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Movies / On DVD / Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages
Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages

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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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Release:

Oct 23, 2001

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages

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N/R

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Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/16/08
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In fact Haxan is a deeply rationalistic piece of humanism, exposing the horrors of superstition and hysteria rather than of witchcraft itself.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/25/07
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film

A silent curiosity made in Denmark in 1922, with an episodic, rhetorical structure that would have appealed to Jean-Luc Godard.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
08/15/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

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.

Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | comment Comment
04/08/06
Mark Bourne
Mark Bourne
DVDJournal.com

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.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
08/17/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
11/21/03
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The sophistication of these 1920 special effects are hard to believe

comment Comment
06/07/03
Jon Niccum
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World

One of the earliest films that takes misogyny and sexual repression as its subject.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
05/07/03
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

Fascinating pioneering horror

comment Comment
08/21/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

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...

Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | comment Comment
07/12/02
John A. Nesbit
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews

The film stands as a fascinating historical document, and, more surprisingly, as a thoroughly watchable film.

Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com | comment Comment
03/05/02
Jeremy Heilman
Jeremy Heilman
MovieMartyr.com

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.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
02/28/02
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

Benjamin Christensen's pioneering look at ancient Scandinavian witchcraft is impressive and genuinely disturbing.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
02/07/02
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

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.

Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
11/11/01
Marty Mapes
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit

A truly unique work that still holds the power to unnerve even in today's jaded era.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
10/16/01
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
 
 
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