Embodiment of Evil (2008) User Reviews

Immortal Bloodline

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 21 January 2009]

After forty years in prison, the evil gravedigger Josefel Zanatas a.k.a. Zé do Caixão (José Mojica Marins) is released by the lawyer Lucy Pontes (Cristina Aché) in accordance with the Brazilian Laws. He moves to the slums with his followers that worship him, and he seeks out the perfect woman for his offspring while haunted by the ghosts of his victims. The vigilante brothers Captain Osvaldo Pontes (Adriano Stuart) and his brother Coronel Claudiomiro (Jece Valadão) from the Military Police chase Zé do Caixão in the slums to kill him and they find a track of tortured and mutilated bodies.

The sick and trash "Encarnação do Demônio" impresses first because of the top-notch gruesome make-up and visual effects. However, the graphic violence is not recommended to sensitive viewers. The story, the screenplay and the acting are reasonable and the ham José Mojica Marins with his monologues is quite ridiculous, but funny. This is also the chance to say farewell to the great Brazilian actor Jece Valadão in his penultimate work. The last name of the character Josefel Zanatas means Satan backwards and misspelled in Portuguese (satanás / Sanatas / Zanatas). The result is a movie with potential of cult that works very well on DVD. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Encarnação do Demônio" ("Incarnation of the Devil")

Good trash cult

[calneto · 7/10 · 11 August 2008]

I must confess to not having seen the first two installments of this Brazilian cult series (At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul & This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse). I tried renting them in Brazil, but couldn't find them.

Still, the movie is definitely fun to watch, even without prior knowledge of the story of Josefel Zanatas, the undertaker also known as Zé do Caixão (Coffin Joe).

Without giving much away, Zé do Caixão is obsessed with having a perfect son, born to a perfect woman, which he likes to refer to as "the continuation of the blood". He is also a hard-core atheist and sadist.

I personally think that Zé's atheism is one of the most interesting facets of this movie. Instead of slipping through the easy path of satanism, Zanatas (almost an anagram of Satanás, Satan in Portuguese) remains a down-to-the-bone atheist, even when confronted with visions of hell and of past victims of his sadist rites. It is this that gives him his alleged superiority. He is free, as he puts it himself. Free of all belief in false (theist) morals.

This if of course a trash movie, though with much larger budget than his previous work, so one should not expect to see Hollywoodesque special effects. Yet Mr. Marins creativity is still captivating, and delivers marvelous scenes, such as that of a naked woman leaving a dead pig carcass (no special effects here, it was a true pig). Humor is also very present, and at some scenes even very experienced actors have a hard time concealing a smile.

All in all, 7 out of 10. But if you are only concerned with having fun, this movie is a 10 out of 10.

Coffin Joe returns for a third time and he sure hasn't mellowed a bit

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 22 June 2012]

Embodiment of Evil is the third in José Mojica Marins' Coffin Joe / Zé do Caixão trilogy. In them all Marins plays the said anti-hero who is an atheist grave-digger who antagonises the folks who live around him. In the first two movies his antics were restricted to a small village but in this latest instalment he his released from prison and immediately starts wreaking havoc in São Paulo. So the scope does seem to be a little bit wider and the budget does seem to be noticeably larger. I am guessing that cinema fashion had finally found Coffin Joe's type of movie in vogue in 2008. In the past ten years or so there has been an increase in horror films that focus on sadism and torture. Well, it has to be said that this was precisely the kind of thing Marins was doing in his Coffin Joe films back in the 60's. So the resurrection of the character forty years later sort of makes sense.

The first two films in the trilogy were At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964) and This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967). Both were pretty extreme for their time in terms of sadism but both also were generally pretty weird with elements of surrealism thrown in for good measure. With Embodiment of Evil there is no way on Earth you could say that Marins has mellowed out. In fact, this latest instalment is up there with all the latest sadistic horror films in terms of sheer grotesque depravity and excess. However, what sets it apart from most of those is the demented imagination on display. In amongst the sadism is a twisted imagination and many striking visual moments. It wouldn't be a Marins movie without this. So, in the end, this is a very worthwhile end to the trilogy and one that will certainly be appreciated by Coffin Joe aficionados as well as those who like the more visceral side of the horror genre.

