I know there are a few Coffin Joe fans here. This post should interest you.
The new Coffin Joe film, Encarnação do Demônio (THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL) opened Aug. 8 in Brazil. 20th Century Fox is distributing it in South America and Latin America.
The producers are going to Italy this week to attend the film's screening at the Venice Film Festival, where they plan to line up distribution deals for North America, Europe and Asia. So hopefully there will be a way for U.S. fans to see it before too long.
In the meantime, I'm probably one of the few U.S. citizens to have seen the film!
I had the great honor of being invited to attend the premiere Aug. 5 in São Paulo, Brazil.
It was the first time I've been to a "real" movie premiere. I tried to keep my expectations realistic so I would not be disappointed. Well, there was no need for that! It turned out to be one wild, dizzying, incredible experience.
As some of you are aware, I have a small part in the film. I play "Young Coffin Joe" in a flashback linking the new film with THIS NIGHT I WILL POSSESS YOUR CORPSE (1967), the second film in the "Coffin Joe Trilogy."
At the climax of THIS NIGHT, angry villagers chase Coffin Joe into a swamp. The character is an atheist, but as he sinks beneath the water, he undergoes a bizarre religious conversion. Coffin Joe begs a priest to give him a cross, the "symbol of the Son." Then he drowns…or does he…
José Mojica Marins, the creator/director/star of the Coffin Joe series, originally wanted Coffin Joe to go down cursing God. But Brazil was under a dictatorship at the time, and government censors demanded that Mojica change the ending. Unless Coffin Joe "found God," they would kill the film's release. Mojica grudgingly changed the ending. It is something that has eaten away at him for 40 years.
THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL finally sets things right.
In the flashback, "Young Coffin Joe" rises from the swamp, grabs the crucifix and uses it to stab the priest to death! Then he attacks a cop and blinds him! That's the Coffin Joe we know and love. The film picks up 40 years later, with the blinded cop now a police captain and one of Coffin Joe's arch enemies.
You can read about my experience on the set of EMBODIMENT by visiting my Web site, "Diary do Demonio" (stateofhorror.com/demonio.html).
Of course I hoped to get invited to the premiere, but I wasn't counting on it. When the invitation came, I was pleasantly surprised.
So there I was, nearly two years after my last visit, back in São Paulo!
I arrived Sunday, Aug. 3. The premiere was an invitation-only event Tuesday at a large multiplex theater.
Dennison Ramalho, the film's co-writer and assistant director has been my main contact throughout my Coffin Joe adventure. He and his wife picked me up Tuesday night at the hotel. Per Mojica's instructions, I was dressed in my full Coffin Joe costume - top hat, cape, suit, and long fingernails.
Mojica would also be in full costume. I would join him and the seven actresses that played Coffin Joe's "brides," all decked out in goth outfits.
We arrived at the theater. Dennison, the brides and I stood outside an elevator in the parking garage, waiting for the word to go on up to the theater.
People stepping off the elevator must have wondered what in the heck was going on!
Finally, we got the word to go up. When the elevator doors opened, we were greeted with hundreds of people, cameras flashing, and organized chaos.
A roaring crowd packed the theater lobby, held back by velvet ropes and ushers wearing black foam top hats. Dennison told me to stay close to him and everything would be fine. But no sooner had he said that than studio people grabbed me and whisked me away!
I was escorted into a roped-off area where the actors and filmmakers were supposed to talk to the press and pose for pictures. Behind me was a giant wall poster for Encarnação do Demônio. In front of me was a swarm of journalists and photographers.
A man in a suit introduced himself as a 20th Century Fox representative. He said he would translate for me.
The photographers wanted me to strike Coffin Joe poses, so I obliged. I spent about 15 minutes hamming it up for their cameras. I was starting to run out of gas when they started nodding to tell me they got what they needed.
Then I did a TV interview with MTV Brasil. The studio guy relayed the reporter's Portuguese questions to me in English. Next was a magazine interview with another TV crew filming me at the same time.
I was sort of trapped in that press area, roped in with no escape!
Finally, Mojica arrived.
What an entrance. He strode into the theater, his seven brides marching behind him. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. Cameras flashed. It was an exciting moment.

Mojica hugged me.
"Legal?" he asked, giving me the thumbs up.
