"Haxan: Witchcraft through the Ages:" from 1922 Denmark

Posted by tinear (A) on August 11, 2008 at 19:05:34

comes this fascinating historical look (from original documents) at witchcraft.
Ancient texts detailing the official tortures, and an interesting look at the actual torture tools, makes for a gruesomely interesting time.
Eight million victims of witch hunts, over the several centuries they actively were hunted, means old religious societies were consumed by ignorance, fear, rumor-mongering, and revenge. It all seems reminiscent of Stalin's USSR or Mao's China: being denounced was enough for a person and his family to be summarily arrested, tortured, and "disappeared."
I couldn't help conjecturing that, in very poor societies, this was a very efficient way of disposing of the elderly, especially women that were unable to care for themselves: elderly women, the physically and emotionally ill, and those suffering from deformities were especially singled out.
But the film itself is a thrill to watch with terrific dramatic staging of "possessions," inquisitions, and punishments.
It's a silent film-era effort, of course, but the monsters are as scary as any created by Fx.

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