Coffin Joe or José Mojica Marins is more than a bloke with long finger nails to those introduced into his work. I had the original DVD release of this set from Second Sight or Arrow I think (goes to check) Platform entertainment. Zé do Caixão (Coffin Joe) was written, directed and starred Marins and ran from 1964 to 2008. Joe is a cultural icon that most older Brazilians know well, if not for his sadistic lord of carnival horror, then his wild nails!

To the set…

AT MIDNIGHT I WILL TAKE YOUR SOUL is the most raw and real of the set. It has benefited a lot from the very good 4K. Though its rawness still tickles the screen in a way that leaves the viewer knowing what the whole set up is. Lindsay Hallam offers up the best extra here. It is on par with the commentary but its the feel that Hallam grants us about Joe and Marins and his extrapolation of the horrors he seeks. It does venture into a sprinkle of self involvement but then sometimes good things do. THIS NIGHT I’LL POSSESS YOUR CORPSE is the second best of everything here.

Second best film. Second best in its 4K restoration, where it feels a little tired in the weight of the image both in colour depth and that squalidness of the space. However its range and Joe coming into his own as a monsterous soul embarking on a brutal campaign of terror, who is aided and abetted by a venomous hunchbacked assistant is everything you want. Stephen Thrower is on top form here with his life of Marins that wears its rich detail by being punchy and pointed. THE STRANGE WORLD OF COFFIN JOE follows the anthology set up. For me its the best of the set. Three short horror films featuring a strange dollmaker, a necrophiliac balloon seller and a psychotic professor. There is sex and perversion melded with sadism. 60s drug culture, swinging identities and a obvious comment of Brazil as a place of hard right venom. This looks great as well. 4K black and white might avoid the colouring that adds a sense of the period but it finally solves that shocking crinkle pan and scan of the DVD. This robbed the film of any texture. Its back baby! Miranda Corcoran well done. Great work.

THE END OF MAN is a satire that works and wanders. It sees a naked stranger emerge from the sea to perform miracles in a nearby town and become a modern messiah. Its not as direct, hard, pointed or punches as it should and we would expect. Instead its a bit limp. 4K look has issue but thats the stock not the hard work of those involved. Virginie Sélavy extra is a must to understand this in a sense of its surrealist canon (Think of this as a Alejandro Jodorowsky inspired beast.) WHEN GODS FALL ASLEEP sees the messianic cult figure right wrongs, expose corruption and end social unrest. Its laboured and dull. Looks good though. I would add that the extras here are well worth seeing. THE STRANGE HOSTEL OF NAKED PLEASURES darkens and returns the director to safer ground. Its a delight. Joe is a proprietor of an isolated guest house where, on a dark and stormy night, an eclectic group of strangers seek shelter. Looking much better than before (it actually was ok on the DVD in standard def) and seemingly tasting of the blood spilled, its a must for the blood hounds.

HELLISH FLESH, ramps up the blood letting with Dr George Medeiros being a brilliant scientist, but a neglectful husband whose wife takes a lover and plans to murder George for his fortune. Its more cinematically minded than anything before and also more rewarding for a film fan to watch. The 4K dances on screen for me. The real pleasure was the drawing out of that tone and tenor of the colours. Kat Ellinger video essay gleans a lot on both this and HALLUCINATIONS OF A DERANGED MIND. But the first looks grand and the second lacks something. I dont know what but its a sad deflation. EMBODIMENT OF EVIL, finishes the set. Marins returns to the role that made his name one last time, emerging onto the streets of São Paulo in 2008 still in pursuit of the woman who can give him the perfect child. Its all good here but I was tired by the end, as was the films.

• Brand new 4K restorations from the best available elements
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all films
• Original lossless mono audio for all films (except Embodiment of Evil)
• Optional English subtitles on all films
• Coffin Joe: Against the World!, an illustrated collector’s book featuring new writing by Tim Lucas, Carlos Primati, Jerome Reuter, Amy Voorhees Searles, Kyle Anderson, and Paulo Sacramento
• Reversible sleeves featuring newly commissioned artwork by Butcher Billy
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Butcher Billy
• 12 postcard-sized double-sided art cards