"Legal," I said, returning the gesture.
Legal is Portuguese slang for "cool."
A hundred cameras shot us as we all posed. Mojica would count down, then yell "Raaaggghh!" We all roared in synch, reaching out our hands toward the cameras.
The brides stepped away, then Mojica and I posed for shots as a duo. Then the producers ushered me to the side so the photographers could get shots of Mojica alone.
Mojica did several TV interviews, including one where he blew up at the reporter. I'm still not sure exactly what happened there, but apparently the reporter tried to prank him. (A few days later, Mojica and the reporter met again and made nice.)
I was getting a big kick out of all the attention. But Dennison had major butterflies in his stomach. His whole career was riding on that night.
Then an announcement came and Dennison's eyes grew wide.
"Let's go see the movie!" he said.
The studio had reserved seven screens. We walked into the biggest auditorium, where Mojica was to introduce the film.
The cast and crew lined up in front of the movie screen, facing the audience. Mojica stood in front, addressing the crowd. The audience interrupted his speech several times with applause.
Mojica talked about the obstacles he encountered trying to get the film made. He paid tribute to actor Jece Valadão, who died during the production. He discussed the Brazilian film industry and singled out famed Brazilian director Anselmo Duarte, who was a special guest at the premiere. The 88-year-old Duarte stood to take a bow. The audience stood to applaud him.
Mojica concluded his speech and we took our seats. The movie started.
It was a thrill to see the 20th Century Fox searchlights and hear that fanfare at the start of a Coffin Joe movie, especially one with me in it! Hee-hee!
So how was the movie? Well, I liked it! But I can hardly be objective, so don't expect a serious review from me.
Here is how I described it for DreadCentral:
Embodiment is a wild, phantasmagorical funhouse ride. It has surreal, dreamlike visuals reminiscent of Awakening of the Beast, but wrapped around a strong narrative plot set in the "real" world of At Midnight and This Night. It incorporates two elements from The Strange World of Coffin Joe and Black Exorcism, namely the idea that Coffin Joe has minions to help him carry out his plans, and the inclusion of graphic torture scenes.
When I say "graphic," I'm not kidding. This is one bloody, intense movie. I found myself squirming and flinching many times.
The film received incredibly good reviews. But Dennison complained that a few critics tried to lump it into the "torture porn" genre. He and I agree that it is not torture porn.
The film certainly contains a lot of torture, but that has been part of the Coffin Joe series since the beginning. The torture is not the main attraction. Coffin Joe is!
Torture porn films focus on the act of inflicting pain for its own sake. But as usual with Coffin Joe films, EMBODIMENT is concerned with bigger issues - the conflict between atheism and religion, mankind's quest for some kind of immortality.
Coffin Joe is the "embodiment of evil," but he is also somehow vulnerable and sympathetic, even noble at times. As in previous films, he protects children from harm. He doesn't hesitate to rack up a body count, but inside he is plagued by a guilty conscience and a fear that, as an atheist, he may have backed the wrong horse. In a surreal sequence, a spirit guide takes Coffin Joe on a Dante-styled tour of Purgatory.
The level of nudity and violence in this film is so high that I cannot imagine it getting anything less than NC-17 in the United States. If it does get a U.S. theatrical release, it will probably be on the art house circuit. I sure hope they put it out unrated. But if they land a mainstream theatrical distribution deal, they will need an R rating, and that will probably necessitate cuts. I hope I'm wrong. This is a very unique vision of a master filmmaker in the twilight of his career. It should be seen as-is. No alterations.
Of course, the most exciting part of the film was seeing myself on the big screen! What a weird feeling. My spine was trembling. I was relieved when the scene was over, because I could relax and enjoy the rest of the film without being self-conscious.
When the credits rolled, the audience applauded. But I felt kind of sad. It was like a long journey had come to an end.
A cocktail reception followed the screening. I received a lot of compliments. Mojica told a reporter I was "perfeito." People asked me to pose for pictures with them.
Finally, Dennison and I left the theater and went to a cast/crew party at a nightclub. We spent about two hours there, then called it a night. Whew!
I stayed in Brazil through the end of the week. I thought nothing could top the experience of going to the premiere. But on Friday, I experienced something even more surreal when I joined Mojica as a guest on one of the biggest TV shows in Brazil.
