At long last I've recently had a chance to sit down and dissect the much delayed and sought after 6-disc Coffin Joe Box Set from Brazil. Coffin Joe is the brainchild of José Mojica-Marins (writer/director/actor/producer) a character that has grown into something of a pop culture icon around the world in recent years. Coffin Joe is known for spreading madness across his village as he skulks around town with his cape, top hat and overgrown fingernails of doom. The flicks in this set span from about 1964 to 78, and as many times as I've seen these movies they never cease to amaze me. Marins was a genius, and way ahead of his time...he's definitely one of the most underrated horror icons the film industry has ever known and his films have incredible replay value. Newbies are almost guaranteed to get sucked in whether it's caused by sheer disgust and repulsion, or unabashed amazement and adoration; Marin's flicks are real eye openers.

This DVD set includes 3 flicks that had a previous release in the states while the remaining 3 have yet to see any DVD releases. The result is a mixed bag at best, I'll go into more detail as we move along, but as a whole, this is a mightily impressive set. There's a lot of Coffin Joe goodness to be found within, so let's not delay any further and just dig in.

At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964, 81 minutes, B&W) - This is the one that started it all. From the creepy opening montage to the evil gypsy who dares us to even watch the film telling us we'd better go home before it's too late, It's evident that this film is like no other we have ever laid eyes on. Marins stars as Zé (Coffin Joe) an undertaker who is feared about as much as he would like to be respected in his small Brazilian village. Unhappy that his wife is unable to bear him a child he kills her in a frightening yet unassuming manner. With his wife out of the picture, Zé is free to roam the village searching for a suitable woman to bear his child and carry on his gruesome name as well as exorcising his own personal demons along the way. Well, it should come as no surprise to hear that most of the women Zé encounters (and their male counterparts) are less than willing to cooperate and Zé simply won't take no for an answer from anyone (including himself).

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967, 107 minutes, B&W/Color) - A direct sequel to At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse picks up almost immediately where it's predecessor left off. Zé is set free due to lack of evidence and he returns to his village and picks up where he left off as Undertaker. Things have changed drastically around the village including new unexplained characters like Joe's disfigured and hunchback assistant Bruno, who plays off like a poor man's Igor (he's still charming nonetheless). Joe kidnaps a bevy of beauties from the town to once again find a suitable portal for his son to be born and of course it isn't until the end of the film that the town realizes Joe's the one responsible for all of the deaths and disappearances. High marks go out to the color sequence in the film in which Joe pays a direct visit to Hell. The sequence is both visually beautiful and frightening at the same time. Simply brilliant.

Since Marins actually had a budget this time around there's obviously a lot more happening here than in the first flick. The horrors are ten times more unspeakable including acid, snakes, spiders and good ol' Bruno himself. This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse relies heavier on exploitation elements than the first flick including mucho nudity and violence. It's certainly not without its flaws but This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse is a much slicker and more frightening vision than At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, definitely a worthy sequel.

Strange World of Coffin Joe (1968, 80 minutes, B&W) - This time his name is in the title but he's nowhere to be found. Strange World of Coffin Joe is a trilogy of tales that probably wouldn't be worth very much if it weren't for the final story. The first story entitled Dollmaker centers on 4 crooks that break into a prolific dollmaker's house in an attempt to rob him and rape his four lovely daughters. What these crooks don't realize is that the dollmaker and his crafty daughters have another plan altogether. The second story entitled Obsession features very little dialogue and is definitely a worthy attempt at a more artsy fartsy type horror flick. A young man develops an unhealthy obsession for a young lady...an obsession that follows her to the grave and lasts even longer. The final story Ideology stars Marins himself as a mad scientist type who kidnaps a young couple in order to have a chance to play god and test the limits of love (which he believes does not exist). This is a chilling tale that is just as graphic as it is beautiful. At times it's very difficult to watch and the obvious influences that this flick had on future exploitation gems (cannibalism for one) is almost maddening to comprehend. Obviously the icing on the cake here, the last story is well worth the price of admission all on its own, and this flick has yet to make an appearance on DVD in the states.