Coffin Joe Brings the Gore

[Michael_Elliott · 18 August 2012]

Embodiment of Evil (2008)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

After forty years in prison, Josefel Zanatas (Jose Mojica Marins), aka Coffin Joe, gets released and goes right back to his old ways of trying to find the perfect woman to give him a son. While Joe searches out the best woman, he's haunted by ghosts from his past while a vigilante police Captain is in hot pursuit. EMBODIMENT OF EVIL was a highly anticipated film as pretty much every trash fan in the world went nuts when they hear Marins was bringing back his cult character. Whereas the first few Coffin Joe movies went for surrealism and strangeness, this one here instead goes for non-stop violence and gore. There are a few scenes here that would make countless torture/porn movie turns their head in fear. I mean, how many movies can you think of where they torture a woman by pouring hot cheese on her and then letting a rat go to work? The violence here is often quite graphic and it even goes towards some sexual violence including a really brutal scene where there's pretty much a cannibal orgy going on where women are biting off a certain part of the male anatomy. It should go without saying but only the strongest of stomachs will be able to handle this movie so the majority of people should just stay away. Marins has no problem getting back into his Coffin Joe performance as he's certainly fun to watch here and looking a lot like Orson Welles. The rest of the cast fit their roles just fine as well. EMBODIMENT OF EVIL does lack in regards to its story as it seems to drag out in spots and there's no question we've seen this type of thing many times before. I wish a little more had been done with the character returning but fans of gore and violence should at least be entertained by that.

RIP Coffin Joe.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 6/10 · 8 October 2014]

Taking a look on Amazon UK for reviews of Anchor Bay's 9 film Coffin Joe boxset,I was taken aback,when I stumbled on a Coffin Joe title which had not been included in the set,which led to me deciding that I would pay a visit to Coffin Joe for one more time.

The plot:

Getting released from jail after 40 years thanks to no longer being seen as a threat to the public,Coffin Joe breaks out of his chains,and reunites with his faithful servant,Bruno.With prison having stopped him in his tracks for 40 years,Joe begins kidnapping women in the hope that he will finally locate a woman who will have his child.As Joe starts to strike in his search for the perfect woman,the local residence of the town begin to hear that Coffin Joe is walking their streets again.Since they have each waited to get their revenge on Coffin Joe due to him having killed their families,the residence begin to make 'death squads' so that they can finally nail Coffin Joe's coffin shut,once and for all.

View on the film:

Toning down the harsh Gothic Horror atmosphere of his past work,and being unexpectedly backed by a major studio (20th Century Fox!) co- writer/ (along with Dennison Ramalho) director and lead actor José Mojica Marins sends his alter ego out on a blood-drenched final rampage. Marins covers the screen in raw blood red,as Coffin Joe goes from ordering his followers to do a deranged initiation,to riffing on the most infamous scene in Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho (which was seen as being far too nasty for inclusion in the filmed adaptation. )

Whilst Marins does largely go for a splatter approach,Marins superbly wraps up his 40 year old characters quest by dipping his nails into wonderful surrealism,with Marins using a tough B&W appearance to show the demons that haunt Joe's desire.For the screenplay of the film,Ramalho and Marins combined Joe's blood-soaked quest with a sharp political commentary,with Joe's return leading to the return of Brazil's death squad,with the members of the death squad being almost as psychotic as Coffin Joe.

Final view on the film:

A very good,gore drenched Horror which allows Coffin Joe to finally lay in his coffin.Farewell Coffin Joe.

Terrible!

[felipe-andreazzi · 2/10 · 6 December 2008]

I still don't know how come I went to the movies to watch this piece of crap. I read some of the reviews and they all said that was a "great horror movie", "a true masterpiece" and "amazing, thrilling and horrifying".

I don't know what's wrong with those critics here in Brazil on saying that this is a "great horror movie". It wasn't great and either a "horror movie". All I did was laugh, laugh...and laugh like I never laugh in any other comedy I ever watched.

Coffin Joe in probably the worst actor of all time. His monologues and alucinations were hilarious instead of being "horrifying". If this movie were a comedy I would give a better grade instead of 2/10. This movie was supposed to be scared and all I did was laugh.

This movie has a lot of uncalled sex scenes, so if you are looking for a porno movie this is IT. If you are also looking for lots of blood spilling, human torture scenes that will make "Saw" a Disney film and performances that will make the "Disaster Movie" cast proud you will have lots of fun, but don't go with the expectations on being scared.

SPOILERS

The worst scene? A hot young woman having sex with Coffin Joe's death body at the end.

the weakest of the trilogy

[dan_pap · 6/10 · 6 July 2019]

"Nails grow even after death."

I wholeheartedly enjoyed the previous two installments of the Coffin Joe Trilogy, so I felt obliged to watch this one as well. The film takes place forty years after the previous one, when Coffin Joe is finally released from prison. Upon release, his goals are the same: kill petty humans and create the perfect offspring.

Even after all this time, José Mojica Marins remains true to his original films. Despite the serious gap of time between the last two films, Embodiment of Evil maintains the same style as his other ones and has a classic cult horror type of vibe. The writing is wonderfully disturbing, and this film strengthens Coffin Joe's character, something I didn't expect.

On the other hand, I feel the franchise itself was damaged with this. It relies on the success of the other two movies to drive it forward, as we see Coffin Joe repeatedly haunted by the black-and-white ghosts of his past. Embodiment of Evil hardly lives up to the mastery of the previous two installments, though it tries very hard. There's a purgatory scene that's okay, but it hardly compares to the hell scene in This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse. There's also a straight twenty minutes of torture porn which doesn't seem to fit well with the rest of the trilogy.

