In "PopMatters", David Sanjek wrote, "The dazzling manner in which "Haxan" shifts from illustrated lecture to historical reenactment to special effects shots of witches on their broomsticks to modern-dress drama pointed to ways the documentary format could be used that others would not draw on until years into the future." Peter Cowie similarly argued in "Eighty Years of Cinema" that it established Christensen as "an auteur of uncommon imagination and with a pictorial flair far ahead of his time." "Time Out London" called it a "weird and rather wonderful brew of fiction, documentary and animation". Film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film three out of a possible four stars, lauding it as "visually stunning" and "genuinely scary". He additionally praised the director's performance as Satan.