The Cinematheque

“The silent forerunner to modish found-footage chillers such as The Blair Witch Project … A cult classic.”

Pamela Hutchinson, BFI

One of the earliest depictions of witches in the history of cinema, Benjamin Christensen’s silent era masterpiece was in fact an attempt to demystify superstitions by rooting them in mental illness. Divided into seven acts, Häxan stages an exaggerated retelling of the practice of witchcraft through the ages, piecing together original writings, paintings, illustrations, and witness accounts to bring to life the essence of the witch myth, while at the same time serving as a deeply disturbing record of centuries of female oppression. Playing in the realm of hybrid, surrealist filmmaking, Christensen, himself in the role of Satan, combines stop-motion animation and live-action dramatizations, bolstered by impressive set designs and practical effects. In the process, Häxan conjures something that is at once mystifying, ludicrous, terrifying, and endlessly entertaining. Cinema alchemy at its finest.

Swedish intertitles with English subtitles

Restored DCP courtesy Swedish Film Institute

“Sheer terror and sheer poetry … Häxan is the filmic equivalent of a hellish engraving by Bruegel or a painting by Bosch.” Guillermo del Toro

“A witches’ brew of the scary, the gross, and the darkly humorous … An experience unlike anything else in the history of cinema.” The Criterion Collection

Häxan will be introduced by series curator Sonja Baksa and feature a live improvised score by pianist Noah Franche-Nolan and violinist Meredith Bates.