Awakening of the Beast (1970, 91 minutes, B&W/Color) - From the opening moments of Awakening of the Beast you'd think that it was the long-awaited return of Coffin Joe to the series... and you'd be partially right. Coffin Joe does make an appearance (as does Marins as himself) but Joe is far from the centerpiece of Awakening which could possibly be even more bizarre than its predecessors (is that even possible?). Through a bunch of unrelated(?) vignettes we're exposed to several slices of moral and sexual depravity that run the gamut of society (a man who likes to strip and kick down women, a young girl who has a pole shoved inside her by a biblical figure and yet another young woman stripping and then crapping in a pot in front of some gawking fellas, you get the idea). Of course all of these tidbits have a purpose, they're all here to help reinforce a theory that we'll learn about soon enough. We soon discover that José Mojica-Marins films have caused him to be put on trial, all the while a scientist is trying to prove his theories (see, there's that theory) that people are born with an evil streak and not conditioned to do bad things like by friends, family, drugs or Friday the 13th movies (although the last Friday the 13th flick made me want to do bad things...like kill the producers of it). It all culminates with a trippy LSD inspired color sequence set to the tune of Coffin Joe and his minions.

Proving once again that he was way ahead of his time, Marins provides us with a flick that isn't so heavy on the gore but includes heaps of sexual depravity. Awakening combines some very effective biting social commentary and it's obvious throughout the duration that this was a project that was held dear to Marins heart and must have hit pretty close to home for him. While Awakening remains the least horrific (in the traditional sense) of the rest of the films in the series, I wouldn't hesitate to say that it's probably the most important of all of Marins films and in turn, essential viewing.

End of Man (1971, 79 minutes, Color) - A complete departure for Marins from his exploitation flicks, End of Man is in a category all its own. Prohibited by the gvt. to shoot films with horror icon Coffin Joe, Marins came up with End of Man a film that despite the absence of Coffin Joe's horrific elements remains an absurdity in its own right. Marins stars as Finis Hominis a man who travels the countryside performing minor miracles. Finis cures illness, ends crippling debilities and wakes the dead. Along the way Finis develops a religious following that spans the likes of the businessman to the hippie. End of Man is a completely different flavor of flick from Marins than any other title in this set. It's by no means a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, but remains my least favorite from the offerings at hand. All told, it's a historically significant Marins film and at the same time a welcomed addition to this collection.

Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind (1978, 83 minutes, B&W/Color) - Coffin Joe returns, but with only about 27 percent new material this time around. As kind of a big fuck-you to the Brazilian censors, Marins unleashes a film that reinstates many of the scenes he was forced to cut from his previous films. A young man is haunted by visions of Coffin Joe and this is where all of those nasty bits come into play. It won't mean much now in retrospect since all of the flicks are presented here uncut. While all of these scenes are intact in the films in this set, Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind still holds its place and the film serves as the perfect Coffin Joe visual hodge-podge. It's a great way to get your Coffin Joe fix all in one shot and serves as a nice compliment to the set. Amazingly enough, this flick passed the censors after its completion despite containing all of the scenes previously banned!

If you're a fan of horror and have yet to discover the pure joys of Coffin Joe, there is no better time than the present to start. Quite often funding his own flicks, it's really amazing what this guy was able to pull off cinematically. His films are clever, atmospheric and quite often disturbing. Marins didn't waste his time making crappy monster flicks or try to rip anyone off. He was an originator and was quite often persecuted for his ideas and brave cinematic visuals. They may not all be winners, but each of his films have their strengths which ultimately make them worth much more than a casual glance. I don't care how you do it but if you haven't already, you owe it to yourself to dig right into this man's work.

