WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES Movie Review

Häxan

As much a cult oddity as it is a bona fide classic, Benjamin Christensen's Witchcraft through the Ages (Häxan) is an inventive and fantastic documentary-like depiction of the history of witchcraft from the Middle Ages to the modern era (1922, at least). Packed with black masses, gothic rituals, and copious nudity, this legendary film has a genuinely erotic pull, which caused it to become a somewhat notorious—and sought after—item over the years. It's quite brilliant visually, and those who have seen the movie tend to remember many of the images for years, even if the specific context of the image has been long forgotten. Christensen, who plays the devil in the film, was a medical school graduate; he chose to go to Hollywood in the mid-1920s where he worked on a few films, but returned to Denmark within a decade. Witchcraft through the Ages remained his signature work, and it was banned and suppressed in many countries. It found a new audience in the U.S. as a “head” film in the 1960s, when a new, “underground” version was released, complete with an unnecessary narration spoken by William S. Burroughs. This is a truly unique item—a must.

NEXT STOP … Day of Wrath, The Mysterious Island (1929),Vampyr

1922 74m/B SW Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan, Oscar Stribolt, Benjamin Christiansen, Tora Teje, Elith Pio, Karen Winther, Emmy Schonfeld, John Andersen; D: Benjamin Christiansen; C: Johan Ankerstjerne. VHS MPI, GPV, WFV