There’s an unalienable truth that all of us know by this point: whenever witches show up, bad news tends to follow. Sometimes for the public at large, other times for the incredibly foolish, and occasionally for those who absolutely deserve it. We got witches and all they entail figured out by now, right? No run-of-the-mill witch can surprise us.
But what about SEWER WITCHES?
Ah, unknown territory, I see. That’s okay, I’m not too well versed when it comes to subterranean sorcerers either, so we’re going on this journey of discovery together. Sewers are already dangerous enough with alligators, C.H.U.D.s, blobs, and the like, so adding witches to the mix is just asking for trouble. Who would dare do such a thing?
Anders Elsrud Hultgreen, that’s who. The director of Hospital Dumpster Divers is taking to the underground to show us some gutter magic in his new short film—Septichexen!
The synopsis reads, “In the sewers of Bergen, a microbiologist tries to uncover a contamination of the drinking water.”
The short is 13:49 minutes long. According to IMDB, 1349 is the year when the Black Death reached Norway. Fun tidbit, just for y’all.
Compared to the Street Trash/Ghoulies-inspired romp that is Hospital Dumpster Divers, Septichexen explores a more auteur route to its horror, akin to something like Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre or Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves. Its focus stays on displays of vivid visual stimulation, showcasing hauntingly beautiful imagery to progress its story in lieu of traditional storytelling. There’s a narrator explaining the basic gist, and in terms a bit more straightforward than one might expect, but the visuals are where the emotional impact is.
We’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves, though. First, we should discuss where the idea of Septichexen began gestating. Luckily, Hultgreen hasn’t kept that answer buried.
Hultgreen said:
“I was reading about old urban legends from the small coastal villages of Norway, and suddenly I came across this city-witch legend. Simultaneously, I was reading and collecting lots of stories and news articles describing strange things connected to the sewer system and incidents of drinking water supply pollution in the city of Bergen.
“As in cinema, paintings, and literature, the visualization of death and the plague as living characters is common. In Septichexen, I want to personify “drinking water pollution” as a living character — a witch.”
Witches being the cause of water pollution seems preferable to the usual suspects, but I digress.
As per the synopsis, the film follows a young microbiologist trying to determine what’s going on with the local drinking water. Instead, she stumbles upon a psychedelic fever dream replacing her reality and the witch causing it.
Hultgreen said:
“I want the audience to witness a witch ritual where an old witch is brainwashing a younger person, in a mission of moving her eternal witch soul into a young new human body. I want to explore when a witch takes over another person and speaks via someone else’s mouth.”
Septichexen champions mood and atmosphere over narrative, being almost whimsical, fairy tale-esque in a nightmarish kind of way. I’d even go so far as to say “cosmic” in nature.
Hultgreen agrees, saying:
“Yes, nightmarish and cosmic are good descriptions. I have been inspired by cosmic horror for a long time.
“In Septichexen, I wanted to explore a more fluid and dreamy narrative storytelling rather than the high-tension physical and rhythmical storytelling of Hospital Dumpster Divers. I believe the worldless visual language is an extremely rich narrative language. In a way, Septichexen is an experiment where I combine wordless visual language with lots of spoken words, but where the words do not serve to pull the storytelling language forward… rather work as indoctrinating monologues.
“Another idea, if comparing Hospital Dumpster Divers and Septichexen, is that there are a lot of explorations and imaginations of hallucinations resulting from the inhalations of strange gases from sewers and medical waste.”
By the way, that title — Septichexen — has a fantastic ring to it. Brings to mind Häxan, which exudes similar vibes, come to think of it.
Hultgreen said:
“Thank you. I wanted to make a homage to the cinema history of explorations of witchcraft. And Häxan is, for me, the magnum opus of witch cinema, a pure masterpiece.”
Hultgreen is someone to keep an eye on, with his work fitting right in place with the best of A24 and Neon arthouse indie-horror. Just needs a bigger budget is all! From where I’m standing, it’s not a matter of “if” he’ll get a chance to develop a full feature, but a matter of “when.” You can check out Septichexen right here.
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