Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (Criterion Collection, Both 1922 & 1968 Versions)

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Format:  DVD
item number:  JGAK
on most orders of $75+
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DVD Details

  • Includes Witchcraft Through the Ages (1968): The 76-minute version of Haxan, Narrated by William S. Burroughs, with a Soundtrack Featuring Jean-Luc Ponty
  • New Digital, Speed-Corrected Transfer of the Swedish Film Institute's Tinted Restoration
  • Commentary by Danish Silent Film Scholar Casper Tybjerg
  • Benjamin Christensen's Introduction to the 1941 Re-Release
  • Outtakes
  • Rated: Not Rated
  • Closed captioning available
  • Run Time: 1 hours, 44 minutes
  • Video: Black & White
  • Encoding: Region 1 (USA & Canada)
  • Released: October 16, 2001
  • Originally Released: 1920
  • Label: Criterion

Performers, Cast and Crew:

Starring
Directed by

Entertainment Reviews:

4 stars out of 5 -- [The film] gives an eerie sense of actually having been made during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Uncut
Sep 1, 2007

Description by OLDIES.com:

Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the middle ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious - instead it's a witches' brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous. The Criterion Collection is proud to present two versions of this genre-defying "documentary," for the first time ever on DVD.

Product Description:

An terrifying assault on the eyes, Benjamin Christensen's 1922 documentary is a landmark film of witchery, possession, and sadism. Originally released under the Swedish title HAXAN, this eerie, unusual film experience uses seven chapters to illustrate a history of myths and beliefs regarding the occult. The film uses animation, creature effects, nightmarish sets, reenactments of satanic rituals and intense sexual imagery to weave a tale that ranges from being darkly humorous to severely disturbing. The original version ran 104 minutes and exists both in black and white and in a tinted Swedish Film Institute version.

HAXAN is commonly available as the re-cut WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES, a version that runs 74 minutes. Voice over narration by William S. Burroughs and a score by Jean-Luc Ponty in this cut only strengthened the film's status as a cult classic.

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Product Info

  • UPC: 037429161722
  • Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
  • International Shipping: 1 item

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