Haxan Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Haxan
Director: Benjamin Christensen
Year: 1923
Country: Denmark
Language: Danish

I did not know what to expect when I stayed up until 2am to watch Danish director Benjamin Christensen 's Haxan on Turner Classic Movies. Would it be pure horror? Would it be an intelligent documentary that explained the nature of evil in depth? My expectations of the film were blown away by this unique "documentary". It's a bizarre silent film that defies genre. It used a variety of cinematic approaches to discuss it's subject matter which was that of witchcraft and diabolism through Ancient Persia to Modern Times. The approaches include using still images to using models to incredible dramatic re-enactments. While this technically is a "documentary", it is not made the same way any documentary was made before or after it.

Haxan is a historical view of witchcraft in seven parts with a variety of styles. To begin t, there is a slide-show alternating inter-titles with drawings and paintings to demonstrate the behavior of pagan cultures in the Middle Ages regarding their thoughts of demons and witches. A dramatization of the situation of the witches, witchcraft and witchhunts in the Middle Ages follows this. Lastly the film compares the behavior of hysteria of women in the 20's to the behavior of the witches in the Middle Ages, suggesting that they have many similarities

Benjamin Christensen seemed to make Haxan as an honest academic exercise to compare ancient fears of Witches to misunderstandings about mental illness in the 20's. Keep in mind back then "depression" wasn't even though of as something that could be medically treated. Mental institutions were also more like jails than places where you could get actual help. Perhaps if people in the 20's saw this film they could come to a realization of how poorly their mentally ill citizens were being treated.

The frightening aspects of Haxan have the power to frighten even the film-goers of today who have seen those distastefully bad Saw films. Every frame of this film is filled with dark and eerie images that stir the soul into a scared frenzy. He is truely a cinematic visionary, using the powerful effects of mise en scene,  The eerie use of props is fantastic, as well as the cluastrophobic sets. The lighting was also a factor in conjuring up the powerfully mad mood of the film. I am also impressed that he freely blended fact with reality, confusing the viewer and reminding me of Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg.  This must be where Madding got some of his inspiration for his film.

In conclusion, I do NOT recommend watching this film late at night. While I was in awe of Benjamin Christensen's genuis, I also wasn't able to get to sleep. This is a film that will horrify but also educate and might make you more sympathetic towards mentally disabled people and how they were treated throughout history. Haxan, like a lot of great film, is a film that needs to be seen more than once in order to be fully appreciated. Needless to say, you'll likely want to revisit it again and again. Praise it! 5/5