In comparison to the other two, this one is definitely the weakest. Embodiment of Evil has some good moments, and it's a worthwhile watch to round out the trilogy. That said, it relies too much on the grotesque and not enough on the main character that defined the originals.

The unpleasant return of a depraved maniac

[Coventry · 3/10 · 21 April 2009]

I love – and I do really mean LOVE –horror movies and I will always defend my favorite genre against prudish and prejudiced people who keep on claiming it's an overall unintelligent and superfluous type of cinema. Of course, it's very difficult to safeguard a genre and to hold a plea about its strong points when there are mad-raving, block-headed jesters like Coffin Joe out there, whose sole intentions are to shock and repulse audiences with unsettling images of torture, misogyny, mutilation, perversion, blasphemy and even pure hell. "Embodiment of Evil", the final installment of Coffin Joe's trilogy that started with "At Midnight I'll Take You Soul" and "This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse" over forty years, easily ranks in the top five of most unpleasant and most disgusting movies I ever watched in my life and, no, this honestly shouldn't be considered a recommendation! José Mojica Marins' return to the international export market is shamelessly exploitative and sickening just for the sake of being sickening. I've never been much of a fan of the previous films – nor of Coffin Joe's entire repertoire, for that matter – but at least his 60's movies could pass off as surrealistic efforts and/or existential experiments. Numerous sequences and isolated shots in "Embodiment of Evil" are genuinely frightening haunting, like the hanging with the meat hooks or a rape scene with a living rat, but they're just so damn redundant and gratuitous. The make-up effects and smutty scenery also looks very realistic, which makes it all even worse. This definitely isn't a low-budgeted production like the first two obviously were, and I honestly think this money could have served better purposes in a country like Brazil. It's also a worrying thought that this is probably the movie Coffin Joe already wanted to make forty years ago, if I only had the budgetary possibilities. What personally upsets and disturbs me the absolute most is that José Mojica Marins clearly knows what he's doing and almost deliberately seems to inflict his madness onto the people. I'm honestly convinced that this is the type of trash that causes mentally unstable and/or easily influenced people to go berserk and do all sorts of crazy stuff. Marins literally glorifies the violence and perversity that his alter ego Coffin Joe proclaims and practices. Purely talking in terms of cinema, "Embodiment of Evil" is a giant disaster. There's not a trace of continuity, script-coherence or building up tension. The performances are weaker than weak and the protagonist's monologues, that seem to go on forever, are nonsensical and boring. The plot is exactly the same as it was forty years ago, namely deranged freak wishes to obtain immortality by carefully selecting the perfect wife who can then subsequently bear him his perfect son. The gravedigger with the hideous and rancid beard spent all these years in jail, but now a leak in the juridical system set him free. It has to be said, however, the old-age Coffin Joe looks at least a dozen times more menacing than young Coffin Joe. He now looks like an authentic old and sleazy pervert, which also happens to be exactly what he is.

Hey Joe, where you going' with that big knife in your hand...

[BA_Harrison · 8/10 · 3 July 2012]

I've been an avid horror/exploitation fan for nigh on thirty years, and aware of the work of José Mojica Marins for twenty five of those, and yet this is the first of his films that I've actually seen. What the hell was I thinking? If his other stuff is anywhere near as bats**t insane as Embodiment of Evil (and the flashbacks in this film indicate that they might be) then I've been missing out on some seriously messed up movies.

The belated third film in Marins' Coffin Joe trilogy (the other two being 'At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul' in 1963 and 'This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse' in 1967), Embodiment of Evil sees the director once again growing his fingernails and donning top hat and black cloak to reprise his role as amoral gravedigger Josefel Zanatas (AKA Coffin Joe) who is released from prison after 40 years to continue his ambition to sire a perfect child. To achieve this goal, Joe enlists the help of a hunchback named Bruno and several other sadistic minions, who help him to abduct a series of potential mates, who he 'tests' for suitability by subjecting them to horrific acts of torture.

Marins, a man who clearly hasn't mellowed in his old age, directs and acts with gusto, relishing every nasty moment with sadistic glee, presenting every act in lurid gruesome detail, and throwing in some mind-bending surrealism for good measure. Shocking hellish visions; an endless parade of scared, naked women, broken, humiliated and ravished by Marins' perverse madman; whipping, flaying, branding, gouging, and scalping: the violence on display is depraved and extremely graphic, made all the more unsettling by the very probable use of performers for whom body modification and pain are no strangers; when hooks are inserted into a man's back before he is hoisted into the air, it looks all too real, as does a later scene in which a woman's lips are sewn shut!

To be honest, I still can't believe I bought this film on DVD from my local car-boot sale (they looked like such ordinary, decent folk as well...).

Zé do Caixão, eu falhei com você.

[Groverdox · 6/10 · 31 May 2021]

I've failed poor old Coffin Joe. His movies seem like they would be custom made for my needs: they're low budget, foreign-language movies that have clawed their way to the top of the heap of such flicks based on the strength of their imagery and the indelible presence of the man himself.

