Benjamin Christensen

Directing

Benjamin Christensen

Born — Died

1879-09-28 — 1959-04-02

Place of birth

Viborg, Denmark

Known for

Directing

Credits

32 titles

Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 - 2 April 1959) was a Danish film director, screenwriter and an actor both in film and on the stage. As a director he is most well known for the 1922 film Häxan and as an actor, he is best known for his performance in the film Michael (1924), in which he plays Claude Zoret, the jilted lover of the film's title character.

Known for

Häxan poster
7.6

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.

Häxan

1922

Seven Footprints to Satan poster
6.2

Before a planned African expedition, Jim's fiancée Eve worries her father's guest plans to steal one of her father's rubies. The couple are kidnapped and held prisoner at a mysterious, creepy house, where strange things are afoot.

Seven Footprints to Satan

1929

Witchcraft Through the Ages poster
7.3

Narrated by Beat Generation icon William S. Burroughs, this re-edited and revamped American version of the 1922 Danish classic Häxan features a jazz score and soundtrack featuring violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.

Witchcraft Through the Ages

1968

The Mysterious Island poster
5.6

In the peaceful kingdom of Hetvia, Count Dakkar prepares two high-tech submarines to explore the ocean depths. Jealous of Hetvia's bounty and eager for war, the wicked Baron Hubert Falon attempts to steal the two submersibles for nefarious use. An undersea chase ensues, which leads the two rivals, along with Dakkar's daughter and her lover, into a secret world ruled by a race of strange aquatic creatures.

The Mysterious Island

1929

The Devil's Circus poster
6.8

In 1913, Carl is released from prison, where he served a sentence for stealing. Spurned by his circumstance, Carl rejects God and resumes his fast life of crime. Before long, his fate intersects with that of Mary, a devout orphan, prompting a romance and a reevaluation.

The Devil's Circus

1926

Michael poster
6.4

A mature and visually elegant period romance that remains one of the earliest and most compassionate overtly gay-themed films in movie history. Based upon Herman Bang's 1902 novel, Dreyer's Michael refashions the classical Greek myth of Jupiter and Ganymede into a love triangle between an aging artist, Zoret, his protagonist Michael, and Princess Zamikoff, an aristocratic femme fatale as entranced by Michael’s youthful beauty as Zoret is.

Michael

1924

Film credits

1920s · 2 titles

1910s · 2 titles

Behind the camera

Häxan poster
7.6

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.

Häxan

1922

Häxan poster
7.6

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.

Häxan

1922

Seven Footprints to Satan poster
6.2

Before a planned African expedition, Jim's fiancée Eve worries her father's guest plans to steal one of her father's rubies. The couple are kidnapped and held prisoner at a mysterious, creepy house, where strange things are afoot.

Seven Footprints to Satan

1929

Seven Footprints to Satan poster
6.2

Before a planned African expedition, Jim's fiancée Eve worries her father's guest plans to steal one of her father's rubies. The couple are kidnapped and held prisoner at a mysterious, creepy house, where strange things are afoot.

Seven Footprints to Satan

1929

Witchcraft Through the Ages poster
7.3

Narrated by Beat Generation icon William S. Burroughs, this re-edited and revamped American version of the 1922 Danish classic Häxan features a jazz score and soundtrack featuring violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.

Witchcraft Through the Ages

1968

The Mysterious Island poster
5.6

In the peaceful kingdom of Hetvia, Count Dakkar prepares two high-tech submarines to explore the ocean depths. Jealous of Hetvia's bounty and eager for war, the wicked Baron Hubert Falon attempts to steal the two submersibles for nefarious use. An undersea chase ensues, which leads the two rivals, along with Dakkar's daughter and her lover, into a secret world ruled by a race of strange aquatic creatures.

The Mysterious Island

1929

The Devil's Circus poster
6.8

In 1913, Carl is released from prison, where he served a sentence for stealing. Spurned by his circumstance, Carl rejects God and resumes his fast life of crime. Before long, his fate intersects with that of Mary, a devout orphan, prompting a romance and a reevaluation.

The Devil's Circus

1926

The Devil's Circus poster
6.8

In 1913, Carl is released from prison, where he served a sentence for stealing. Spurned by his circumstance, Carl rejects God and resumes his fast life of crime. Before long, his fate intersects with that of Mary, a devout orphan, prompting a romance and a reevaluation.

The Devil's Circus

1926

Lady with the Light Gloves poster
5.5

During World War I, the engineer Torben returns home with secret papers from the Russian Tsar to the courier Tuschin, Torben's best friend. Tuschin is found murdered, however, and to solve the murder, Torben stays at his hotel. Here he meets several mysterious people, not least the breathtaking stenographer Inge. But in the hotel, no one is who they pretend to be.

Lady with the Light Gloves

1942

His Wife, the Unknown poster
5.8

A war blind painter marries his nurse. But after he can see again through an operation, he does not recognize her. Then she decides to leave him in order to return to his service under a different name. Only when the painter falls in love with her as a stranger to him, she reveal herself.

