Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (The Witches) (Haxan) (1929)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Graham J

  
  One of the first horror films, this silent masterpiece still has the ability to shock and entertain today's audience.

• AJ V

  
  There were some things I liked about this movie, but there were also things I didn't like. First I didn't like the documentary style history lessons. The movie would have been a lot better with just the stories and actors acting them out and everything. There were some… More
  There were some things I liked about this movie, but there were also things I didn't like. First I didn't like the documentary style history lessons. The movie would have been a lot better with just the stories and actors acting them out and everything. There were some nice visuals, and I really liked that. But overall, I thought it could have been better.

• Greg S

  
  Curious early "documentary" mixing fact with recreations of medieval witch hunts and diabolical fantasy sequences. There are five to ten minute stretches of this film---the phantasmagorical black sabbath with an old woman giving birth to monsters and witches cooking babies… More
  Curious early "documentary" mixing fact with recreations of medieval witch hunts and diabolical fantasy sequences. There are five to ten minute stretches of this film---the phantasmagorical black sabbath with an old woman giving birth to monsters and witches cooking babies and lining up to kiss the devil's arse---that are 5 star horror moments, but the documentary side doesn't hold up and the ending is a letdown. Enormous historical importance, however, and no one has ever created scarier-looking demons than these.

• Cassandra M

  
  I thought that Häxan was a very good film by Benjamin Christensen. The film is a documentary about the history of witchcraft, told in a variety of different ways, from slide shows to dramatized events of real-life events, up to the early twentieth century. when the film was first… More
  I thought that Häxan was a very good film by Benjamin Christensen. The film is a documentary about the history of witchcraft, told in a variety of different ways, from slide shows to dramatized events of real-life events, up to the early twentieth century. when the film was first premiered in 1922, it caused a lot of outrage from the general public and religious groups. by the way that it showed dramatized satanic activities and rituals. In the way that witches were tortured and killed. It was re-released in 1941 and there was a new release in 1968, which was a narrated film by William S. Burroughs called Witchcraft Through The Ages I found this quite a weird sort of film but it was still very interesting. <a href="http://photobucket.com/images/haxan" target="_blank"><img src="http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff289/jwarn0beags/haxan.jpg" border="0" alt="haxan Pictures, Images and Photos"/></a> <a href="http://photobucket.com/images/haxan" target="_blank"><img src="http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff273/mecha69/Haxan-3b.gif" border="0" alt="haxan Pictures, Images and Photos"/></a> <a href="http://photobucket.com/images/haxan" target="_blank"><img src="http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg155/gerdaaegesdotter/Haxan.jpg" border="0" alt="Muthafuckin Haxan Pictures, Images and Photos"/></a>

• Luke B

  
  Haxan does an excellent job of chronicling something that is still very much a part of our lives. Mass hysteria and paranoia. This film predates Joseph McCarthy and the mass media coverage of paedophiles and terrorists, that we have today. Then why is it people are still so stupid?… More
  Haxan does an excellent job of chronicling something that is still very much a part of our lives. Mass hysteria and paranoia. This film predates Joseph McCarthy and the mass media coverage of paedophiles and terrorists, that we have today. Then why is it people are still so stupid? The simple answer, fear. Haxan shows us the tragic fates awaiting "witches" and the things they had to do to survive. It contains some fantastic imagery for the time. With the demons being very disturbing. The story itself is patchy and it starts with still pictures and a lot of text. This is cinema in it's infancy, made almost 90 years ago, and yet, we can still apply it to today's social climate.

• Pierluigi P

  
  Daring and suggestive semi documentary with a plethora of dark, diabolical imagery.

• Saskia D

  
  The things that people are capable of through the process of dehumanization caused by fear and the basic human 'need' to explain and control the world around them (trough myth and religion) are exemplified in this movie focusing on the persecution of witches (mostly women)… More
  The things that people are capable of through the process of dehumanization caused by fear and the basic human 'need' to explain and control the world around them (trough myth and religion) are exemplified in this movie focusing on the persecution of witches (mostly women) in the middle ages. That's my take on it anyway, I'm not sure if the director intended to put it down like that. What surprised me is that he drew a parallel between the symptoms of hysteria in 'modern society' and the symptoms that indicated women as witches in the middle ages. "Poor little hysterical witch! In the middle ages you were in conflict with the church. Now it is with the law" Somehow that proves to me that he is missing the point. Any way, I'm glad psychology is more advanced today, although in some cases it's just a matter of putting a different label on it. I'm looking forward to seeing more movies like this, so if you read this and come up with one: fill me in!! <a href="http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff273/mecha69/?action=view&current=Haxan-3b.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff273/mecha69/Haxan-3b.gif" border="0" alt="haxan"></a>

• Stella D

  
  a surreal accounting of the medieval witch hysteria, one of the saddest chapters in the long history of the persecution of women. made in 1922 so it is somewhat dated; still well worth watching with many bizarre scenes. a really odd historical document. gotta love the psychotic… More
  a surreal accounting of the medieval witch hysteria, one of the saddest chapters in the long history of the persecution of women. made in 1922 so it is somewhat dated; still well worth watching with many bizarre scenes. a really odd historical document. gotta love the psychotic nuns.

• El Hombre I

  
  Part documentary on witchcraft and part dramatization of a woman accused of such, Häxan is full of innovative and outrageous imagery. The subject matter is enough to draw attention from horror fans but also historians with facts as it presents origins of religion and the belief in… More
  Part documentary on witchcraft and part dramatization of a woman accused of such, Häxan is full of innovative and outrageous imagery. The subject matter is enough to draw attention from horror fans but also historians with facts as it presents origins of religion and the belief in demons that caused plagues and discusses the nature of hysteria well into the twentieth century. The director declares the witch trials were humanity's greatest tragedy, but were also the result of an unenlightened, long-gone people and claims nothing similar could happen again, without any insight to the Holocaust. Fascinating historical document and an enjoyably watchable film way ahead of its' time in 1922. Included on the dvd is a 1968 version of the film with a soundtrack featuring Jean-Luc Ponty and narrated by William S. Burroughs. <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view¤t=Haxan-3b.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/Haxan-3b.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

• Tim S

  
  I loved this movie! This is the definition of a movie being ahead of it's time.

• Marion R

  
  Really interesting at first you feel like you are watching a history channel special on witches, but then again I love the history channel. There are some really cool special effects/Makeup and a couple really neat segments. Really cool

• MJS M

  
  A really strange silent movie about witchcraft from Danish director Benjamin Cristensen. The film begins seeming like an academic documentary on the subject of the occult, using period artifacts and paintings it seems like an old precurser to something one would see on the history… More
  A really strange silent movie about witchcraft from Danish director Benjamin Cristensen. The film begins seeming like an academic documentary on the subject of the occult, using period artifacts and paintings it seems like an old precurser to something one would see on the history channel or something like Nova. Then the film begins using video vignettes and reenactments to make its points, which is when it gets off the charts weird. Satan, and other assorted demons pop up throughout the film, the effects and makeup used to create them are extremely impressive for this time period. One could view this as one of the first documentaries or horror movies (it was made the same year as both Nosferatu and Nanook of the North). It could also be seen as one of the first exploitation movies, as it may just be using an academic context in order to explore sensational subject matter.

• Christopher B

  
  Incredible film that mixes up documentary with fiction well before it became fashionable. Though it may not deal with hard, solid facts, it sure is damned entertaining. I love this film and thank you Criterion for putting out an amazing special edition.

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