The trouble is his movies always lose me. I don't know if it's due to lack of plot, obscure narrative, or poor pacing. I just always lose interest while waiting for something to happen. They have their images, but little else, and this finale to the series is no exception - in fact, with the benefit of a bigger budget, it may have images to trump all the others, including a descent into hell Joe takes which looks like the inside of an intestine, and empties into a legitimately horrifying scene some rather graphic cannibalism.

The film just never took me along for a ride. It's the kind of thing where you keep one eye on the screen, one eye on something else, and wait for an interesting scene. It's missing the glue to link these together.

A horror movie that make you laugh

[patotameister · 4/10 · 2 December 2010]

Poor acting, including the extras, when facing suicide the four followers reaction was as if they must take the flu vaccine. Worst casting I ever have seen, may be they take the people waiting in an ATM or in the public hospital... no, no people in public health system show some kind of anger or boredom, in that movie you can't expect such level of expression. An evil gravedigger that seems your good and lovely uncle Joe with the Marylin Manson's ten inches nails, he make you think that to give him a caipirinha or buy him tickets to Vasco da Gama soccer game. Ridicoulous clothes, I guess there is something token from the Museum of Bela Lugosi. Yes sir, you're right... there is a kind of Igor puppet following good uncle Joe all movie long... limping as usual, as the canon rules. Special effects the kind you get in a a bar mitzvah clip. I'm sure someone made a good profit from the generous Brazilian foment cinema funds. Don't watch it. Don't spare your 5 bucks. Don't waste your time.

Highly Entertaining Film...

[Nightmare-Maker · 8/10 · 7 August 2009]

After 40 years in prison, Coffin Joe is released - and he's back on the streets of Sao Paulo to find a woman who can give him the perfect child, in his search, carnage ensues!

I have never seen a COFFIN JOE film until I saw EMBODIMENT OF EVIL, but I will now. Embodiment has elements of so many films, and it's done in a very good way. All the special effects are very good, a lot of the torture is real - no doubt about it! Hooks going through human flesh, lips getting sewn together, it's all here...a bit like SAW-but better! Then there's the eerie ghost figures of Joe's past coming back to haunt him, very stylishly done.

All in all if you are a fan of horror, and don't mind subtitles, give EMBODIMENT OF EVIL a go, even if you hav'nt seen any of the others it does'nt matter.

Well worth a watch - 8 out of 10.

a fail attempt to horrify

[fuufuu-1 · 6/10 · 5 February 2009]

I expect to watch a good terror movie. But all I saw was a good Zé do Caixão movie. After all this years, its the last and third movie, the final end.

It seems it was just made for fans who love to say "hey, I'm a Coffin Joe's fan!!" Also, was a body piercing studio the main sponsor? Because piercing is not that scary, dear "modified-people"...

The dialogs don't make much sense and after all them you'll probably forget about the plot. Well... they make sense... enough for you laugh of the poetry attempt.

Much blood, scars, a cool opening video and insects. I didn't get scared, I get bored.

Coffin Joe Vs. Both Church And State...

[azathothpwiggins · 21 July 2020]

Released after 40 years of imprisonment, Coffin Joe (Jose Mojica Marins), with the help of his faithful henchman, Bruno, returns to his quest for immortality through an abominable offspring. This time, Joe and a small band of dedicated followers must battle a wicked police force, a maniacal priest, and a pair of blind witches! Not surprisingly, much bloodletting, nudity, and hideous death ensue. Will Joe finally get what he desires / deserves?

EMBODIMENT OF EVIL sums up everything, culminating in a carnival house of horrors. Marins pulls out all the bloody stoppers, making Coffin Joe a true figure of pure eeevil! A final, unspeakable triumph...

EMBODIMENT OF EVIL (Jose' Mojica Marins, 2008) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 1 February 2011]

This is only the third official Ze' De Caixao/Coffin Joe movie after AT MIDNIGHT I'LL TAKE YOUR SOUL (1964) and THIS NIGHT I'LL POSSESS YOUR COPRSE (1967), though there are a number of others in which he appears (and which Mojica Marins directed) – not least two more I own, STRANGE WORLD OF COFFIN JOE (1968) and AWAKENING OF THE BEAST (1970). For the record, I also have the little-seen STRANGE HOSTEL OF NAKED PLEASURES (1976) and INFERNO CARNAL (1977) from this Brazilian cult figure. Though I cannot say I was bowled over by the first two entries in the series, I enjoyed them to a certain degree (on the other hand, I positively disliked AWAKENING, which was the only other one I had watched so far).

