Häxan (Danish: Heksen; English title: The Witches or Witchcraft Through the Ages) was released in 1922. The film is a Swedish-Danish documentary-style silent horror film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. The film was banned in the United States and heavily censored in other countries for what were considered at that time graphic depictions of torture, nudity, and sexual perversion. Showing surreal scenes of grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath this legendary silent film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches suffered from the same ills as psychiatric patients diagnosed with hysteria in the film's own time. The film itself is a witches’ brew of the scary, the gross, and the darkly humorous. Christensen’s mix-and-match approach to genre anticipates gothic horror, documentary re-creation, and the essay film, making for an experience unlike anything else in the history of cinema.
Haxan-100 year birthday celebration with a live music score by the Unsound Orchestra featuring Anthony Blea-violin/Ed Baskerville-cello/David Boyce-sax and electronics/Alphastare -synthesizers/ Eric Moffat-soundscapes/Ricky Wayne Garrett and Dave Mihaly -drums/percussion/foley.....