Disc 1: At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul

• Brand new 4K restoration from a 35mm interpositive and a 35mm print
• Archive audio commentary with writer, director and star José Mojica Marins, filmmaker Paulo Duarte and film scholar Carlos Primati (Portuguese with English subtitles)
• Coffin Joe’s Sadean Underworld, a new video essay by film scholar Lindsay Hallam
• Damned: The Strange World of José Mojica Marins, the definitive documentary on the life and work of José Mojica Marins by André Barcinski and Ivan Finotti
• Bloody Kingdom, José Mojica Marins’ first short film with director’s commentary
• The Adventurer’s Fate and My Destiny in Your Hands, excerpts from early works by José Mojica Marins
• Theatrical trailer

Disc 2: This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse / The Strange World Of Coffin Joe

• Brand new 4K restoration of This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse from the original 35mm camera negative and 35mm interpositive
• Brand new 4K restoration of The Strange World of Coffin Joe from a 35mm interpositive and a 35mm print
• Archive audio commentaries for both films with José Mojica Marins, Paulo Duarte and Carlos Primati (Portuguese with English subtitles)
• Eccentric of Cinema, a new interview with author Stephen Thrower examining the early life and influences of José Mojica Marins
• On Tonight’s Horror Show!, a new video essay by film scholar Miranda Corcoran looking at the mythic figure of Coffin Joe within the canon of horror hosts
• Alternative ending for The Strange World of Coffin Joe with commentary by José Mojica Marins
• Theatrical trailers

Disc 3: The Awakening Of The Beast / The End Of Man

• Brand new 4K restoration of The Awakening of the Beast from a 35mm interpositive and a 35mm print
• Brand new 4K restoration of The End of Man from the original 35mm camera negative
• Archive audio commentaries for both films with José Mojica Marins, Paulo Duarte and Carlos Primati (Portuguese with English subtitles)
• The Strange Mind of Coffin Joe, a new interview with author Guy Adams exploring the esoteric aspects of José Mojica Marins
• A Woman for Joe, a new video essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas exploring the complex gender politics of Marins’ filmography
• Alternate opening titles for The Awakening of the Beast
• Theatrical trailers

Disc 4: When The Gods Fall Asleep / The Strange Hostel Of Naked Pleasures

• Brand new 4K restoration of When the Gods Fall Asleep from a 35mm film print, the only known existing element
• Brand new 4K restoration of The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures from the original 35mm camera negative
• The Demonic Surrealism of Coffin Joe, a new interview with scholar and filmmaker Virginie Sélavy exploring the parallels between the work of José Mojica Marins and the European and South American surrealist movements
• Delirium, Surrealism, and Vision, a new interview with author Jack Sargeant
• Apostle of Evil, a new interview with Dennison Ramalho (co-writer of Embodiment of Evil) about his early connection to Coffin Joe
• Mojica in the Snow: Tonight I Incarnate at Sundance!, footage of Marins attending the Sundance Film Festival in 2001
• A Blind Date for Coffin Joe, a short film by Raymond “Coffin Ray” Castile
• Theatrical trailer for The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures

Disc 5: Hellish Flesh / Hallucinations Of A Deranged Mind

• Brand new 4K restorations of both films from the original 35mm camera negatives
• Archive audio commentary for Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind with José Mojica Marins, editor Nilcemar Leyart, Paulo Duarte and Carlos Primati (Portuguese with English subtitles)
• Aesthetics of Garbage: José Mojica Marins, a Complicated Icon, a new interview with filmmaker Andrew Leavold (The Search for Weng Weng) examining Marins’ place in the Marginal Cinema movements of the 60s and 70s
• Beyond Good and Evil, a new video essay by film critic Kat Ellinger
• Theatrical trailers

Disc 6: Embodiment Of Evil

• Original lossless Dts-HD Ma 2.0 and 5.1 audio options
• Archive audio commentary with producer Paulo Sacramento and co-screenwriter Dennison Ramalho (Portuguese with English subtitles)
• Learning from the Master, a new interview with screenwriter Dennison Ramalho
• Fantasia Film Festival Premiere Footage, archival footage of José Mojica Marins at the film’s premiere
• Apprenticeship of Evil, an archival interview in which Ramalho pays tribute to José Mojica Marins and looks back on their friendship
• Official Making Of and Experimental Making Of, two archival featurettes about the production
• Deleted scenes with commentary by director José Mojica Marins
• Visual Effects: Purgatory, an archival featurette with commentary by director José Mojica Marins
• Storyboards, an archival featurette with commentary by director José Mojica Marins
• Theatrical trailer