Haxan - Witchcraft through the ages (Tartan Video)
- TVD3758 - PAL DVD £16.99 Buy
This quite amazing release by Tartan is one of those weird milestones in cinema history, Benjamin Christensen's 1922 exploration of the role of superstition in medieval minds which caused outrage and protest from both the general public and religious groups and was banned in a lot of countries up until recently.
The film dramatizes satanic activities and rituals in a deliriously imaginative way, with lots of amazing footage of demons, witches and lots of other mystical occult stuff.
After all the controversy and furore, the film only got respect, both for it's genre-defying content and imaginative advances in 1941, then in 1968 it was re-released with a narration by William Burroughs accompanied by Jean-Luc Ponty.
This new remastered version is quite something. Totally restored with a digital speed corrected transfer, the original danish premier soundtrack, a newly conceived soundtrack by Geoff Smith, and best of all a soundtrack by Bronnt Industries Kapital, a project that fronted by Guy Bartell and also features Nick Gravenhurst.
As well as this you get the 1968 version with Jean-Luc Ponty and William Burroughs narration. It's quite an astonishing film especially for it's age.
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