10. Häxan (1922)

Only In Amityville

Episode 10 of Season 2! Host, Gratton Conwill and special guest, Matt Fields discuss Häxan (1922).

Day 10

Häxan 1h 45m

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages is a Swedish silent film that premiered on September 18th 1922. It was written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. The title in Swedish translates to “The Witch.” Like the other silent films featured this season, the director stars in the film as well. Christensen appears as the Devil, Jesus Christ, and himself in Häxan. Many descriptions of Häxan struggle to place it in any genre. As an early film, Häxan was experimental in the way the material was approached. Informed by a 15th century book on hunting witches, Häxan was meant as a documentary with well produced dramatization scenes. What resulted was something that hasn’t been replicated. Part essay film, part horror, Häxan is a product of the silent era as it conforms to none of the filmmaking rules we associate with contemporary cinema.

At the time of its production, Häxan was the most expensive film produced in any Scandinavian country. Filmed entirely in Denmark, Häxan was shot both indoors and at night, which was uncommon for films of this era. As a result of the emulsion of the film stock used, the blue of many of the actors' eyes did not register, giving them a unique appearance.

Originally, Häxan was intended to be the first film in a trilogy, however Director Benjamin Christensen never made the sequels. After falling into the public domain, Häxan became widely available, albeit usually in poor quality. But the result was Häxan becoming one of the most prevalent silent horror films remembered by movie fans. Among its contemporary fans is the acclaimed horror and effects film director Guillermo del Toro and, unsurprisingly, Robert Eggers.

With a place in “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” and the Criterion Collection, Haxan enjoys an impressive status as a celebrated and respected piece of film history.

From the creators of Giant Monster BS: Gratton Conwill and Matt Fields bring you Only In Amityville season 2: Escape from Amityville!

Escape from Amityville is a limited series podcast event happening exclusively during October of 2021! Starting October 1st, we will review one movie every other day. Each movie will be a lesser known or appreciated, but culturally significant, horror movie made within the past 100 years. None of these movies have anything to do with the original tale of America's most haunted house, but in the spirit of the Amityville story, we promise to review chilling and horrifying movies featuring demons, monsters, and various ghouls! 15 episodes in total! The series finale takes place on Halloween night with a special mystery review. Fans of Giant Monster BS and/or Horror films will be right at home with this podcast. Vulgar, brutally honest, scary as hell, oh yeah... it's Escape from Amityville time Baby!

Only In Amityville is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Gratton Conwill and Matthew Fields.

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