31 Nights of Halloween Horror - Haxan

Haxan

105 mins.

Dir. Benjamin Christensen

1922/Sweden

So you want to know about witches?  Perhaps we better start from the beginning.  Did you ever see those clips in movies where they show old black and white scenes of witches flying on brooms and consorting with the devil?  Well Haxan is where they came from.

Haxan or Witchcraft through the Ages as it is also known, is a documentary film literally about Witchcraft through the medieval times to modern day, which in this case was early 1920.  Broken into 4 parts.  Part 1 deals with the first appearance of demons and devils and the belief on how the world was constructed, mostly through old woodcuts and paintings.  Part 2 begins the recreations of events through actors and sets dramatizing scenarios of what witches were believed to look like and do i.e. making potions and such in their cauldrons, flying on brooms and dealings with the devil in some of the most famous and outstanding imagery from the film.  Part 3 is broken into several parts and is the story we are most familiar with, people falsely accused or being forced to admit they are a witch through torture like the Salem Witch trials.  And part 4 deals with an attempted explanation to witchcraft, how a lot of these women may have been mentally-ill and how these behaviors could be interpreted as demonic for the uneducated or misunderstood.

The most expensive Swedish film at its time of shooting, Haxan is visually a masterpiece of witchcraft history.  Somewhat drawn out in its narrative especially in its silent movie approach, can all be over looked for the fabulous scenes of witches flying through the air and the devil, here played by the director, doing his mischievous deeds.  Criterion's blu ray of this nearly 100 year old film is pristine and a must buy for any horror collection.  It is really impressive to see what was able to be accomplished in the very early days of film making with films like this, Nosferatu and Cabinet of Calagari and how they still outshine the modern technology of bad CGI.  Nothing says Halloween more than witches and Haxan is a must see for any fan on the subject.