Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922)

The movie starts with a closeup of Benjamin Christensen describing the lives of so-called witches during the inquisition, most of whom were not even witches, just women who were accused. It’s like a replayed documentary about the horror of ancient times in Western society – very educative, like a period educational horror movie. There’s a whole family of movies that are like seeing everything replayed to show you the horrors of the past – a movie by Gualtiero Jacopetti called Goodbye Uncle Tom about slavery for example – and Häxan is a masterpiece. There should be a remake.

Would you want to direct it?

Of course! I could also have put Threads on this list, about what post-nuclear war in Britain could have been. That’s like a documentary too. Something you learn a lot from nowadays, especially with Vladimir Putin and America sending threats to each other. I feel like we’re living in the prologue…