O Estranho Mundo de Zé do Caixão

Jose Mojica Marins, known as Coffin Joe in the English-speaking world, likely had no model for his style of film; there really was no Brazilian horror scene before him, and little since. This film, a series of three vignettes depicting human depravity, gore and unexpected moments of pathos, is reminiscent of Herschell Gordon Lewis, though a good deal less camp. Some of the cinematography and shot-framing is worthy of Bergman or Polanski ca. REPULSION. Done in crisp B&W, the film also has excellent music (which at times inappropriately overstates itself!), including a theme which celebrates the glory of the man Coffin Joe. This theme, like the rest of the film, may inspire chuckles, but definitely chills as well. Can't wait to see more!

'Strange World Of Coffin Joe' is my third Coffin Joe experience. For those not in the know "Coffin Joe" is the name Brazil's horror icon Jose Mojica Marins is known as in the English speaking world. Separating Marins the man from Coffin Joe the IDEA is extremely difficult, if not impossible. I can't think of any real equivalent of Coffin Joe in America or Britain. It's a bit like if Alfred Hitchcock was also Norman Bates... or something. Oh look, I can't even begin to explain what Coffin Joe is all about! Try watching 'At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul' and its sequel 'Tonight I'll Possess Your Corpse' first. Both are full of creepy low budget weirdness. Even then you might not be prepared for 'Strange World Of Coffin Joe'. For one thing it's an anthology with three separate stories (ala Bava's 'Black Sabbath'). On top of that Marins doesn't act in the first two segments (one about four baddies who invade a mysterious doll makers home to steal his loot and molest his daughters, the other about lyrical tale about obsessive desire and necrophilia told without dialogue), and when he appears in the final story he's not exactly the Coffin Joe we know and love(to hate) from the previous movies. He's no longer a bullying grave digger but a Doctor who is respected enough to get interviewed on a TV show called "The Men Who Make The News". One of the panellists who rejects Joe's philosophy on air accepts his invitation to visit his home, and he and his wife are put through an bizarre series of events to prove Joe's belief that love is dead and instinct conquers morality. Or something like that. Anyone who has seen other Coffin Joe movies knows the kind of stuff he spouts. This segment features some truly extraordinary images involving torture, perversion, cannibalism, and even in one did-I-really-see-that? bit, a terrified girl being taunted with a foot long hoagie. No, I'm not making that up. If you like weird low budget horror movies then you MUST check out Coffin Joe! Imagine the love child of Herschell Gordon Lewis and Jean Cocteau and you're getting there, but really Jose Mojica Marins is a true original. The more I see by him the more fascinated I am.

"O Estranho Mundo de Zé do Caixão" is a collection of three creepy and bizarre horror tales.

"O Fabricante de Bonecas" ("The Dollmaker"): In Pirituba, Master Bastos is a respectable doll maker that lives with his four daughters in a remote area manufacturing dolls with impressive eyes. When four criminals break in his house to rob his money and rape his daughters, they learn why the doll's eyes are so realistic.

"Tara" ("Perversion"): A poor balloon seller has a crush on a young woman and stalks her. On her wedding day, the woman is stabbed in front of the church by another woman and dies. After her funeral, the man breaks in her crypt and spends the night with her to satisfy his obsession.

"Ideologia" ("Ideology"): After a debate on a TV show with the journalist Alfredo about the nonexistence of love, Professor Oaxiac Odez (José Mojica Marins) invites Alfredo and his wife Wilma to visit him. Professor Odez offers to prove to Alfredo that the instinct prevails over reason, and brings the couple to the dungeon of his house. They witness the results of the sinister experiment of Professor Odez with people that did not believe on his theory and after a period subjected to subhuman conditions, have become monstrous animals. Now Alfredo and Wilma are imprisoned and submitted to starvation and all sort of psychological torture to prove that the love is dead.

The first tale of violence, with heist and rape, is erotic and gore and has a predictable conclusion. The second tale explores an unusual theme, necrophilia without any dialog. The third one is the sickest tale, with cannibalism, torture, humiliation in an insane experiment of a deranged professor. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Estranho Mundo de Zé do Caixão" ("The Strange World of Zé do Caixão")

I've always felt José Mojica Marins (aka Zé do Caixão, 'Coffin Joe') is somewhat of a pioneer in Brazilian cinema. Brazilian films tended, at the time, to be mere pornography (both hardcore and softcore), while now it tends to be too much 'engaged on social causes' rather than in the 'good entertainment' aspect of cinema (Brazilian romantic comedies are not GOOD entertainment).

