Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.

Part history lesson followed by re-enactments with actors, this film depicts the history of witchcraft from its earliest days through to the present day (in this case,1922 or thereabouts). The result is a documentary-like film that must be among the first to use re-enactments as a visual and narrative tool. From pagan worship to satanic rites to hysteria, the film takes you on a journey through the ages with highly effective visual sequences.—garykmcd

Divided into seven chapters, this part-documentary/part-fiction hybrid attempts to shed light on the numerous superstitions pivoting around the indecipherable mental illnesses that led to the relentless witch purges during the medieval times. Through a series of graphic vignettes and original gravures, Witchcraft Through the Ages does not shy away from the Inquisition's revolting inhumanities and its hideous practices of interrogation, as the sadistically ruthless inquisitors shatter human limbs and torture the flesh until the accused hag confesses or implicates another woman in witchery. From the Dark Ages to the modern 1920s, hysteria is often mistaken for demonolatry; however, what separates truth from a lie?—Nick Riganas

A historical view of witchcraft in seven parts and a variety of styles. First, there is a slide-show alternating inter-titles with drawings and paintings to illustrate the behavior of pagan cultures in the Middle Ages regarding their vision of demons and witches. Then there is a dramatization of the situation of the witches in the Middle Ages, witchcraft and witch-hunts. Finally the film compares the behavior of hysteria of contemporary (1921) women with the behavior of the witches in the Middle Ages, concluding that they are very similar.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil