While I’d never seen any of the Coffin Joe movies until now
I’d heard about them or seen images of the title character over the past few
years. It was one of those series of films that horror fans discuss but only
the die-hards had copies of. All that changes with this release from Synapse.
Collected together are the two main features starring the character and a third
more recent film, the last in the series to my knowledge. Are they any good?
You’ll have to decide for yourself.
The first film is AT MIDNIGHT I’LL TAKE YOUR SOUL, made in
1964 and starring director José Mojica Marins as Zé do Caixão aka Coffin Joe.
Made on a miniscule budget at best and shot in Brazil, not a hot spot for film
making at the time, Mojica creates a character here the blasphemous Joe is the
local undertaker in a small town. Railing against the peasants celebrating a
religious holiday he later sets out to achieve his goal, to live forever in the
form of children. Kidnapping a wife he finds suitable to extend his bloodline
he’s disappointed when she fails to conceive and he kills her. As the death
toll at his hands increases he’s warned by a gypsy that the souls he takes will
come to take his at midnight. Whether they do or not, or if he finally has his
son, I’ll leave for you to discover.
The extras on this film include a making of featurette, José
Mojica Marins discussing his short film, REINO SANGRENTO, an Interview with
José Mojica Marins, a new scene filmed in 2002, an introduction to the film by
Coffin Joe himself and the original theatrical trailer and rare promotional
trailer.
The second film is THIS NIGHT I’LL POSSESS YOUR CORPSE
(1964) and continues the story of Coffin Joe. This time around Joe is aided by
the standard hunchback assistant as he kidnaps a bevy of beauties that he then
tortures in hopes of finding the perfect mate. How dropping a hundred or so
tarantulas into their bedroom helps that I’ll never understand. But this is
only one of several torturous things he does to them in his quest. At one point
he falls into a terrible nightmare brought about after killing a pregnant
woman. This sequence is filmed in color (the rest is black and white) and
highlights scenes of Hell that Joe is destined for. With some nudity included
here my guess is it stopped the film from wide release here in the states at
the time and caused some controversy. Once again I’ll leave it to you to find
out if he succeeds with his plans or if the villagers will eventually stop him.
Synapse has come up with some interesting extras here as
well including the film being restored from a 35mm negative supervised by
director Marins, a making of featurette, a visit to the Coffin Joe Museum, a
vintage featurette about the universe of Mojica Marins, an interview with
Marins, the original theatrical trailer and a photo gallery.
The third film in the series, EMBODIMENT OF EVIL, was not
included in the items I received from Synapse. My guess is they run the same as
the other two films though being made in 2008 the quality should have improved.
So are they any good? I’ve discussed before that some films
seem to lose something “in translation”. The style used by Marins here with the
budget he had to me at least was incredibly weak. I was reminded of those
scenes in films depicting the worst actor on a stage and that’s the
performances I was witnessing here. Overblown, pompous and unbelievable. Scenes
between Coffin Joe and the villagers often have a group of them cowering in his
presence. At some point you wonder why they don’t realize that if they attack him
together he has no chance.
The sets seem slapped together and in some cases just feel
like he used the nearest and cheapest location he could find. Costumes run the
same. Special effects are nearly non-existent. And perhaps the sight of a
spider crawling on someone was a fear inspiring image in the early sixties but
I kind of doubt it. Maybe that’s all it took in Brazil though.
I know there are many that sing the praises of these films
but honestly mine won’t be among that chorus. I found them to be much ado about
nothing as the phrase goes. Still they are a part of horror history and deserve
to be saved and restores as has been done here. Synapse is fast becoming a
contender when it comes to the salvation of many movies like this. The
packaging of the film is exceptional, the prints as clean as can be expected
with a film this old, the extras interesting enough to make them worth watching
and for fans of the series it becomes something worth adding to your collection
replacing those old bootleg editions found at horror cons over the years. The
films may not be for everyone but for fans of the series, for horror fans and
for those interested in the preservation of film this will be one worth adding
to your collection.
Click here to order.
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