Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

Brazilian producer/director/actor José Mojica Marins (Coffin Joe) is one of the most enigmatic and fascinating figures lurking on the fringes of the underground film Universe. Subversive, controversial and always entertaining; Marins, known in Brazil as Zé do Caixão began his filmic career in 1963 with the atmospheric and wonderful, `At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul'.

For a first effort, and with virtually no budget, this is quite an impressive film. It was written, directed, and produced by Zé do Caixão (literally translated from Portuguese as `Joe of the Grave'). Marins also had to take over the lead actor role when his chosen actor dropped out due to the disturbing nature of the script and sadistic actions he was to undertake during the course of the movie.

When one takes into account the circumstances surrounding the filming of this classic, the finished product is even more impressive. It was shot with scraps of film and likely spliced together with scotch tape. The atmosphere and aura this film casts upon the screen is quite magickal. I will not go into plot details, as other reviews have covered this amicably. The transfer to DVD is excellent on this film (as well as the other two). Fantoma always seems to do a wonderful job with this facet of DVD production.

Following `At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul' (1963), Coffin Joe unleashed `This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse' on the unsuspecting populous. `This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse' is the proper sequel to `At Midnight...', and even more effective film. Coffin Joe had a bigger budget, which meant more money for special effects, which meant even more live tarantulas and spiders to victimize his poor actresses with.

`This Night...' is even more terrifying and outrageous than it's predecessor and is best know for it's vivid Technicolor depiction of hell. Dante has nothing on Marins, and this 8+ minute rendering of hell is indelibly etched into my psyche for perpetuity. This is the only part of Marin's wicked film that was shot in color and the contrast betwixt this vivid, lively, lysergically kissed scene and the rest of the carefully captured black and white motif is quite striking, rendering it all the more effective.

The third film in this amazing `trilogy' is inimitable `Awakening of the Beast' (1969). This delirious tale was banned by the Brazilian government until 1986. Upon its official release, `Awakening of the Beast' was regarded by many as Marin's Masterpiece. This film serves as a portrait of drugs and moral decay in modern-day Brazil. In this incredible work, four subjects are chosen for an experiment. The experiment involves giving the subject LSD and exposing them to Coffin Joe posters and films. I will leave it up to the viewer to draw their own conclusions about this perplexing and alluring film.

I realize I have not given very many details regarding the plots of these films. Previous reviewers have done a fine job with this. I am writing this review to let the interested amongst you know that I find these films to be absolutely essential. I have made it something of a mission to uncover hidden gems in the filmic Universe. I had read a few scattered bits here and there regarding a fascinating and sadistic entity named Coffin Joe. The more I read, the more intrigued I became.

The other day whilst bumbling around Amazon I stumbled across this Trilogy. When I saw that this set was produced by Fantoma I knew I needed it. When I realized that it came in a coffin with reproduction of original Coffin Joe comic books I began to convulse with anticipation. I ordered it, expecting to be let down as I usual am when reading too many reviews and essays before viewing a film. Needless to say I was not let down at all.

These are amazing films. The have an aura, ambience, and allure like none other. They are utterly perfect for Halloween and are essential for any self-professed horror fan or cinephile. If you are a fan of obscure horror films, exploitation, or atmospheric `horror-noir' please buy this set immediately. Of all my recent Amazon purchases, this has been by far the most satisfactory...

At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul is probably one of the best cult horror films you've never seen. Decades ago, this 1963 classic shocked and disturbed Brazilian audiences (it was, in fact, Brazil's first horror movie) and gave birth to a whole Coffin Joe franchise, yet only in recent years has this landmark of horror filmmaking found its way to the shores of America - and it's about time because this is one amazing film. With its expressionistic and existentialistic overtones and a cruel, thoroughly unforgettable protagonist, At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul shines with a dark aura all its own. The stark nature of the black and white cinematography seems to sharpen Coffin Joe's hard edges, accentuate his evil glare, and set the mood perfectly for a thoroughly corrupt soul to face the consequences of his amoral and atheistic challenges to both God and Satan.

The character at the center of this film is now well-known as Coffin Joe, but this is actually a mistranslation of his name, Ze do Caixo. The name fits, though, as Ze stalks around in his black top hat and undertaker's getup intimidating and scaring the beeswax out of everyone in town. Everyone fears him, for good reason - those foolish enough to challenge him wind up with missing fingers, ugly stripes all over their bodies from his ruthless whip, or - as happens increasingly in this film - dead. Ze spits in the face of religion, summing up his nihilist philosophy at the very beginning of the film - to put things in a nutshell, he wants to continue his existence by producing a son. His wife Lenita has yet to bear him a child, so he has no more use for her. Instead, he casts his glance toward Terezhina, not caring one iota for the fact that she is the fiancée of his only friend in the world, Antonio. Ze is not one to let a silly thing like friendship get in the way of getting what he wants. There are a number of deaths in this film, but I won't ruin things for future viewers by detailing them here. I'll just say that Ze takes great delight in killing, thus giving us some surprisingly gory images (especially for a 1963 film) - Brazilian censors tried to suppress portions of the film, but we now have the luxury of seeing it as it was truly envisioned.

The downright evil of the man may not come across as strongly in America or elsewhere as it did in Brazil, however. Eating meat on a holy day surely offended the Catholic audiences of Brazil much more than it will many of today's American viewers. Still, Ze's fury in the face of religion is made obvious to all, as he has a tendency to rail at the God he doesn't believe in and challenge anyone or anything to send him straight to hell. Such scenes of voracious nihilism, set in a graveyard and cast against a backdrop of stormy lightning seemingly serving to vent the anger of heaven itself, play beautifully here.

It is amazing just what director Jose Mojica Marins was able to accomplish on such a low budget. The set was limited, especially that of the graveyard and forest, but it hardly shows. No one was willing to play the part of Ze, so Marins took it upon himself to bring his malevolent creation to life - and does a magnificent job. He actually glued glitter onto his negative to create one special effect, but it actually works quite well - and indeed, the special effects are a tremendous plus for this shockingly impressive film. I especially loved the change that appears in Ze's eyes just before he unleashes his fury on another innocent victim.

American audiences met Coffin Joe for the first time in 1993; now, with the DVD release, it is time America's horror fans properly introduced themselves to Marin and gave a brave, ingenious director his due. While I haven't seen the DVD itself, I can say that the print of the film that I came across was incredibly sharp and clear in both sight and sound. The film is in Portuguese, of course, but the subtitles are easy to read and correspond very well with what is taking place on the screen. Coffin Joe is a strikingly captivating fiend who revels in his own evil; I daresay I've never encountered a character quite like him.