Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (DVD)(2001)

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages is a groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind documentary that exposes the persecution of witches from medieval times to the present day.

With uncompromising creativity and technical excellence, director Benjamin Christensen brings to life the most expensive Scandinavian film of its day, featuring massive amounts of nudity and gore unseen in any other film of the silent era.

The film includes audacious scenes such as naked witches cavorting around a bonfire and a baby being tossed into a stew pot, all lorded over by Satan himself (played by Christensen).

Optical effects and stop-motion animation are also used to breataking effect.

Despite its graphic imagery and anti-religious themes, Häxan was banned for decades but has since influenced the works of filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel, Carl Theodor Dreyer, and Val Lewton.

Christensen himself later moved to Hollywood and worked for MGM and Warner Brothers, directing horror films such as Mockery (1927; starring Lon Chaney) and Seven Footprints to Satan (1929).

Narrated by famed author and Beat Generation icon William S.

Burrough, Häxan is a must-see for any film buff or history enthusiast.