Trivia / Häxan

• Acting for Two: In addition to directing the whole shebang, Benjamin Christensen plays both Satan and Jesus — a memorable hat-trick rivaled only by Georges Méliès, who had pulled off the same three jobs 20 years before in one of his adaptations of Faust. But Christensen tops it by also appearing as himself!
• Banned in China: The US banned it upon release. Apparently caused riots in Spain, where it was accused of being blasphemous because it contained, among other things, scenes with nuns kissing Satan's ass.
• Enforced Method Acting: One of the actresses asked to try out a pair of medieval thumbscrews. Christensen was happy to film the experiment and include it in the movie.
  I won't divulge any of the secrets I made the young lady tell me within less than a minute.
• Science Marches On: In the last part of the movie, medieval superstition about witches and demons is compared to hysteria, which was a medical diagnosis at the time, but today is seen as a collection of several mental diseases and other behaviors which were not considered normal for women back in those days.