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Review by
Rod Barnett
Film:7
BD/DVD:9
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| NOTE:
Screenshots were taken from the DVD |
| In
the interest of being completely forthright I must admit that
I had very little hope for this film to be good. When I first
learned that a new and supposedly final Coffin Joe film had been
made I had visions of a poorly produced, thinly scripted and sloppily
crafted attempt to milk the cult status of José Mojica
Marins' most famous character for a shoddy cash-in. After all,
the last official Coffin Joe film was made decades ago; both the
world and film has changed so much that I assumed that any attempt
at recreating the funky vibe of the first two Zé do Caixão
films would simply fail. After all, the thrill of those movies
was partially the rogue, underground nastiness of the story layered
with a gratuitously blasphemous philosophy that seemed an attempt
to push every button possible. Indeed, in a society like 1960s
Brazil Marins' gross-out epics had to be perceived as the worst
kind of horror the world could bring forth by way of a 'hero',
one with no moral code other than 'Do what thou will' and a maniacal
desire to bring a child into the world to continue his work after
he is gone. How hideous! But another part of the earlier films'
appeal lay in the character of Zé do Caixão himself. Sure,
his motivations are bizarre and clear signs of an unhinged/mad
view of the world but Marins played him as a charismatic, cunning,
clever and utterly amoral bastard, making him both protagonist
and villain in one sick package. You could not take your eyes
off of him wondering what depraved thing he would do next in his
single-minded drive to breed the perfect son. In a way I've always
considered him the furthest extended example of the usual caricature
of the macho South American male: concerned only with inflicting
his lusts and desires on the women around him, seeing them as
nothing but objects of lust or potential wombs to give him a male
descendant. Marins seemed to be commenting on the culture he was
born into by holding up a mirror and showcasing the most extreme
outcome of letting these male power fantasies run wild. Now that's
entertainment! |
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It
turns out that somehow Josefel Zanatas alias Zé do Caixão
AKA Coffin Joe did not perish in the swamp as we were lead to
believe at the end of This
Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1966). He has been rotting
in a jail cell for the past 40 years but the clever work of a
(female!) lawyer has gotten him released back into society against
the better judgment of the prison warden and general common sense.
Aided by a hunchbacked servant named Bruno (Rui Rezende) and a
small group of fanatical followers, he resumes his work as an
undertaker and (of course) sets out to pick up right where he
left off by finding the perfect woman to carry on his blood to
the next generation. Setting up housekeeping in a properly dank
dungeon, Joe has a series of gorgeous women brought before him
but none have the necessary ability to handle the physical and
mental torture he subjects them to — and, as before, the search
proves very difficult. At the same time it seems that being back
in the outside world is having a detrimental effect on him as
he begins to see visions of his dead wife and many of his past
victims. These ghostly apparitions flicker into view in grainy
black & white, haunting him with clear if unspoken threats of
a death as horrible as the ones he visited upon them. At the same
time Joe's mutilation and humiliation of a local policeman has
lead to his brother, another policeman, swearing revenge against
the gravedigger and is joined in his quest by a priest with his
own family feud. By the time Joe has finally located the woman
that might prove worthy of his seed, events begin to spin out
of control — with a number of angry people both alive and dead
targeting our anti-hero for destruction. |
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I
was shocked by this film in many ways but not in the ways you
might expect. First, I was shocked by how really good it looks.
Embodiment
of Evil
is beautifully shot in sharp, vibrant colors with an incredible
depth of detail. I never expected it to look so good. Secondly,
I was shocked by the smartness of the script. It moves wonderfully
from idea to idea intelligently presenting its story in logical
fashion never once ringing hollow in the way a cash-in would.
It is clear Marins had a firm foundation for his final Coffin
Joe tale and it shows in the strong construction of this film.
I was also surprised by the clever way the ending of This
Night I'll Possess Your Corpse is rewritten to allow the
story to take place at all. By using Coffin Joe impersonator Raymond
Castile (who is a dead ringer for a young Marins) in newly shot
black & white footage blended seamlessly into the original ending
we are given a 'resurrection' worthy of a great monster. Jason
Voorhees never had this good a rebirth! I was also surprised by
how vital and alive both Marins and the entire film feels. There
is a real vigor and electricity to the picture so that most of
the time it fairly crackles with energy. I was completely engaged
even during the moments that rang less than true, such as the
introductory scenes of the vengeful priest played by Milhem Cortaz.
This particular actor seemed to be working a little too hard to
convince us of his desire for blood. |
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I was less shocked by the sequences that are clearly there to
shock. After all, I expect Coffin Joe to degrade women, bathe
in blood during sex and stage cannibalism and torture of every
kind. That is the man's stock in trade. Still, some of the grotesque
acts on display are revolting and a few are very real so I can
imagine a fan of modern 'torture porn' being impressed but I would
bet this film crosses a few lines the uninitiated might be stunned
to see. Coffin Joe is the real deal, folks — he ain't concerned
with presenting a PG-13 cut for easy consumption. |
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Over all I felt Marins managed to do the near impossible by bringing
his long dormant monster back from the grave in a film that is
at least as entertaining as his original groundbreaking works
from four decades ago. I never thought we'd see another adventure
of Coffin Joe but I am truly glad for Embodiment
of Evil. It shows what is possible if a true horror visionary
is allowed the chance to create his own filmic epitaph. Hail Zé
do Caixão! |
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| Synapse
has brought Embodiment of Evil to
home video in a double pack that gives the purchaser both the
Blu-Ray and the DVD for one price. As the contents of each disc
are identical I watched the Blu-Ray and I must say that the film
is so sharp and beautiful that I was constantly amazed by the
amount of fine detail in the picture. It is quite gorgeous in
full 1080p High Def and presents the odd quandary of being a demonstration
quality disc that I would fear to show to everyone I know. I'm
not sure my family would be as impressed with the various shades
of red in the bloody sex scene as I was but instead appalled by
the sight of an old man humping a nude Brazilian swimsuit model.
The original Portugese soundtrack is presented in two options
— a DTS-HD Master Audio track in 5.1 Surround and 2.0 Stereo —
both of which are great. The optional English subtitles are very
good with no mistakes I could spot. The special features start
with a 31-minute 'making of' featurette that takes us briefly
behind the scenes of the production. It's pretty interesting to
see Marins' vitality as he is happily in his element again after
so long. I was amused to see the all-too real tests some of the
actors are put through to make sure that they could handle the
nastier things they would have to do on camera. (I think I would
have drawn the line at the bugs no matter how much I wanted to
be in a Coffin Joe movie.) The other substantial extra is a 13-minute
bit of rather poor video footage of Coffin Joe's appearance at
the Fantasia Film Fest to premiere Embodiment
of Evil. Marins is clearly having a good time but its hard
to hear what's happening for stretches of the piece. Rounding
things out is the theatrical trailer, which does a good job of
selling the film. |
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This is a great video package and I cannot
imagine fans of Zé do Caixão being unhappy with both the
film and its home video release. If this really is the final Coffin
Joe film we can be happy he went out on a high note and Jose Mojica
Marins can be proud to have crafted a worthy cap/tombstone for
his greatest creation. 4/29/11 |
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