While this has typically been greeted with enthusiasm by ardent fans, I was skeptical about it myself – but, seeing it available on Blu-Ray at my local DVD rental outlet, I sprung for it regardless. Incidentally, it is nice that exploitation veterans can still keep busy in today's very different climate (even if, like here, they have to stoop to the level of 'Torture Porn' now in vogue): I had watched the idiosyncratic but below-par effort by the late Jean Rollin, Fiancée' OF Dracula (2002), but was reasonably impressed with the Paul Naschy (also deceased by now) vehicle BLOOD RED (2004) and, for what it is worth, I also own Jess Franco's well-received SNAKEWOMAN (2005). Anyway, the film under review is definitely not bad for a modern horror film, though the DV-sourced photography (with its sharpness augmented by the HD transfer!) is rather unattractive.

Coffin Joe is released from prison after 40 years (still in his top-hatted, cape and cane attire, not forgetting the disgusting extra-long fingernails!), by which time many had figured he had died. He still has his faithful servant waiting on him (on their way home, Ze' is even hit by a speeding car, from which he emerges amazingly unscathed!) and, who has acquired a number of other willing acolytes (that are immediately put to the test by their sadistic/blasphemous master). He is still trying to beget a son (in fact, one of the girls in his power offers herself up for the task) and has already set his sights on a number of prospective candidates, whom Joe torments into acquiescence (one is even forced to eat her own buttock!).

An interesting aspect here is that Ze' is, if anything, an anguished boogeyman – as he is haunted by the victims from his previous outings (the women's original demises at his hands shown in flashbacks from their respective films)! At one point, he descends once more into Hell, albeit a different vision from the memorable one (and which is how I had actually first come across the character on late-night Italian TV) featured in Joe's 1967 'vehicle'. His nemesis here are two military officers behind an oppressive regime: actually, it was intended to be just one part but had to be split when the actor concerned died during filming! The Anchor Bay UK "Special Edition" disc included a half-hour "Making Of" which, apart from the typical behind-the-scenes vicissitudes, amply displays the esteem in which Mojica Marins is still held.

Coffin Joe was back, with some problems

[guisreis · 6/10 · 21 February 2021]

Coffin Joe, the greatest Brazilian horror icon, is back to fulfill a trilogy four decades after the first sequel. Off course that is something do celebrate. José Mojica Marins had a much higher budget than he was accostumed to, and many talented actors and crew engaged themselves in making that happen. Indeed, by watching the intriguing opening scenes (before credits and in prision), I had good expectations of a surprisingly fortunate outcome. However, despite some well done scenes (alert: bad Z-movie scenes also appear), there are some serious problems in the film, which alternates between many subgenres of exploitation: slasher, sexploitation, cannibal, monster and, above all, splatter. First of all, gore scenes are not supported by a reasonable script, and also seem pure saddism (in a country where police and military tortured, and women are raped and murdered, it has consequences). Off course a film can portray evil, but then I shall mention the biggest script problem of the movie: what is it about? In the very first moment, Coffin Joe seems to be the villain, a mass murderer and torturer who does not care about anybody and just wants to find a perfect woman to have a child with him and then make his blood survive. That would be OK, but then he appears as a slum avenger against local mob scoundrel and against a death squad guy (probably active in military dictatorship), and protector of a poor child who would be killed by him. Coffin Joe also had nightmares about victims from past movies. I could not help but understand that Coffin Joe regretted his past heinous crimes and now would be a macabre vigilante dedicated to kill people who were more evil than him. However, once again the movie showed a weird inconsistency and Coffin Joe just killed, tortured and palpated lots of people (mostly naked women) without a reason besides saddism he seemed to abandon before. There is also no explanation why so many women wanted to have sex and a son with him, as he did not control minds such as Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's story. Many events have no reason, including the trip do hell; at least this one had a somewhat interesting expressionist flavour. Horrible political problems also seem to be encouraged, such as torture, feminicide, and penal "populist" punitiveness. To resume, while having qualities, the film worsens a lot as it avances and loses itself in gratuitous gore and empty script. I mourn for not having the good innovative horror movie I expected and wanted in the beginning.

A Unique and Horrific Vision

[Llakor · 8/10 · 26 July 2009]

I was at the Canadian Premiere of Embodiment of Evil during Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival. The introduction alone was worth the price of admission as the co-screenwriter Dennison Ramalho, dressed in a leather straight-jacket, introduced the director and star, Coffin Joe himself, José Mojica Marins, who was wheeled onstage by three gorgeous, fetish-wearing goths in a shroud covered container that was unveiled to be an open coffin.

Embodiment of Evil is the third in the Coffin Joe trilogy, the first two films being À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma (1964)... aka At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul and Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver (1967)... aka This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse.

Zé do Caixão, the Coffin Joe character is a combination of showy horror host, comic-book magician (specifically Mandrake the Magician) and depraved, sadistic serial torturer and murderer. A gravedigger, he wears a top hat, black cloak and has supernaturally long fingernails. A fierce atheist who denies the existence of both Heaven and Hell, Coffin Joe is obsessed by his search of the perfect woman with whom he can mate and continue his bloodline, preserving his eternal blood in a son. Joe's definition of a perfect woman is one that, like him, has no fear. To identify her, Joe uses the most diabolical tortures possible and those who fail his tests die in the most hideous and painful manner possible.