OK folks, let's talk quality, shall we? Each of the films presented here has their ups and downs and none are going to ever be referred to as reference quality. Strange World of Coffin Joe, End of Man and Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind are all presented full frame while the others are presented mildly letterboxed at 1.66:1 with no 16X9 enhancement. Each flick has its own set of rough spots (scratches and specs mostly) but overall these films are given quality presentations all things considered. The titles that are already available in the US (At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse and Awakening of the Beast) are all on par with their Brazilian DVD counterparts on these discs. Amazingly enough though the color sequences in This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse and Awakening of the Beast look much sharper and vibrant in the original films than they do in Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind (which is really just the same footage used over again). Also of note is the fact that Strange World of Coffin Joe suffers the most quality wise, including a really horrid video glitch towards the end. Other than a few unexpected moments like this, most of the features display quality transfers here. The color sequences in This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse and Awakening of the Beast sport vibrant lifelike colors, while the full color feature End of Man and color sequences in Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind suffer a bit from colors that appear a bit drab in comparison. I'd say that the US editions sport a slightly darker image as well (you'll see the slight difference in the comparison screen grabs) but clarity and quality remains pretty much the same throughout.

Audio is presented in Portuguese in either Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0. The 5.1 tracks are nothing more than a half-assed attempt at a mono digital surround track. We've seen this happen before and I don't understand why distributors insist on still doing it. With the 5.1 track it sounds as if you're listening to the audio in an empty Carnegie Hall all by your lonesome. No directional effects just the same sound emanating from each speaker, nothing but an annoyance... stick with the 2.0 track, no added value here with the 5.1. As with the video quality, the audio has its rough spots as well including a bit of the snap, crackle and pop on occasion. It's not too distracting and once again, I must stress considering the titles at hand, more than acceptable (also on par with the US releases). Yellow subtitles are offered in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. For what it's worth I found the subtitles on the US releases to appear more accurate and "user friendly" than the one's presented here. Also of note is the fact that the subtitles fly by way too fast on this release...hope you're up on your speed-reading.

While each disc features a host of extras, unfortunately none of them are in English. This really confuses the hell out of me because of all the press the distributor did in the US. Everyone I know that's a Coffin Joe fan was eagerly awaiting this release and having all of the extras in English would have been the icing on the cake. Now, after all is said in done, the lack of English subtitles on the extras could very well be the downfall of this set being a success in the US. Each disc features audio commentaries, documentaries, old radio shows, promos etc. etc. The only enjoyment an English-speaking fan can get out of the extras here are from the stills and trailers, which oddly enough do have subtitles (am I the only one eagerly awaiting a possible DVD release of titles like Exorcismo Negro and Perversion? Yowza!). Did I mention that Coffin Joe himself introduces each flick in a newly recorded intro segment? Yup, but once again, no English subs...hit the FF button. Also of note is a pretty cool stop motion sequence that introduces each disc, and the very nifty double-sided artwork on the sleeves. One side features the original poster art (which in some instances is very cool) while the other side features an ultra cool design created specifically for this release. The covers to the right of this page are examples of the new versions.

Here's where we stand when all is said and done. The three best flicks from the set (At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse, and Awakening of the Beast) are all ready available in the US in comparable quality along with a brief interview with Marins himself. Heck, you can get all three of these flicks in a cool coffin-shaped box (with a comic book repro) for about 50 bucks! If you wanna spend 20 bucks more, you can gain access to the other three films by purchasing this Brazilian import. Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind and End of Man are both cool, but not a necessity while The Strange World of Coffin Joe is a definite plus to the set (especially the incredible 3rd story). Personally, I have both sets and I'm pretty sure that all of the die-hard Coffin Joe fans will want them both as well. The Brazilian import can be found locally for about 70 bucks, which is still less than 15 bucks, a flick. I've given you the facts, now you do the math. Despite its obvious downfalls, it's really hard not to recommend this release...as many times as I've seen these Coffin Joe films, I still had a blast going through this release.

For a complete list of extras on the set click here!

For some comparison screen grabs from both the Brazilian release and the US release, click here!