The writer and director Benjamin Christensen discloses a historical view of the witches through the seven parts of this silent movie.

In the beginning, there is a slide-show alternating intertitles with drawings and paintings to illustrate the explanations of the behavior of pagan cultures and in the Middle Ages regarding their vision of demons and witches.

Then there is a dramatization of the situation of the witches in the Middle Ages, with the witchcraft and the witch-hunts.

Finally Benjamin Christensen compares the behavior of hysteria of the modern women of 1921 with the behavior of the witches in the Middle Ages, concluding that they are very similar.

"Häxan" is incredibly perfect for a for a 1922 movie. Like in a thesis, he exposes his point of view based in his study of the theme along the time. The reconstitution of the witches in the Middle Ages is amazing. The last part with the comparison with the hysteric women is funny in 2010, but it was the reality in 1921. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Häxan - A Feitiçaria Através dos Tempos" ("Häxan - The Witchcraft Through the Time")

Note: On 16 Aug 2018 I saw this film again.

Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen creates a faux documentary about the evolution of witches. The first part of 15 minutes depicts witches in medieval Europe through a series of old drawn pictures. Then the movie turns into live action as a dissertation on witchcraft.

I like the opening series of drawn pictures. It's a little long but it's fascinating. It fits the faux documentary style. Once it gets to the live action, I would rather have a single narrative story. I do like some of the ideas. The costumes can be a bit campy. It's a lot of animalization of demons. Kissing the butt is kind of funny. There are some good special effects. All in all, this has some fascinating concepts in this silent movie.

"Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages" is one of those films that you really cannot adequately describe--you just have to see it for yourself. And, while not all of the film is perfect and it's a bit uneven, the overall production is really quite amazing as you have a hard time believing that such special effects and makeup were possible almost a century ago.

The film purports to be a history of witchcraft, though the vast majority of the film is a supposed recreation of a case from the Middle Ages. So, early metaphysics and witchery were only given a very cursory and dull portion at the very beginning of the film--sort of like a stuffy college professor's lecture spiced up a bit with visual aids. Then, when it jumps to the Middle Ages, the case is acted out with extreme vigor--and the director, Benjamin Christensen, playing an incredibly memorable Devil. Again, this is something you just have to see for yourself. This portion features some gorgeous set designs with costumes that really look like they are from the year 1400. There also is quite a bit of gratuitous nudity (often edited out of the earlier releases of the film) and some incredibly silly scenes involving pigs and cats (again, you have to see this to believe it). And, there is a certain sado-masochistic bent to the Middle Ages portion that you just have to believe. Finally, the film ends with an epilogue attributing the belief in witches to the modern psychological disorder 'hysteria'--which was very popular in Freud's day but no such disorder is in the DSM manual today which lists all known mental illnesses.

This is one of the most unique and bizarre films I've ever seen. At times, it seems very dated and even silly, but at other times you can't help but feel amazed at the production...that, once again, you can't really describe. See this one...you'll know what I mean.

The DVD from Criterion has a great classical score. It also includes a terrible 1968 re-release that is narrated by William Burroughs. Though adored for his strangeness and beat generation poetry, Burroughs was a terrible narrator--dry and not the least bit interesting or professional. In addition, this modern version has HUGE chunks of the old movie removed--and I can't see why they would bastardize the original film like this. It certainly does not make it more watchable or enjoyable.