Fantasia programmed the two previous Coffin Joe films back in 1999 and brought José Mojica Marins from Brazil to present them. While by no means the only people who can take credit, the Fantasia team must share the blame for reintroducing the world to Zé do Caixão.

I am not a fan of torture in horror films. What makes the Coffin Joe films palatable to me is the barely veiled metaphor of Coffin Joe trying to free Brazil from its imprisonment - chained by fear of violence from the military dictatorship and superstitious fear of the Roman Catholic Church. Nothing that Coffin Joe did or could do could ever be as evil or perverse as the way that the Junta and the church conspired to enslave Brazil and Brazilians. Coffin Joe is like a Pied Piper for freedom, offering a path filled with pain and for many, death, but promising at the end of the road a freedom that neither government nor church can take away.

Embodiment of Evil begins with Coffin Joe being released from an insane asylum where he has been confined for the last 40 years after his crimes in the first two films. (Amusingly, his hunchback assistant Bruno has been waiting for him for all these years.) Coffin Joe exits to a world both completely different from the one that he left and eternally the same. There is very much a sense that Coffin Joe is a man from a time that has past while simultaneously a prophet whose time has come.

Coffin Joe's quest is both easier and more difficult than it was in the past. Easier because he now has disciples, the children and grand-children of those who heard his message in the sixties. And a new generation of women unshackled by fear gives Coffin Joe an embarrassment of choice to be his perfect woman.

His quest is more difficult because the barriers of fear and superstition still exist. The metaphor still works: fear of a violent military has been replaced by the fear of a corrupt and violent police. The superstitious fear of the church remains although its grip has weakened. The biggest change is that everyone is haunted by the sins of the past. The new Brazil is built on the bones and blood of the old Brazil and everyone (including Coffin Joe) is haunted by the ghosts of that past.

For Joe, this is a revolting development. As a man whose entire life is built on a denial of the existence of a life after death, ghosts are an abomination. Coffin Joe works even better as a metaphor for the new Brazil, futilely denying its' bloody past, like Lady Macbeth trying desperately to wash away the bloody spot.

Embodiment of Evil, like all the films in the Coffin Joe trilogy, is not a film for the squeamish. The images of pain and torture are all the more horrific since many of them are real. (Apparently for many in the Brazilian fetish community, being tortured by Coffin Joe is a badge of honour.) What can't be denied is that his vision is a unique vision of horror that speaks to those who will listen as clearly today as it did in the sixties.

My introduction to Coffin Joe, wow!

[Stevieboy666 · 6/10 · 30 May 2020]

I had heard of Coffin Joe but my introduction to him came in this, the third official movie in the series. And what an introduction it was! Joe is released from prison after serving 40 years for his horrific crimes and is met outside by his hunchback accomplice Bruno. Joe wastes no time into resuming his quest to find the perfect woman to bear his child, much blood, gore, torture and female nudity ensues. This movie is a non stop ride of horror imagery and violence, gore fans will enjoy that aspect. One thing that I didn't like was the violence against women, not in the torture porn scenes but in domestic situations, I found that poor taste. I don't speak Portuguese but some of the acting was obviously not of a high standard. Gore effects are good, a strong stomach is required. There is plenty of dark humour here and it looked at times like some of the cast were struggling to keep a straight face. A fairly decent gore/exploitation movie, a lot of black and white footage from the previous movies is included in Embodiment and I will certainly be watching these soon.

It's Exactly What I Expected - In a Good Way

[msdominae · 10/10 · 4 May 2009]

I've read through these comments and it seems that most of them are from viewers who haven't seen Coffin Joe's previous movies or from those who aren't fans of his. I've been a Coffin Joe fan for many years, and this film was exactly what I was hoping it would be. Yes, it's hard to follow, certainly corny, vile and disgusting and not very well acted - but THAT'S what Coffin Joe movies are about. The first two films of this trilogy, "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul" and "This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse" are shown in flashbacks here and help to show new viewers what Coffin Joe is about - evil, depravity and a total lack of remorse for who he is. The first two films of this trilogy were made with a very low budget and I was happy to see that given a larger budget for Embodiment of Evil, Jose Mojica Marrins did not stray far from the crude feel of his previous films.

Embodiment of Evil manages to include everything that Coffin Joe movies represent, from a supernatural element, nightmarish scenarios, extreme violence, plenty of crawly critters and long ego maniacal rants from Coffin Joe to cackling witches. To Me, it's perfect. This film is definitely NOT for the faint of heart and not everyone will enjoy it. But for Coffin Joe fans who dig a corny, poorly acted and totally gross film on a rainy Sunday - DEFINITELY SEE IT!!!

'Nails grow even after death.'

