Haxan

I saw the film Haxan (Danish title: Heksen; English title: The Witches or Witchcraft Through The Ages), released in 1922, that is a Danish/Swedish production that rides the line between genres, directed Benjamin Christensen. On one hand the film is like a documentary, in other ways it is a horror film. It is a treatise of the witch-hunts of the Middle Ages and how witchcraft has influenced the world. Parts of it were taken from an older book called the Malleus Maleficarum which in itself is a book about witchcraft through history.

It has little vignette scenes of people interacting with witches and the devil as well as scenes of being forced into confession. The film also features imagery through the ages depicting witch craft interpretations. One of the most interesting things is a little section of the film dedicated to the torture devices used for the confessions.
I must admit, I was hesitant about seeing this film because I had seen a visual review of it on a website and though the film is old, the imagery that this review had was a bit scary to me initially. Scary like an old film can be. I wasn’t sure about it though I wanted to see it, as I am fascinated by the subject of evil and how it is interpreted this way, in the period of time. A friend gave me incentive to see it and endorsed it, giving me the courage to see it. I found that there are two versions of this film (another case of American import cuts as mentioned in my review for Amuck!). The original version which has subtitles and narrative slides explaining some of the images and is an hour and 45 minutes. The American version that has a lame narrator through the whole thing, cutting out all the narrative slides as in the original, thus cutting the run time. I found the original version, with subtitles and watched that one. I’m thinking I should watch both and I may but not right now.
It is separated into chapters and focuses on each aspect of witch craft. I found the production values to be quite high. Sets and costumes were seemingly genuine and the actors, especially the old women, were particularly striking. They conveyed the sense of horror that comes with being falsely accused and their faces, some contorted and some beautiful. And that is what I felt after watching it, which is funny because that is ultimately what was most scary about it; that abuse of power and hypocrisy by the church and trying to do the “right thing” and how many people suffered and died for that scares me.
Overall, it was a great film. Some would probably find it hokey and silly but if you can find the original, I think it will be worth your time.