I will tell you about that experience later.
The new Coffin Joe film, Encarnação do Demônio (THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL) opened Aug. 8 in Brazil. 20th Century Fox is distributing it in South America and Latin America.
The producers are going to Italy this week to attend the film's screening at the Venice Film Festival, where they plan to line up distribution deals for North America, Europe and Asia. So hopefully there will be a way for U.S. fans to see it before too long.
In the meantime, I'm probably one of the few U.S. citizens to have seen the film!
I had the great honor of being invited to attend the premiere Aug. 5 in São Paulo, Brazil.
It was the first time I've been to a "real" movie premiere. I tried to keep my expectations realistic so I would not be disappointed. Well, there was no need for that! It turned out to be one wild, dizzying, incredible experience.
As some of you are aware, I have a small part in the film. I play "Young Coffin Joe" in a flashback linking the new film with THIS NIGHT I WILL POSSESS YOUR CORPSE (1967), the second film in the "Coffin Joe Trilogy."
At the climax of THIS NIGHT, angry villagers chase Coffin Joe into a swamp. The character is an atheist, but as he sinks beneath the water, he undergoes a bizarre religious conversion. Coffin Joe begs a priest to give him a cross, the "symbol of the Son." Then he drowns…or does he…
José Mojica Marins, the creator/director/star of the Coffin Joe series, originally wanted Coffin Joe to go down cursing God. But Brazil was under a dictatorship at the time, and government censors demanded that Mojica change the ending. Unless Coffin Joe "found God," they would kill the film's release. Mojica grudgingly changed the ending. It is something that has eaten away at him for 40 years.
THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL finally sets things right.
In the flashback, "Young Coffin Joe" rises from the swamp, grabs the crucifix and uses it to stab the priest to death! Then he attacks a cop and blinds him! That's the Coffin Joe we know and love. The film picks up 40 years later, with the blinded cop now a police captain and one of Coffin Joe's arch enemies.
You can read about my experience on the set of EMBODIMENT by visiting my Web site, "Diary do Demonio" (stateofhorror.com/demonio.html).
Of course I hoped to get invited to the premiere, but I wasn't counting on it. When the invitation came, I was pleasantly surprised.
So there I was, nearly two years after my last visit, back in São Paulo!
I arrived Sunday, Aug. 3. The premiere was an invitation-only event Tuesday at a large multiplex theater.
Dennison Ramalho, the film's co-writer and assistant director has been my main contact throughout my Coffin Joe adventure. He and his wife picked me up Tuesday night at the hotel. Per Mojica's instructions, I was dressed in my full Coffin Joe costume - top hat, cape, suit, and long fingernails.
Mojica would also be in full costume. I would join him and the seven actresses that played Coffin Joe's "brides," all decked out in goth outfits.
We arrived at the theater. Dennison, the brides and I stood outside an elevator in the parking garage, waiting for the word to go on up to the theater.
People stepping off the elevator must have wondered what in the heck was going on!
Finally, we got the word to go up. When the elevator doors opened, we were greeted with hundreds of people, cameras flashing, and organized chaos.
A roaring crowd packed the theater lobby, held back by velvet ropes and ushers wearing black foam top hats. Dennison told me to stay close to him and everything would be fine. But no sooner had he said that than studio people grabbed me and whisked me away!
I was escorted into a roped-off area where the actors and filmmakers were supposed to talk to the press and pose for pictures. Behind me was a giant wall poster for Encarnação do Demônio. In front of me was a swarm of journalists and photographers.
A man in a suit introduced himself as a 20th Century Fox representative. He said he would translate for me.
The photographers wanted me to strike Coffin Joe poses, so I obliged. I spent about 15 minutes hamming it up for their cameras. I was starting to run out of gas when they started nodding to tell me they got what they needed.
Then I did a TV interview with MTV Brasil. The studio guy relayed the reporter's Portuguese questions to me in English. Next was a magazine interview with another TV crew filming me at the same time.
I was sort of trapped in that press area, roped in with no escape!
Finally, Mojica arrived.
What an entrance. He strode into the theater, his seven brides marching behind him. The crowd parted like the Red Sea. Cameras flashed. It was an exciting moment.

Mojica hugged me.
"Legal?" he asked, giving me the thumbs up.
"Legal," I said, returning the gesture.