[parry_na · 6/10 · 31 January 2019]

This is an extraordinary tale, featuring the return, after a 40-year incarceration, of the notorious Coffin Joe, long believed dead. With nothing more than some huge, curling fingernails, José Mojica Marins (a bearded Brazilian Bela Lugosi, who also directs and writes) cuts an imposing figure, and it isn't long before he is up to his metaphorical horns in evil. It doesn't go all his way by any means, however, as he appears to be haunted by the ghosts of those he has wronged in the past - a past illustrated by many flashbacks.

This is very much a sequel rather than a standalone film and as such, I found myself enjoying the Faust-ian imagery and the demonic nature of Marins' heightened performance rather than trying to figure out precisely what was going on (the previous two instalments were produced in the late 1960s). As it makes no great effort to embrace a viewer unfamiliar with any earlier chapters, things can dissolve into a dark soup of shouting and wailing (and torture), a soup not thinned by any sympathetic characters or anyone an audience can relate to. Everyone we meet is a grotesque of sorts, and what they may lack in empathy, they succeed in collectively conjuring up a relentless environment of horror.

His mission is to ensure the 'continuation of his blood'. That is, he very much likes the idea of procreation. We are not spared this, either. It is a grisly, saturating scene, carried out without ever removing his Mephistophelean top hat and cape.

It wouldn't be entering into the spirit of things to question why the authorities wait until Coffin Joe has committed many bloody atrocities since they reluctantly released him from jail, before investigating his activities. This is a world within a world, and if you are in the right frame of mind, is hellish and immersive. If not, it comes across as being somewhat one-note.

I loved it!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 15 August 2023]

It took more than thirty years, but Coffin Joe was finally able to complete his story that began in At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul and This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse. Creator and star José Mojica Marins felt that since he compromised on the sending of the second film, he was cursed. Now, he could finally tell the story.

After being released from a mental ward, Coffin Joe is taken care of by his most loyal servant Bruno (Rui Rezende), who along with four fanatics has been waiting for the return of the master. Of course, his order is simple: bring the perfect woman and continue the blood.

There are so many women and so little time. Like eugenist Dr. Hilda (Cléo De Páris), who is drugged and hallucinates that Coffin Joe is feeding her one of her ass cheeks. Or a young gypsy woman named Elena (Nara Sakarê) who willingly gives herself to him.

But all is not snakes and spiders in Brazil. Coronel Claudiomiro Pontes (Jece Valadão), a police captain blinded by Coffin Joe when he escaped his fate at the end of This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse - young Joe is played by superfan Raymond Castile - and Father Eugênio (Milhem Cortaz), a priest who is the son of Dr. Rudolfo from At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, have joined forced to destroy the undertaker forever.

Coffin Joe is also dealing with the ghosts of his many victims, including Terezinha and Lenita from At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul and Laura from This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse. He's also been cursed by Elena's witch aunts, which turns the opportunity to make love to Elena into a trip through a gigantic intestine into a meeting with the Mystifier (José Celso Martinez Corrêa), who shows Coffin Joe purgatory and Hell, as well as a vision of his death.

As the police close in, Joe escapes through the woods and into an amusement park where he kills the cop but is impaled through the heart by the priest. He's convinced that he's killed Coffin Joe, but you can't kill an idea. His shadow comes loose from his body to chase the priest while Elena mounts the dying body of our, well, hero and his hands, trembling in the throes of death, hold her breasts.

Coffin Joe's funeral should be sad, but as we see the women throw roses at his grave, so many of them have continued the blood and are filled with his heirs. The gravestone is shattered by lightning and multiple faces of Coffin Joe appear within it.

For being seventy years old. José Mojica Marins in no way took it easy in this. It's the bloodiest of all the films and the most complete. Not the best - I really think This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse is incredible - but I had a total blast watching it. It's a return that is in no way unwelcome or one that feels like it doesn't belong.

The conclusion of the Conffin Joe's Saga!

[talesmonteiro · 10/10 · 26 August 2008]

This is one of the best Coffin Joe's movie ever! Everyone must watch this piece of perfect cinema! The Brazilian People don't recognize José Mojica Marins as one of your greatest filmmakers, but the World does! Coffin Joe is free, out of prison, and wants revenge. Revenge against the Brazilian Militar Government and everyone who is against your desire. Finnely José Mojica had a bit more money than the last movies and does here, with the bests Brazilians professionals, one of the greatest movies of the year. Take your popcorn, your coca-cola, your boyfriend/girlfriend, Don't be afraid, and have fun! This is the new Brazilian's Horror Cinema!

Coffin Joe is back... and he ain't mellowed with age.

[Corpus_Vile · 8/10 · 11 May 2011]

Pyschopathic grave digger coffin Joe is finally released (or is it unleashed?) after serving 40 years in prison, where he is greeted by his fawning hunchbacked minion Bruno. Now, you'd think that serving 40 years in a Brazilian prison would break a man's spirit. Not Coffin Joe. For as we all know, The Embodiment Of Evil that is Coffin Joe is no ordinary man. So, he's barely out of chokey, and he's securing himself a lair, yet more minions, and unleashing havoc on contemporary Brazil, as he continues his quest to secure for him a woman who will spawn his perfect son. However, there's other factors at play, such as haunting visions from his past not to mention the children of Joe's previous victims, as well as surviving ones, keen to exact revenge forty years later. Will they succeed? Or will Coffin Joe finally triumph in his hellish vision?

