Delírios de um Anormal

The psychologist Dr. Hamilton (Jorge Peres) is fascinated by the supernatural and adores his wife Tânia (Magna Miller). Out of the blue, Dr. Hamilton has daydreams and nightmares with Zé do Caixão that wants to take Tânia to deliver his perfect offspring. His colleagues at the Psychiatric Clinic Dr. Adolfo Hansen invite José Mojica Marins, who is the creator of Zé do Caixão, to convince Dr. Hamilton that the character is not real but fruit of his imagination.

"Delírios de um Anormal" is a boring collection of footages from other movies from Zé do Caixão a.k.a. Coffin Joe. However, it is interesting to see that this 1978 film has many points in common with Wes Craven's "Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984) and the idea of an evil supernatural being that attacks in nightmares might have been the source of inspiration for the creation of Freddie Kruger. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Delírios de um Anormal" ("Delirium of an Abnormal")

This film, from what I have read, is the censored material that was cut from Marins' older films. It looks to me like this material was thrown together to form something close to a movie, but very short of a plot or anything else for that matter. The movie is impossible to follow and had I not paid my own money to see it, I would not have finished watching it. I would not advise anyone to watch this film unless they wanted to see what, in my opinion, is one of the worst films ever.

Marins' HALLUCINATIONS is a brilliant collage consisting of many disturbing, bizarre, and imaginatively perverse scenes which were censored from his earlier films. A man, Dr. Hamilton, is having nightmares in which Coffin Joe, Marins' demonic alter-ego, repeatedly kidnaps his wife for the purpose of superhuman procreation (a theme which runs through the Coffin Joe films). Fellow psychiatrists seek the help of Marins the filmmaker, in an attempt to force Hamilton back into reality. Of course, Marins mastery of cinematic metaphysics throws all matter of logic and rationality to the dogs, so that what you get instead is a wild journey into the dark realms of the unconscious. The film is as much about Marins and his controversial career as it is an underground "head " film, and to get anything out of it, it's helpful to understand who and what Coffin Joe is. Once you can appreciate Marins' mastery of "the aesthetics of garbage," you'll realise how brilliant and undervalued he is in international cinema.

According to the box (and as an aside - God bless Something Weird Video!), this feature is cobbled together from material censored out of Marins' earlier "Coffin Joe" films. Though there are plenty of topless girls, and a good bit of torture and mayhem as well, the content of this movie seems to indicate that the censors in question (Brazilian?) had more serious issues with intense hallucination sequences. The handful of scenes which comprise the framing device, some mumbling business about a psychotic guy and the people trying to cure him, are certainly inept and boring enough, but this is actually a relief, because the hallucinations are pretty overwhelming, and you'll be happy for opportunities to catch your breath. An endless barrage of utterly grotesque and disjointed imagery, much of which seems to be intended as literal hellscapes, is liberally flavored with nude women, partially obscured by psychedelic lighting and editing effects, and staged on sets which must be seen to be believed (parts of actors' bodies are often built into the backdrop). It's easier to compare this to other movies than it is to describe it; if you can imagine Kenneth Anger's Satan movies, interspersed with gore scenes from H.G. Lewis, and rationalized by the further insertion of pieces of a fifties health class film on mental hygiene, you're on the right track; and, not to be snotty, but if you can't imagine that, you might not be ready to watch this one. If one can judge by this film alone (as, unfortunately, I must, though that won't be the case for long), Marins' big influences are Jung, Bosch, and E.C. Comics, which places this picture in heavy company by virtue of its aspirations alone, despite its technical shortcomings. (Not to mention that its very incoherency makes this movie a more accurate picture of some forms of schizophrenia than many more "serious" films which address the same subject.)

I think it would be only fair to say that this film is only recommended for José Mojica Marins completists. Despite being a 'best of' compilation of sorts, this is pretty far from the ideal starting point for those new to the Brazilian maverick. It has a plot but only just. In the main it's a showcase of the most depraved clips from previous Marins films all edited together to create a wild psychedelic acid trip. Incidentally, it occurred to me while watching this that it could be a monumental mistake for an unsuspecting viewer to actually drop acid before embarking on this. It could freak them out pretty badly.

The story in a nutshell has a man experiencing uncontrollable, feverish hallucinations. These entail the fictional character Zé do Caixão stealing his wife Tânia and a variety of other grotesque events in a hell-like world. A group of psychiatrists bring in the real Marins who created the character to try and cure the patient.

The story is merely an excuse to depict extended scenes of perversity, surrealism and gory violence. The soundtrack seems to consist of a barrage of intense moans and groans too. The visual and audio combine to batter the viewer. If nothing else, it's certainly a full-on experience. However, it all gets somewhat repetitive and I would be lying if I didn't admit to being a bit bored quite a lot of the time. It's a pure horror film for sure but for it to work properly these scenes need to be integrated into a narrative where they achieve some overall purpose. As it is, they are just horrible scenes edited together for their own sake. It's all just a bit too one dimensional.