A few years ago I rented a number of "Coffin Joe" films, which at the time were available from "Something Weird." I went looking for them on Something Weird's website recently and couldn't find them. They're wild movies -- mostly black and white, but very graphic. Turns out IFC is about to show several of them on its new show, "Grindhouse," starting this weekend. The first one, "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul Away," was one of the ones I saw and is well worth checking out. Here are some details:
Coffin Joe: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
Jan. 12 at midnight ET
The first of the Coffin Joe films introduces the titlular top hat-sporting Brazilian horror icon, a sadistic undertaker obsessed with finding the "ideal" woman to bear his child.
1963 81 min. Director: JosT Mojica Marins
Brazilian horror auteur Jose Mojica Marins both directs and stars in this hallucinogenic chiller (aka A Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma), playing a sadistic> village undertaker named "Coffin Joe" who strikes fear into the hearts of
pious townspeople through rape, mutilation and murder. Obsessed with continuing his> bloodline by siring a child with his "ideal" woman, Joe first takes steps to eliminate his wife (with the help of a venomous tarantula), then sets his lecherous sights on his friend's gypsy fiancee. The horrid crimes that follow bring down the wrath of a gypsy curse, which comes to pass during a village celebration on November 2 -- the Day of the Dead. This is widely regarded to be the first horror film produced in Brazil.
Coffin Joe Comes To IFC
I've never seen any of the movies, but I read that they are currently available on disc in a box set. I've heard good things.
Coffin Joe Comes To IFC
I watched it last night, and was riveted all over again. It's really shocking (especially for its time), and Marins is way charismatic. Apparently the Something Weird version was edited, because I saw stuff in it last night I hadn't seen before.
Coffin Joe Comes To IFC
The sequel to At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse, is playing tonight. Unfortunately, it was on while I was making dinner, so I missed a lot of the subtitles and had to piece together the beginning, then watch the end. But I caught a scene of "Coffin Joe" getting dragged down to hell that's super great. You gotsta see it.
Coffin Joe Comes To IFC
Mondo Macabro has a whole chapter devoted to Jose Marins creation, Coffin Joe, portrayed by the director himself. It's highly recommended reading, as is Immoral Tales by the same author, Pete Tombs (great name, wot?) Also, the Coffin Joe Trilogy are on DVD in a box set shaped like a coffin. Pretty cool.
Coffin Joe Comes To IFC
I saw "Tonight I'll Posess Your Corpse" and loved the trippy hell sequence. The one they're showing next Friday, "Awakening Of The Beast," simulates an LSD trip in kind of a similar way.
I'd like to read Tombs's chapter on Coffin Joe. I really enjoyed "Immoral Tales."
Coffin Joe Comes To IFC
Read online that Jose Marins just finished filming the latest Coffin Joe film. These movies rank as not only some of the best horror movies I've ever seen, but some of the best movies i've ever seen.
Coffin Joe Comes To IFC
I"m kind of sorry they didn't keep up the pattern of the titles. You know, "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul," "This Night I'll Posess Your Corpse"...then they switched to "Awakening Of The Beast."
I was looking forward to seeing "Tomorrow I'll Piss On Your Grave," amd "Next Week I'll Reposess Your Volvo."
Coffin Joe Comes To IFC
have them in my collection
dub them off of ifc
Coffin Joe Comes To IFC
Does Image still have that box set out? I've been meaning to get it but never got a chance to. I know there was an even bigger South American DVD set that was put out but is now OOP.
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