Sometimes released with the subtitle 'Witchcraft Through the Ages', this Swedish documentary sets out to illustrate the history of sorcery, witchcraft and Satanism. The film gets off to a slow start with an overload of title cards and mundane still images as humanity's longtime fascination with the supernatural is shown, however, things soon become very interesting after around fifteen minutes as the film switches to reenactment mode. There are some truly bizarre sights to see, with discreetly filmed naked witches, dissolve edits for drifting spirits and an appearance by the film's director, Benjamin Christensen, playing the Devil. The best part of the film though comes around halfway in as the witch hunt trials of the 1600s are reenacted in harrowing detail. There are also several graphic shots of torture instruments used in the trial process. As far as documentaries go, 'Häxan' might not be the most enlightening film out there, particularly with the way it blurs Satanism and witchcraft together, but between the intense witch trial section of the movie and several weird shots of witches engaged in rituals with Satan, the project has enough going its favour to rate as an undeniable curio. The lack of spoken dialogue only makes the trials and sorcery shots creepier and more otherworldly, plus the colour tinting (at least in the version on the Criterion DVD) adds loads of atmosphere.