“One of the great milestones in cinema history…Häxan’s brand of satanic panic defines how the patriarchy saw women, but also exposes how spurious fallacies were used to control females and keep them in their wrongful place.” – Film-Authority

Demonic possession, inquisitional torture, ritual orgies, fair maidens losing their virginity to the Devil — All these are featured in Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, a one-of-a-kind “documentary” just as shocking today as it was in 1922. Its genesis began in 1919, when Benjamin Christensen, a filmmaker often referred to as the “D.W. Griffith of Denmark”, discovered the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th century manual on capturing witches, in a bookstore. Convinced that witches still existed, the director set out to expose their persecution from medieval times to the present day. Christensen procured funding from a Swedish production company with the guarantee that he would have complete creative freedom. The director then assembled the best craftspeople and technicians possible, resulting in the most expensive Scandinavian film of its day. Unwilling to compromise, Christensen included massive amounts of nudity and gore unseen in any other film of the silent era. Audacious scenes include naked witches cavorting around a bonfire and a baby, supposedly drained of its blood, being tossed into a stew pot, all lorded over by Satan himself (played by Christensen.) Other sequences feature groundbreaking uses of optical effects and stop-motion animation. Häxan was banned for decades due to its graphic imagery and anti-religious themes. Regardless, it remains a haunting, proto-feminist masterpiece of horror, curiosity, and sheer cinematic invention.

This screening is part of AUTUMN ALCHEMY AT ARKADIN presented by Chaos Magick! On the backlot you’ll find vendors and practitioners selling witchy wares and providing tarot readings, limpias, sound healing and reiki. Learn how to make your own sigil, build a container spell, and work with candle magick. Bring your friends and make some new ones.