Wow! Such a good movie.

Well Deserved Praise

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

That title, up there, is not a sentence to vitiate movie's artistic sense of creation or aesthetic concerns, as it puts this great narration into something creative and aesthetic naturally, that which we call art. What the title explains is simply the social assistive part of the movie as Christensen himself is aware of the fact that society needs explanations and corrections about some important matters still affecting people's lives negatively as shown with an exemplary scene describing old actress' fear and delusive visions. Directing method is expressive and presentation of certain tools are very clear and explanatory visually; therefore, it is not hard to follow the scenes.The narration helps to compare scenes from past and present. For a time period like we have now some points could be seen repeated over and over with explanations, but for its own time, and for the great majority of today's audience I think, they are absolutely efficacious. One can feel Christensen's concerns and can easily empathize with him throughout the movie. The most important part of this movie, which can be categorized as a documentary, is that it never loses it dramatic flavour even if it tries to serve a certain purpose which is providing knowledge about people's ignorance, narrow mindedness throughout the centuries and its fatal consequences. With this power art creates an influence to persuade people of its arguments with artistic, dramatic, and creative sense of demonstration unlike platitudes of other narrations like history, philosophy, or science.

Even as I don't think the 1st and 7th parts work really so well - the former is more like a Powerpoint-slide presentation (albeit some dark slides) and the latter doesn't really add much and is dated with terms like 'hysteria' - the more times I watch this, the more I get into how disturbing and honest the imagery is, or at least the intent behind it.You're left to make your own assumptions by the majority of what this director shows you, and the images of the many monks and so-called "religious" men (aka Men in Power) is like pre-Joan-of-Arc Dreyer imagery. It's akin to how Scorsese shows gangsters and criminals or Jordan Belfort: you'd almost think this movie is borderline endorsing the burning of women at the stake for actually being witches, but such is the power of the anthropological state of things.Its impact lies in how much it sticks to its guns as far as showing what the world was like then from that of late 15th/early 16th century Middle Ages when the Inquisition was still going on (that part is left out, this is squarely about witches and while men are mentioned among the "8 million men/women/children" killed during this time, you know who is really the target of the Church at the time), and this includes the director showing us how someone like Maria the Weaver's descriptions of hell and Satan and people literally kissing his ass is conjured up in the minds of these men, and the torture devices that were used.The first time I watched this I almost thought the director sided *with* then men in a way, but I was mistaken; it's pretty clear to see how women were basically massacred in the name of, literally, witch-hunts. I think it's because of how effective the sets are, how the actors are as far as the choice of their faces (primarily Maria the Weaver who looks like she was plucked from 1488), and certain effects like showing the witches on brooms flying around - a dazzling sight today - and the costumes for the devil worshippers. It's a high quality production that I wish was really all one full story instead of something closer to a documentary anthology. But as it is, it works really well.

I've been meaning to watch this movie for awhile, but I finally got around to it and was very pleased with it. I watched it with my friend and we were both impressed with the special effects, the makeup, and the creative sets for being filmed in the 1920's. It would be a great film to watch around Halloween. If you watch the original version (which is what I would recommend) the film is told in 7 parts. The first part is explaining the universe with old school pictures of the solar system, then it becomes a documentary about witches and the hysteria in the Middle Ages about accusing innocent people with being in cahoots with the Devil. The music throughout the film is a little off because it's upbeat jazz music while the movie is creepy and grotesque. If you're interested in old school silent horror films about witchcraft, I highly recommend HAXAN!!!

This is one of the only silent horror films and documentaries that I really like and I'm not the biggest fan of either. This film to me is great because it was one of the most daring and really ahead of it's time a whole documentary on Witchcraft. It was amazing that a film like this exists at all though if you think about it makes sense, back them just when filmmaking was really young there weren't really any rules created, you could make a film of just about anything you wanted and put it out there (hopefully we can get that kind of privilege back once more).There are actually two versions of the film, one the silent film version and the other with Narration by writer William Buroughs (which is cool since that's a writer I actually like) and has a jazz score. I think both versions are good in their own way, though I like the second version more since I saw that one first and it really keeps the momentum of the film going. Plus I really like the jazz score which at times was fun and fit the film (well OK some parts of the score didn't fit in places but what are you going to do). However for the silent film version I like that one because it gives the film a more moody sensibility and it's orchastratic score I think is fantastic.I really like some of the matter your being educated in, like the first part which is strange since it's based on some of the old and ancient theories in Astronony, like the planets revolving around the sun and stars are held up by some invisible poles. But in a way this just really helps set up the tone, making you feel almost like you've traveled back in time to a class to be educated in the ancient ways. But you really get a lot of insight on the origin of this subculture, which I personally find fascinating.And of course we get the scenes that I feel are the most memorable visuals I've ever seen in a silent film. Like the portrayal of the witches that don't look stereotypical but most look like old ugly cronies with the nasty manners to boot. However to me the highlight was in the scenes with Satan himself whom of course was played by the director himself.The scenes can be a little unsettling but at the same time almost kinda funny, could be in a bit of the overacting of the director or those scenes weren't meant to be taken to seriously. But all the same I like the Satan is portrayed as a mischievous, scary, manipulative brute; misleading mortals to his own gains.One scene that always stood out was this strange ritual scene where one witch transports herself to. It's a really surreal and unsettling scene as if were looking into a nightmare. As we see each of the members of the ritual are inhuman and their all doing some sort of ceremonial dance and a lot of other bizarre creatures are just popping up.I know this was short review but I don't want to give too much away this is just one of those films you have to just see for yourself to believe. If your curious about the Wicken culture or are looking for any other gems from a bygone era then this film is worth a look.It's one hell of an education.Rating: 4 stars