His Wife, the Unknown

1923

His Wife, the Unknown poster
5.8

A war blind painter marries his nurse. But after he can see again through an operation, he does not recognize her. Then she decides to leave him in order to return to his service under a different name. Only when the painter falls in love with her as a stranger to him, she reveal herself.

His Wife, the Unknown

1923

Blind Justice poster
6.2

On New Year's Eve, convicted murderer Strong Henry escapes from prison and collects his son from the orphanage. When he breaks into a local manor to get some milk for his child, he's surprised by a young woman, Eva. Out of pity, she decides to help the stranger, but unfortunately some of the other occupants contact the police. Fourteen years later, Henry is released from prison. Convinced that Eva betrayed him, he sets out to take revenge and find his son.

Blind Justice

1916

Blind Justice poster
6.2

On New Year's Eve, convicted murderer Strong Henry escapes from prison and collects his son from the orphanage. When he breaks into a local manor to get some milk for his child, he's surprised by a young woman, Eva. Out of pity, she decides to help the stranger, but unfortunately some of the other occupants contact the police. Fourteen years later, Henry is released from prison. Convinced that Eva betrayed him, he sets out to take revenge and find his son.

Blind Justice

1916

Blind Justice poster
6.2

On New Year's Eve, convicted murderer Strong Henry escapes from prison and collects his son from the orphanage. When he breaks into a local manor to get some milk for his child, he's surprised by a young woman, Eva. Out of pity, she decides to help the stranger, but unfortunately some of the other occupants contact the police. Fourteen years later, Henry is released from prison. Convinced that Eva betrayed him, he sets out to take revenge and find his son.

Blind Justice

1916

The Hawk's Nest poster
10.0

Lost 1928 film by Benjamin Benjamin Christensen

The Hawk's Nest

1928

Mockery poster
6.9

During the tumultuous days of the Russian Revolution, Countess Tatiana Alexandrova must leave Siberia and travel to Novokursk in disguise, for fear of being attacked by Bolsheviks. She enlists the help of the peasant Sergei to get her there safely. They bond, and when they finally arrive at the palace, she reveals herself. Sergei is given work there, but influence from the Bolsheviks makes him contemplate turning Tatiana over to the revolutionaries.

Mockery

1927

Come Home with Me poster
8.0

Attorney Helene Hannøe forms close relationships with her troubled clients while trying to solve their problems.

Come Home with Me

1941

The Mysterious X poster
6.7

Not long before marine officer Lieutenant van Hauen goes off to war and heavy-heartedly leaves his family, he coincidentally discovers that his wife has a secret liaison with the dubious Count Spinelli. However, what the van Hauens don't yet know is that the sleazy Spinelli has a hidden agenda.

The Mysterious X

1914

The Mysterious X poster
6.7

Not long before marine officer Lieutenant van Hauen goes off to war and heavy-heartedly leaves his family, he coincidentally discovers that his wife has a secret liaison with the dubious Count Spinelli. However, what the van Hauens don't yet know is that the sleazy Spinelli has a hidden agenda.

The Mysterious X

1914

The Haunted House poster
7.0

Four heirs to a family fortune are summoned to appear at the family estate for the reading of the will, where they meet the estate's staff, which includes a nurse, a crazed doctor, and a sinister handyman.

The Haunted House

1928

The Haunted House poster
7.0

Four heirs to a family fortune are summoned to appear at the family estate for the reading of the will, where they meet the estate's staff, which includes a nurse, a crazed doctor, and a sinister handyman.

The Haunted House

1928

House of Horror poster
10.0

House of Horror is a 1929 American comedy-horror mystery film directed by Benjamin Christensen. The film stars Louise Fazenda and Chester Conklin and was released in both a silent and sound version which featured a Vitaphone soundtrack with talking sequences, music and sound effects. Both the silent and sound versions of House of Horror are now presumed lost.

House of Horror

1929

No artwork available
9.0

A young woman doesn't want to get married, but simply live together with the man she loves. This leads to problems when the man dies and she's left with a child.

The Woman Who Did

1925

Children of Divorce poster
5.7

We are in New York. A young Danish girl has a conversation with the Danish-American Mr. Lang. It is understood that she loves his son and that he has sent the young man to London because he thinks they are both too young. Furthermore, it is clear from the conversation that he is about to file for divorce. The young girl is worried about how his little daughter will fare - despite her youth, she has had bitter experiences herself, and she tells Mr. Lang her story.

Children of Divorce

1939

Children of Divorce poster
5.7

We are in New York. A young Danish girl has a conversation with the Danish-American Mr. Lang. It is understood that she loves his son and that he has sent the young man to London because he thinks they are both too young. Furthermore, it is clear from the conversation that he is about to file for divorce. The young girl is worried about how his little daughter will fare - despite her youth, she has had bitter experiences herself, and she tells Mr. Lang her story.

Children of Divorce

1939

Helgeninderne poster
NR

Danish horror movie from 1921

Helgeninderne

1921

The Child poster
6.7

A young couple face a crisis when they experience an unexpected, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, touching on themes of unwanted pregnancy and illegal abortion.

The Child

1940

The Child poster
6.7

A young couple face a crisis when they experience an unexpected, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, touching on themes of unwanted pregnancy and illegal abortion.

The Child

1940