Slightly over a year ago now, I had my first and long-awaited acquaintance with the repertoire of José Mojica Marins and to my own personal surprise and regret I wasn't the least bit impressed! I'm usually a sucker for creative and eccentric low-budget horror but "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul" (one of his alleged masterpieces) turned out a huge disappointment. Marins' infamous alter ego Coffin Joe isn't a petrifying and menacing horror symbol, but a whiny creep who draws all the attention to himself instead of setting up a morbid atmosphere. I can understand why his style and movies are popular among avid cult fanatics, since it's experimental and bizarre, but substantially speaking they are nothing. It took me over a year to give his oeuvre another chance, but I'm sort of glad I did eventually, as "The Strange World of Coffin Joe" is a completely different type of film. It still isn't a very perplexing film and definitely not as brilliant as some fans around here claim it is but it's more diverse, ingenious, artistic and atmospheric. "The Strange World etc
" is a horror anthology existing of three versatile and delirious stories and the film as a whole is much better since the stories don't exclusively revolve on Coffin Joe, in spite of what the title may suggest. José Mojica Marins doesn't even appear in the first two segments and in the third, where he does play the lead role; he depicts a different character than his usual crazed mortician.
The first story is rather mundane and predictable, but it's worth sitting through for the eerie scenery and lurid sex sequences that are definitely ahead of their time. "O Fabricante de Bonecas" tells the story of an old doll maker and his four luscious daughters. Everybody in town wonders how come the dolls all have such realistic looking eyes, but obviously you don't need a degree in quantum physics to figure that out. When four petty thieves attempt to break into the house and rape the daughters, they literally experience the doll-making process. The second story is mostly artsy (because it's shot without dialog or monologues) and controversial (because it builds up towards the taboo subject of necrophilia). It's a haunting and strangely compelling segment in which a shy and introvert balloon salesman stalks the woman of his dreams day and night, even until on her wedding day. Only when she unexpectedly dies and her body is put to rest in a secluded morgue, the obsessed man finally sees a chance to be intimate with her. I know it sounds like the most revolting and sickening exploitation concept, but at to my own big surprise Marins illustrates it with great elegance, with tasteful photography and sensual musical guidance. It's literally a unique segment and something you certainly don't expect. The final segment is Coffin Joe at his own and most robust again. The story "Ideology" is pure nonsense, but it marvelously showcases imaginative cruelty and gratuitous violence. In fact, this little episode could even be considered as the granddaddy of the nowadays hugely popular Torture-Porn movies, since it is non-stop senseless violence and graphic mutilation without a plot or ambiance. A scientist declares on TV that love doesn't exist as a sentiment and that we all thrive on instinct. One of his colleagues disrespectfully disagrees and humiliates the doctor on TV. Reason enough for the deranged doctor to kidnap his colleague and his wife and subject them to severe torture in the catacombs of his mansion, only to prove his theories. If, after one week of excruciating pains, they still sacrifices oneself to save the other, then love conquered. If not, they only follow their instincts. The last segment is quite sick, disturbing and it openly glorifies rape & murder! Great! What more could you look for in a cult flick?
The first story is rather mundane and predictable, but it's worth sitting through for the eerie scenery and lurid sex sequences that are definitely ahead of their time. "O Fabricante de Bonecas" tells the story of an old doll maker and his four luscious daughters. Everybody in town wonders how come the dolls all have such realistic looking eyes, but obviously you don't need a degree in quantum physics to figure that out. When four petty thieves attempt to break into the house and rape the daughters, they literally experience the doll-making process. The second story is mostly artsy (because it's shot without dialog or monologues) and controversial (because it builds up towards the taboo subject of necrophilia). It's a haunting and strangely compelling segment in which a shy and introvert balloon salesman stalks the woman of his dreams day and night, even until on her wedding day. Only when she unexpectedly dies and her body is put to rest in a secluded morgue, the obsessed man finally sees a chance to be intimate with her. I know it sounds like the most revolting and sickening exploitation concept, but at to my own big surprise Marins illustrates it with great elegance, with tasteful photography and sensual musical guidance. It's literally a unique segment and something you certainly don't expect. The final segment is Coffin Joe at his own and most robust again. The story "Ideology" is pure nonsense, but it marvelously showcases imaginative cruelty and gratuitous violence. In fact, this little episode could even be considered as the granddaddy of the nowadays hugely popular Torture-Porn movies, since it is non-stop senseless violence and graphic mutilation without a plot or ambiance. A scientist declares on TV that love doesn't exist as a sentiment and that we all thrive on instinct. One of his colleagues disrespectfully disagrees and humiliates the doctor on TV. Reason enough for the deranged doctor to kidnap his colleague and his wife and subject them to severe torture in the catacombs of his mansion, only to prove his theories. If, after one week of excruciating pains, they still sacrifices oneself to save the other, then love conquered. If not, they only follow their instincts. The last segment is quite sick, disturbing and it openly glorifies rape & murder! Great! What more could you look for in a cult flick?