One of the most unique and nightmarish films ever made, Benjamin Christensen’s 1922 masterpiece, Häxan, is part horror movie and part anthropology. Widely censored and banned upon its release, Variety’s review called it “absolutely unfit for public exhibition.” Ninety years later Häxan still retains its power to shock, but is now recognized as a strange yet carefully crafted gem that is by turns frightening, funny, profane and deeply human. Above all it is a condemnation of false piety and a plea for compassion.

“Visually stunning history of the occult, recreating actual incidents based on records of witch trials, demonic possessions, and torture by the Inquisition. Writer-director Christensen plays Satan himself in this genuinely scary, no-holds-barred silent film.” – Leonard Maltin

“Christensen’s film has a remarkable visual flair that takes in Bosch, Breughel and Goya.” – Time Out

“Ostensibly an exposé of religious persecution born from ignorance of science...or, when filtered through the bong water of the psychedelic ‘60s to become Witchcraft Through the Ages, a trippy exercise in surreal pop filmmaking extravagance.” – Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com

“Is that man crazy or a genius?” – Louis B. Mayer, asking about Benjamin Christensen in 1925