When a movie opens with a witch warning you not to watch it, you know you're onto something.
In a small Brazilian town, sinister undertaker Zé do Caixão —
commonly translated into English as "Coffin Joe" — terrorizes the
locals with his nasty, violent nature and obsesses over the continuation
of his lineage with a son. Unfortunately, his wife cannot conceive
children, so Ze sets his sights on his best friend's fiancee, who wants
nothing to do with him, and embarks on a campaign of murder and
brutality in order to achieve his goal.
Of
interest for a number of reasons, including it being Brazil's first
horror film, AT MIDNIGHT I'LL TAKE YOUR SOUL is less of what American
horror fans might consider a straight "horror" movie per se, but is
instead rather a character study about utter immorality that comes into
direct conflict with the strictures of hardcore Latin-style Catholicism.
Virtually every aspect of Zé
do Caixão himself is an affront to the Catholic faith and all it stands
for, so his depiction must have been quite a kick in the head for
believers in his native audience. Brought to vivid, histrionic life by
multitasking filmmaker José
Mojica Marins, Ze is perpetually dressed in a black suit with cape and
top hat (presumably proper attire for his profession in that era) but
for all intents and purposes he resembles some sort of baleful dabbler
in the black arts or some kind of South American iteration of the
classical Gothic vampire. He also sports long, talon-like nails and
exudes an air of near-palpable evil, so his mere presence is quite
off-putting. Plus to say nothing of the fact that he is an aggressively
unrepentant asshole in general.
The study in gallant, feel-good charm that is Zé do Caixão (José Mojica Marins).
The
acts that Ze gets up to amount to a catalog of distinctly indecent
behavior that is frowned upon by basically any religion one can name,
but his transgressions bear considerable weight when factored against
how a good practicing Catholic is supposed to conduct oneself. Among
Ze's many, many offenses can be counted blasphemy, the eating of meat on
a Friday during lent (which he defiantly and amusingly does in full
view of a priest-led procession of the faithful that passes by his open
window), unabashed lust, betrayal of friends, intent to rape,
association with witches, savage abuse of women, acts of unprovoked
violence and mutilation, and a couple of instances of outright murder.
Kiss those eyes goodbye, dude.
With its atmospheric setting being pretty much a South American answer
to classic Universal or Hammer's European hamlets where all manner of
diabolical ghastliness occurs, the true horror here is the towering
assholism of Zé
do Caixão, a human monster in no uncertain terms. Though wielding no
supernatural powers or special knowledge of the "darke artes," in terms
of sheer malevolence, Ze easily earns his place among the roster of
all-time great evil cinematic presences. Sure, he's very culturally and
era-specific, but that's what makes him interesting and worth checking
out, and believe me, there's more to come...
Poster for the theatrical release.
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