Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious-- instead it's a witches' brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.

The man-hungry “vampire,” later to be popularized by America’s Theda Bara, made her screen debut in this Danish melodrama directed by August Blom. Clara Wieth starred in the title role of the Vampire Dancer, which is just what she was: a dancer performing her seductions on-stage. Off-stage, the young girl is kindhearted and a bit naïve. The lustful dance, during which Robert Dinesen succumbs to th...

The young Englishman Cecil Brown lives and works on a tea plantation in India. When he is about to set off to London on leave, his Indian girlfriend Profula wants to go with him. He refuses even though she begs him. Only when she threatens to take her own life if they do not immediately get married and travel together to London does he give in. Their early days together as a married couple in Lond...

Young engineer Jameson quickly demonstrates his worth at his new workplace. Chief engineer Hooper is more interested in drinking whisky and chasing women than in making accurate calculations for the construction plans. Jameson quickly corrects this sloppiness, and his enthusiasm impresses both the foreman’s daughter Kitty and the manager, who promotes Jameson to chief engineer. Humiliated, Hooper ...

When Prince Otto is involved in a hunting accident, the game warden’s daughter Ellen becomes his nurse. She falls head over heels in love with him and the infatuation is mutual. But when the prince’s father, the ruler, dies, it turns out that the prince’s heart is bequeathed to someone else. In her deep despair over her lost love, the game warden’s now downhearted daughter knocks on the convent ga...

Of the films that Psilander made at Nordisk during the first two years it is the film Dødsspring til Hest fra Cirkuskuplen (The Great Circus Catastrophe), that is worth noting. Maybe not so much for Psilander's acting, but for the sensational, action-packed storylines that he was in. This film shows the other side of Psilander's fame: his daring. He was an excellent rider and looked fantastic in l...

Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious-- instead it's a witches' brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.