Halloween horror: Coffin Joe: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul

Did I grab you with that title? This is an early horror movie about Coffin Joe aka Ze, the charismatic but feared undertaker that serves a Brazilian town. Although he has his own woman Lenita, he lusts after Terezina because he has yet been unable to bear an heir through his wife. His disappointment in Lenita brings him to get rid of her, and he insinuates himself on Terezina after getting rid of her boyfriend. Terezina commits suicide, swearing to come back to haunt him. Once she is dead, Joe sets his eyes on the barmaid. None of the men in town are brave enough to stand up to him, allowing him to continue his lustful ways as well as his serial killing and maiming of citizens.


Jose Mojica Marins as Coffin Joe is creepily diabolical, in every sense of both those words, with his tophat and tails, long fingernails, and veiled threats. I wish though that some townspeople would stand up to him sometimes (even if they have to pay for it in the end). It would make Joe less of an all-feared devil, but then of course where would the horrific campy fun be in this movie? It does show Joe with a desire to have a son, as there is a scene where he rails at a father for abusing his child, telling him to cherish his son. This though is not enough though to humanize Joe in any way.

Probably due to budget constraints, this film can be slow-moving at times, and there are spots where Coffin Joe just takes too long to get to the point. The story is pretty solid and pretty good for its time, it rivals what was coming out to American audiences then.  With a bigger budget and production values, this probably would be a very effective horror movie (remake anyone?)