The Radiance 2024 Blu-ray of Häxan is reviewed / compared HERE

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (September 2019): Criterion have transferred Benjamin Christensen's Häxan to 1080P Blu-ray. via a "New 2K digital restoration". As you can see most of the tints are gone - sticking with a sepia hue for indoors and blue for outdoors. The 1080P seems to have resolved the 20 fps 'combing' we could occasionally see on the older SD transfer. Although frames are duplicated to counter the original production frame-rate - it is seamless in-motion. Detail, especially later in the film, is highly remarkable (you can plainly see the make-up) in close-ups. I never would have though Häxan could have looked this stunning. The HD presentation is significantly more immersive.  

NOTE: 28 more full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray captures for Patrons are available HERE.

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a DTS-HD Master 5.0 channel track (24-bit). On the score: "Silent films were seldom seen in actual silence—and huge "cinema palaces" often featured chamber orchestras. For the Criterion Collection's 2001 release of Haxan, film music specialist Gillian Anderson attempted to recreate the music played at the movie's Danish premiere at the Palads Teatret theater on November 7, 1922, basing her score on a list of musical cues printed in the theater's weekly program notes. For this recording, she conducted the Czech Film Orchestra in Prague in June 2001." Criterion offer optional English subtitles for the Swedish intertitles (that have changed from the DVD - see sample below) on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray has the same extras as their DVD from 2010. Repeated are the excellent commentary from Danish silent film scholar Casper Tybjerg who covers so much in the films 1 3/4 running time especially interesting is the details on Benjamin Christensen’s life. It was still fascinating to revisit it. Another major supplement is the seventy-six-minute version of Witchcraft Through the Ages; a version of Haxan released in 1968, representing one of several cinematic collaborations between avant-gardists Antony Balch, Brion Gysin, and William S. Burroughs, who performed the voiceover narration on the film. Daniel Humair composed the jazz score, which features, among others, Jean-Luc Ponty on violin. There is an 8-minute introduction by director Benjamin Christensen from the 1941 rerelease. Repeated are the 5 -minutes of Outtakes and the 15-minute Bibliothèque diabolique, created in 2001 by film scholar Casper Tybjerg, a collection of images that elucidate some of the historical sources director Christensen drew on to make Häxan. The package has liner notes with an essay by critic Chris Fujiwara, remarks on the score by Anderson, and an essay by scholar Chloé Germaine Buckley.

Häxan is unique and brilliant. It exports like an epic document of demonology with impressive effects, shocking visuals and a marvelous, unforgettable, conclusion. Not only 'Silent-Era' solid gold - but the primordial-soup of cinema horror. Our absolute highest Blu-ray recommendation. 

***

ON THE DVD (2010): The Swedish Film Institute’s restoration of Häxan began with the creation of a fine-grain master made from the original camera negative. The intertitles, most of which had been lost, were replaced with new film titles. Then, the SFI recreated the tinting that had originally been present in theatrical prints of Häxan, bringing this version much closer to what audiences might have seen at the time of its original release.

Criterion's new digital transfer was made from a 35mm low-contrast print, at the Swedish Film Institute’s recommended speed of 20 frames per second. During shots of rapid motion, there is a “tracer” effect; this is present in the original film image. If not for this knowledge I would have said that this was the first non HD-sourced Criterion DVD I had ever seen, but the "combing" that I saw is the 'tracer' effect due to the frame speed noted above.

You can't really have any fault with the image once you become aware of the detail and effort that went into producing this print. It shows damage - yes, but at time it looks remarkable as evidenced by the screen captures below. The audio 5.0 mix makes the experience a truly haunting one and the DVD is rife with extras including the 76 minute 1968 version and a commentary on the feature. Again Criterion goes above and beyond.

Gary Tooze