'Strange World of Coffin Joe', as well as most of JMM's filmography, are an exception to those (which might be why he is often marginalized within Brazilian cinema): they are merely fun, eerie horror films entailing bizarre and creepy tales.

In here, we don't have Zé do Caixão appearing in character (unless you count the narration at the beginning). 'Strange World' is an anthology film, with three separate stories:

'O Fabricante de Bonecas' ('The Dollmaker') is about an old man, renowned for making dolls with impressively realistic eyes, and a group of burglars who try to steal his money and have their way with his beautiful daughters. It is an eerie and atmospheric horror tale, with a very predictable but fitting twist ending and full of eroticism that makes it a 'pleasant' watch.

'Tara' ('Fetish') is something that could easily pass off as an European drama: a tale of necrophilia about a man with a foot fetish who goes to a morgue after the now-dead woman he often fantasized about. It is pure depravity that is not far from a Pasolini film; to complete its 'artistic' aesthetic, it has no dialogue. The camera-work is good, but unless you want to see plot less perversion it should be avoidable.

'Ideologia' ('Ideology') is the only story JMM appears in (not as Zé, though). He plays a professor who, trying to prove that 'love' doesn't exist, imprisons a rival (who publicly argued this matter with him) and his wife and tortures them both to see how far their 'love' can endure in life-or-death situations. It has as much perversion as 'Tara', but not a meaningless one at that; the discussion is actually a very good one (done in JMM's trademark rhetoric of 'instinct vs reason') and the conclusion is good.

Overall, 2 out of the 3 stories are not only watchable but very fun and eerie tales. 'The Dollmaker' is the best horror-wise, but 'Ideology' manages to be one of the few 'torture porns' not to be mindless. The title song is also great if you understand what it's about.

For those not used to José Mojica Marins horror tales, though, his 'Coffin Joe' films are a better place to start with his filmography.

The third "Zé do Caixão"/"Coffin Joe" film by José Mojica Marins, the man who personifies Brazilian Horror cinema (mainly as his alter ego Coffin Joe) is the greatest of the bunch, even though it does not include a story about the eponymous demented gravedigger in eternal search of a woman to bear him an heir. "O Estrano Mundo de Zé do Caixão" aka. "The Strange world of Coffin Joe" (1968) is not really a Coffin Joe film as such, but Marins' delightfully demented take on the popular art-form of Horror anthologies. After a typically weird introduction by the director/writer/star's alter ego Coffin Joe, "O Estrano Mundo de Zé do Caixão" tells three macabre tales, all delightfully demented, perverted and grotesque. It is amazing that a black and white third-world production with an obviously low budget could turn out to actually be one of the most explicit and deranged pre-1970 exploitation productions ever. The three tales in "O Estrano Mundo de Zé do Caixão" include delicate subjects such as rape, cannibalism, desecration of corpses and necrophilia, and their depiction is very explicit for the time to say the least.

After a tale about a shy pervert who is willing to follow the lady of his dreams anywhere, and one about the sinister secret of a doll maker and his nymphomaniac daughters, the film culminates in a story in which José Mojica Marins himself plays another truly morbid role of a demented scientist. I do not wish to go into detail about the three stories presented in "The Strange World of Coffin Joe", but I can assure that they are entirely macabre and demented enough for this film to be a must-see for every lover of Cult Horror and Exploitation cinema. The film has its cheesy moments, of course, and the acting obviously isn't the best, but these things only contribute to the incredible camp charm of the movie. As mentioned before, the topics are incredibly macabre, morbid and perverted their depictions include some very explicit gore (severed limbs, etc.) for the time, as well as quite a bit of female nudity. The latter is of course also very welcome, especially since the female cast consists entirely of ravishing Brazilian beauties.

"O Estrano Mundo de Zé do Caixão" is a film that can be admired for many a reason, but that must be seen for two in particular. One reason is that this is one of the most explicit and deranged 60s exploitation flicks ever. The other is that there is hardly another film that shows such love for the Horror-genre, and such passion behind making a low-budget production (from everybody involved) as does "The Strange World of Coffin Joe". No fellow fan of cult-cinema should consider missing it. José Mojica Marins, we worship thee.