Häxan

“What was once called witchcraft would later be called illness.” Häxan was honestly a crazy experience. At first I really thought it would just be a normal documentary-type silent film. Informative, maybe a bit boring. But then it slowly turned into, for me, the best silent horror film I’ve seen so far. The cinematography is beautiful and the acting is way better than I expected. The one that stuck with me the most was the old woman who gets accused of being a witch. That character just hurts to watch. She feels so human and powerless, not exaggerated, not theatrical, just tragic. What I liked most about the film isn’t even the horror. It’s the learning aspect. You actually understand what witchcraft accusations meant back then and how many people suffered because of pure fear and ignorance. The horror comes from reality, not from monsters. The ending really got me. I liked how the director compares the “sickness” of being a witch to the later diagnosis of hysteria. Different words, same mechanism. Society needs a label, and once you have one, you’re done. That part made the whole film feel disturbingly modern. Overall, it’s a good watch, but you need to be in the right mindset. You have to want to learn something. This is not a fun or casual film you put on randomly. It’s slow, heavy, and serious. But if you’re locked in, it hits hard.