, etc.
05/26/06
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.
04/08/06
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.
01/26/06
Top CriticNo review available.
08/17/05
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11/21/03
Top CriticThe sophistication of these 1920 special effects are hard to believe
06/07/03
One of the earliest films that takes misogyny and sexual repression as its subject.
05/07/03
Fascinating pioneering horror
08/21/02
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...
07/12/02
The film stands as a fascinating historical document, and, more surprisingly, as a thoroughly watchable film.
03/05/02
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.
02/28/02
Benjamin Christensen's pioneering look at ancient Scandinavian witchcraft is impressive and genuinely disturbing.
02/07/02
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.
11/11/01
A truly unique work that still holds the power to unnerve even in today's jaded era.
10/16/01
1 - 17 (sorted by date)
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