{"id":3154,"date":"2011-06-28T15:12:27","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T19:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/?p=2171"},"modified":"2011-06-28T15:12:27","modified_gmt":"2011-06-28T19:12:27","slug":"the-saga-of-coffin-joe-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3154","title":{"rendered":"The Saga of Coffin Joe: Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Most horror fans probably haven\u2019t heard of Coffin Joe, a character created by Brazilian filmmaker & horror pioneer Jos\u00e9 Mojica Marins, largely because not a lot of films from South America tend to get distribution wide, and if they do materialize in territories such as Region 1 land, they have to struggle to get digital and physical shelf exposure.<\/p>\n

It also doesn\u2019t help that the original label (Fantoma) which carried two of the three proper Coffin Joe films, went under, and extant DVDs from Brazil and Europe use poor if not mediocre source materials.<\/p>\n

The first film, for example, At Night I\u2019ll Take Your Soul<\/strong> (1964), is available in what can best be described as Bullshit Stereo 2.0, and it\u2019s a disaster. The only source for the original scratchy but intelligible mono mix are the out-of-print Fantoma and still-in-print Australian versions. It\u2019s a classic case, not unlike Mario Bava\u2019s Blood & Black Lace<\/strong> (1964), where there still isn\u2019t a decent transfer made from the best elements available to the broadest spectrum of the home video market.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Note awesome artwork by Rue Morgue's Gary Pullin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The second film, This Night I\u2019ll Possess Your Corpse<\/strong> (1967), sounds even worse in Bullshit 2.0, and it\u2019s maddening that the most accessible and value-added set of Marins\u2019 work from Anchor Bay U.K. features these terrible transfers.<\/p>\n

Most likely the reason the 9 film, 5 disc box set is selling for under 10 Pounds Sterling on Amazon.uk is due to a rejection of the set by the franchise\u2019s key fan base.<\/p>\n

The blame lies in the hands of the owners who authorized bad transfers, not the labels who licensed them because they simply wanted to get the movies back in circulation.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason to complain, because scenes from the first two Coffin Joe films were intercut in select montages in the third and final installment of the trilogy, Embodiment of Evil<\/strong> (2008), and the clips look gorgeous<\/em>. If the success of Part III can happen over the Blu-ray platform, then perhaps it\u2019ll poke the owners to do what\u2019s right, and not only release new HD transfers of the films, but add the generous extras from the 2002 Brazilian box set, each featuring multi-lingual translations.<\/p>\n

Make one set available for all markets so Marins\u2019 body of work gets the recognition it deserves.<\/p>\n

So who is Coffin Joe?<\/p>\n

He\u2019s an arrogant, sadistic undertaker who abuses townspeople with absolute impunity. He\u2019s funny, rabidly anti-religious, and thumbs his nose at the spirits of the people he killed or maimed. He also wants to be a daddy, and when resuscitated for the second film, the character was reshaped into a hellion determined to father a son who will begin a reign of terror (when he\u2019s all grown-up, of course).<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s also a sexist pig, so you have to wonder what the sonofabitch would do if the doctors handed him a baby daughter<\/em>. He tests the women snatches from streets as potential mothers using a mass of tarantulas, snakes, facial disfigurement, and atrocious bedside manners.<\/p>\n

The reason the character is so fascinating lies in the glee with which he accomplishes outrageous cruelties, and Marins\u2019 directing style, which harkens back to the Universal monster movies of the forties and fifties, but adds a visual flair reminiscent of Mario Bava, surreal episodes recalling Alejandro Jodorowsky, and graphic violence found in some of Fernando Arrabal\u2019s most vicious work.<\/p>\n

Coffin Joe isn\u2019t for all tastes, but the first film remains the best because it\u2019s a complete portrait of a monster who gets his comeuppance\u2026 and like a classic Universal Frankenstein sequel, comes back in spite of seriously physical trauma.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve reviewed the first two films, At Night I\u2019ll Take Your Soul<\/a> <\/strong>[M<\/a>] and This Night I\u2019ll Possess Your Corpse<\/a> <\/strong>[M<\/a>], and compare the 2007 Anchor Bay and 2001 Fantoma editions, including extras.<\/p>\n

In Part II of this series, I\u2019ll examine the subsequent films in which Marins\u2019 malicious character appeared in lesser (and sometimes impressionistic) roles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

"For you, I think you need some snuggle time in my porcine sleepsack!'<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Also uploaded is a review of Embodiment of Evil<\/a> <\/strong>[M<\/a>], in which the character is released from prison after 40 years, and falls straight into his old groove, using more modern methods of physical trauma.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a mixed bag only because it will divide fans wanting the classical aspects from the original films, and those delighted that the gore \u2013 some real \u2013 is up to flesh-tearing contemporary standards.<\/p>\n

Synapse\u2019s Blu-ray + DVD combo edition looks and sounds great.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming soon: tales of the Greek immigration experience, as dramatized in Elia Kazan\u2019s masterwork America America <\/strong>(1963), and William Kyriakis and Radley Metzger\u2019s Dark Odyssey<\/strong> (1961).<\/p>\n

Seriously. There\u2019s a strong thematic connection between the two films, and I\u2019ll prove it.<\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the release of the third and final (Ha!) entry in the Coffin Joe Trilogy, I’ve reviewed the lot: At Night I’ll Take Your Soul and This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (Anchor Bay U.K.), and the gory Embodiment of Evil (Synapse Films)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[568,569,4212],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-OS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}