10 Swedish Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die
9. Häxan (1922)
Part documentary and part fictionalized reenactment, Benjamin Christensen’s early 1920s horror essay film has been upsetting and fascinating viewers for nearly a hundred years. Broken into four main segments, it explores the story of superstitions and other aspects of witchcraft from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.
As with many other historical atrocities and misjudgments, it purports that witch hunts were the result of widespread panic and ignorance stemming from misunderstandings about mental illnesses and other ailments. In the process, it obviously draws from Christensen’s previous study of Heinrich Kramer’s 1947 textual examination, The Malleus Maleficarum (or Hammer of Witches).
Like The Phantom Carriage, its striking color palette is a major highlight; plus, its portrayals of violent and sexual offenses – which got it either banned or severely censored all over the world – are still pretty unnerving. Even its hauntingly minimalistic score (which may have influenced experimental rock darlings like Ulver, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Agalloch) remains dreadful and heartbreaking.
Perhaps most importantly, Häxan’s relevance as a warning against ideological fanaticism and the troubling ramifications of imprudent actions will never really diminish.