Haxan... Witchcraft Through the Ages

[mutleyhyde]

The 1922 Danish silent film about black magic, witches, satanism, and the persecution of said subjects during the middle-ages. This new Criterion dvd has the original 104 min. version with a newly recorded 5.0 soundtrack orchestrated from archival documentation, and the 76 min. version released in 1967, which has narration by legendary counter-culture icon William S. Burroughs.

Just got my copy in the mail today from DeepDiscountDVDs. I'm gonna give it a go after the hockey game, and then I'll let y'all know what I thought of it. I've never seen it, but it looks very interesting, from what little I've heard, and the write up in the insert.

Anyone else get this yet? Feel free to chime in.


(now, back to hockey... Stars up, 2-1 :D )

[crank]

I havn't got it yet, but its one of the top items on my X-Mas list. I love Burroughs.

crank

[Luna]

Originally posted by mutleyhyde
Just got my copy in the mail today from DeepDiscountDVDs. I'm gonna give it a go after the hockey game, and then I'll let y'all know what I thought of it. I've never seen it, but it looks very interesting, from what little I've heard, and the write up in the insert.

Anyone else get this yet? Feel free to chime in.


Woohoo!! I just got mine from them today too... popped it in and it looked great. Well, as great as can be expected, anyway! Last time I saw this was back in the 80s sometime, when I rented Witchcraft Through the Ages from a local mom & pop video store... ah, those were the days, before Ballbuster got their evil clutches in the area. :)

[smokedragon]

I still haven't gotten my copy yet.<br>Eagerly awaiting it.<br> Betcha it arrives today(Friday), the day I have to work a double.

[Yowie]

A very strange, but interesting movie. I'm hearing good things about this new Criterion DVD so I'll be ordering it soon. Skip the shorter Burroughs version.

[mutleyhyde]

Very cool! I just got done watching the original version, and found it full of great imagery and fine silent acting. Emotions and actions were well conveyed by the actors, and the sets, costumes, lighting, and effects are all wonderfully done. I especially like the interogation chamber and the Sabbath scenes, which display lots of good props and much deviltry.

This is a great film for anyones Halloween itinerary. I would make an evening of it with Jean Cocteaus "Beauty and the Beast", and "Der Golum", from Elite's "Masterworks of the German Horror Cinema", for those of you who enjoy vintage cinema that is. Much mysticism, magic and enchantment abound in these films, and state-of-the-art at-the-time special effects to boot.

Luna, glad you got your copy... I took a look at your site, and could immediately tell this was right up your alley. As for the quality of the transfer... with the exception of element specs throughout, and a few scenes marred by scrapes, the print is very clean and clear. I thought it looked great. True, the print could have been cleaned up a bit more as far as the specs go, but not every film Criterion does will get the star treatment given Seven Samurai. So long as contrast is good, and edges are well defined, I'm usually a happy camper, and this print delivers.

And I hear ya Yowie; I usually only go for stuff in it's unadulterated form, but I will be checking out the Burrough's narration, for sure. The guy is just too intense to pass up.

I think I'm about to take a break for some food, and then check out the commentary. I'll let you know my impressions on that later.

[Luna]

Oh, you got that right... *definitely* right up my alley! I'll probably check this one out on the weekend when I can kick back and relax for a few hours. I played maybe 15-20 minutes of the beginning yesterday and I loved the way the atmosphere of it and the score meshed so well. :D

[mutleyhyde]

Thanks for reminding me Luna; I can't believe I forgot to mention the score, and that is one thing that definitely needs mentioning. It works terrifically with the film, and sounds great! I'm not really up on classical music at all, so I can't make any comparisons or mention any specific works, but I was very happy with the score presented here. Really folks, if you're into silent film and the occult, check this out!

[Andrew]

I was just gonna ask if this was worth getting. Maybe I'll check it out.

[skinnypuppy6]

I'll have to pick this disc up!

[mutleyhyde]

Damn. Pretty heavy duty commentary here. Narrated by Danish silent film scholar Caspar Tybjerg, who has an extremely thick accent that took me a few minutes to get used to, the commentary centers on the director Benjamin Christensen's life in film, the Danish silent film industry, history of the film documentary, technical aspects of Haxan, the cast of Haxan, historical aspects of the study of hysteria in psychology circles, the origins of the devil as a character in media, and of course, the phenomena of witchcraft and witch hunting. References are made to Nosferatu, Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the German Expressionist movement, The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Seventh Seal, Theodore Dryer, Sigmund Freud... the list goes on and on.

While there is an incredible amount of information presented here, with bibliographic references even, Tybjerg does an excellent job of tying it all together and presenting the relevance of the material to the film. This was a very engaging look at Christensen, his film, and the socialogical atmosphere both during the middle-ages, and during the time of Haxans production.

As for the version narrated by Burroughs. I must say that I have not sat throught the whole thing, in fact, I just watched the first two segments before sucumbing to sleep. My first impession is, while Burroughs is always so interestingly droning yet intense in the same breath, the jazz score was just plain ridiculous. The producer composed a jazz score for the film, which byu itself, is some very hip shit indeed, but it was just terribly out of place in the film. I'm sure the production was aiming to enhance drug trips rather than present the film itself. With Burroughs involvement, I don't think I'm too far of base in this. I'll have to give it another go when I've had some sleep, so I can watch the whole thing, but I doubt I'll be changing my mind. The jazz score is just too out of place, and as Christenesen has often said, dialogue would ruin Haxan, as well as several silent films, I must agree.

[mcchrist]

This is slated for my next purchase. Ths has been one of my favorites for years, another silent in my collection. And yes, the Burroughs version sucks the proverbial ass, never has a film been more trivialized. Audio essays on silents are vital as far as I'm concerned, I am glad to see Criterion went whole-hog. To bad Kino Video didn't do the same for Murnau's Faust.

[Andrew]

Dammit Hyde! I registered to HTF to bump up that post but I can't find it! ARGH!

[mutleyhyde]

Originally posted by AndrewBBD
Dammit Hyde! I registered to HTF to bump up that post but I can't find it! ARGH!

Here you go Andrew... http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/Forum15/HTML/032048.html

And thanks for your support! :D

[mutleyhyde]

Oh, and don't forget y'all, there is a Criterion chat tonight at the HTF. Go here for info...

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/home/chat.html

chat starts at 9pm EST, 8pm CST, 7pm MST, 6pm PST, 2am GMT.