Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages is a film that explores how superstition and the misunderstanding of mental illness lead to the hysteria of the . Made in 1922, it was censored and banned in many countries for what were considered graphic depictions of torture, nudity, and sexual perversion. The film was based partly on director Benjamin Christensen's study of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th-century German guide for inquisitors.