Embodiment Of Evil is an awesome contemporary exploitation horror and a very welcome return to form for director Jose Marins. Throwing in everything but the kitchen sink in terms of content, with some jaw dropping set piece torture sequences, some of them conducted for real, using body performance artists, it cheerfully pushes the exploitative envelope and delivers in spades for any fan. Marin, despite being in his 70s by now, could certainly teach these young whippersnapper directors such as Rob Zombie or Eli Roth a thing or two about real exploitation, and Embodiment of Evil is a contemporary Coffin Joe gem. It holds its sub plot elements together surprisingly well, and the viewer is still treated to Joe's iconic camp rants against God, the Church and The State in general. There's even some brief social commentary thrown in for good measure.

8.5/10, rounded off to 8 by IMDb, it's well recommended for Coffin Joe fans, and fans of lurid exploitative horror in general.

Welcome back Joe... You've been away far too long amigo.

Jose Mojica Marins IS The True Embodiment Of Evil.

[meddlecore · 8/10 · 4 November 2020]

The Master of Brazilian Horror, Jose Mojica Marins, is back.

It only took 40 years, but the most evil character in the history of cinema, Coffin Joe, has returned.

JMM writes, directs, and plays the character of Coffin Joe, himself...in this, the third, and final, film in his trilogy of evil.

Having been imprisoned for the past 40 years, the powers that be have finally released Ze do Caixao, so that he can unleash his horrors upon the world once more.

But times have changed, since he was last a free man.

The police, now, are nearly as vicious as he is...acting as judge jury and executioner...as they extrajudicially assassinate children, for the simple crime of existing.

Having established a cult-like following, he can, once again, pursue his ultimate goal...the achievement of immortality, through the continuation of his bloodline, with the perfect woman (or women).

Those who have no fear in their hearts...or blood.

He is, however, still haunted by the ghosts of his past crimes.

But is still able to maintain his composer, and elicit cries of terror from those who cross him...as well as the women whose strength of will he must test...even in his old age.

Those who find themselves at his mercy, must endure acts of torture, that include reverse scalping, live skinning, being boiled in blood, sewn into the carcass of a pig, covered in cockroaches, and being vaginally penetrated by live rats.

The extreme nature, on which JMM's legacy is based, revolves around the realness of the torture in his films.

Because elements like the piercings, and cockroach treatment, are completely and wholly real.

We watch a man being strung up by hooks in his back; a woman get her lips sewn shut; and multiple people be immersed in a writhing barrel of live cockroaches.

All in the pursuit of vengeance and immortality.

He crosses the police, when he steps in to save a child about to be killed by the captain.

Which just makes them want to kill him, once and for all.

So they team up with a priest- who is also the son of one of his former victims- that seeks to condemn his soul to hell for all eternity.

But can one even kill that which is immortal?

Those that try, generally lose their own lives...or worse.

Although Jose Mojica Marins died just this past year, his immortality will reign forever in his bloodline...and his films.

I also have a personal connection to Mr Marins.

As I used to trade pirated films with his neighbour in Brazil.

I got my friend to tell him that he had a Canadian fan, to which he responded by cursing me for life.

So add that to the list of curses I was either born with, or have acquired throughout my lifetime.

RIP, Mr Marins...your legacy will live on till the end of days...as you are, truly, the embodiment of evil.

8.5 out of 10.

BEYOND THE PRICE OF FINAL JUDGEMENT

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 1 January 2019]

This is the third installment of a three part series. The first two parts took place in 1964 and 1967 and the modern film doesn't expect anyone to have seen them as there are many flashbacks to those films.

This feature opens with a monologue about the perfect child being born in an imperfect womb, someone above God, but below Satan. Josef Zanatas (no backward masking there) is released from a mental asylum/prison after spending decades there for his bad acting and murderous deeds in those 60's films. He immediately has an entourage of followers and women who want to have his child, but can't seem to find the perfect, imperfect womb. He also has a child killer cop after him as well as the priest son of a man he killed. He is also troubled with visions of the people that he killed in previous features...which we watch in black and white.

This is a gory cult film, better then the ones from Mexico. Some of the torture scenes reminded me of something from "Hell Raiser" while others seemed inspired from "Blood Sucking Freaks." The film is in Portuguese with English subtitles. I watched the Blu-Ray version which exhibited above average cinematography for a "B" film. The blind old witches flashed me back Macbeth.

This is a macabre exploitation masterpiece for all the sick pups out there.

Perv Guide: F-bomb, sex, full frontal nudity, gruesome torture scenes.