Legal is Portuguese slang for "cool."
A hundred cameras shot us as we all posed. Mojica would count down, then yell "Raaaggghh!" We all roared in synch, reaching out our hands toward the cameras.
The brides stepped away, then Mojica and I posed for shots as a duo. Then the producers ushered me to the side so the photographers could get shots of Mojica alone.
Mojica did several TV interviews, including one where he blew up at the reporter. I'm still not sure exactly what happened there, but apparently the reporter tried to prank him. (A few days later, Mojica and the reporter met again and made nice.)
I was getting a big kick out of all the attention. But Dennison had major butterflies in his stomach. His whole career was riding on that night.
Then an announcement came and Dennison's eyes grew wide.
"Let's go see the movie!" he said.
The studio had reserved seven screens. We walked into the biggest auditorium, where Mojica was to introduce the film.
The cast and crew lined up in front of the movie screen, facing the audience. Mojica stood in front, addressing the crowd. The audience interrupted his speech several times with applause.
Mojica talked about the obstacles he encountered trying to get the film made. He paid tribute to actor Jece Valadão, who died during the production. He discussed the Brazilian film industry and singled out famed Brazilian director Anselmo Duarte, who was a special guest at the premiere. The 88-year-old Duarte stood to take a bow. The audience stood to applaud him.
Mojica concluded his speech and we took our seats. The movie started.
It was a thrill to see the 20th Century Fox searchlights and hear that fanfare at the start of a Coffin Joe movie, especially one with me in it! Hee-hee!
So how was the movie? Well, I liked it! But I can hardly be objective, so don't expect a serious review from me.
Here is how I described it for DreadCentral:
Embodiment is a wild, phantasmagorical funhouse ride. It has surreal, dreamlike visuals reminiscent of Awakening of the Beast, but wrapped around a strong narrative plot set in the "real" world of At Midnight and This Night. It incorporates two elements from The Strange World of Coffin Joe and Black Exorcism, namely the idea that Coffin Joe has minions to help him carry out his plans, and the inclusion of graphic torture scenes.
When I say "graphic," I'm not kidding. This is one bloody, intense movie. I found myself squirming and flinching many times.
The film received incredibly good reviews. But Dennison complained that a few critics tried to lump it into the "torture porn" genre. He and I agree that it is not torture porn.
The film certainly contains a lot of torture, but that has been part of the Coffin Joe series since the beginning. The torture is not the main attraction. Coffin Joe is!
Torture porn films focus on the act of inflicting pain for its own sake. But as usual with Coffin Joe films, EMBODIMENT is concerned with bigger issues - the conflict between atheism and religion, mankind's quest for some kind of immortality.
Coffin Joe is the "embodiment of evil," but he is also somehow vulnerable and sympathetic, even noble at times. As in previous films, he protects children from harm. He doesn't hesitate to rack up a body count, but inside he is plagued by a guilty conscience and a fear that, as an atheist, he may have backed the wrong horse. In a surreal sequence, a spirit guide takes Coffin Joe on a Dante-styled tour of Purgatory.
The level of nudity and violence in this film is so high that I cannot imagine it getting anything less than NC-17 in the United States. If it does get a U.S. theatrical release, it will probably be on the art house circuit. I sure hope they put it out unrated. But if they land a mainstream theatrical distribution deal, they will need an R rating, and that will probably necessitate cuts. I hope I'm wrong. This is a very unique vision of a master filmmaker in the twilight of his career. It should be seen as-is. No alterations.
Of course, the most exciting part of the film was seeing myself on the big screen! What a weird feeling. My spine was trembling. I was relieved when the scene was over, because I could relax and enjoy the rest of the film without being self-conscious.
When the credits rolled, the audience applauded. But I felt kind of sad. It was like a long journey had come to an end.
A cocktail reception followed the screening. I received a lot of compliments. Mojica told a reporter I was "perfeito." People asked me to pose for pictures with them.
Finally, Dennison and I left the theater and went to a cast/crew party at a nightclub. We spent about two hours there, then called it a night. Whew!
I stayed in Brazil through the end of the week. I thought nothing could top the experience of going to the premiere. But on Friday, I experienced something even more surreal when I joined Mojica as a guest on one of the biggest TV shows in Brazil.
I will tell you about that experience later.
