Brilliant and bizarre....

In the journal Kinoeye: New Perspectives on European Film, James Kendrick reappraises the silent 1922 "horror documentary," Häxan, to be screened this Friday, 10/22.

"The single, persistent question with which viewers are often left after viewing Benjamin Christensen's 1922 film Häxan (The Witch) is, what is it? Part illustrated exploration of the history of witchcraft, part grisly horror film, part burlesque comedy and part condescending reappraisal of the ignorant past, Häxan is nothing if not utterly unique, a compelling oddity that still retains its often shocking effectiveness and, despite being left out of many conventional film histories, is one of the most artful and influential of all silent films." More.