I spend half of every year in Brazil, and if you're someone who has an interest in both Brazil and the horror genre, the work of José Mojica Marins is unavoidable. Mojica (they call him Mojica instead of Marins) is a legend in his home country, looked up to by the filmmakers working in the genre today and referred to as "the master". That's because he made the first horror movie to come out of Brazil, AT MIDNIGHT I'LL TAKE YOUR SOUL, in 1964. That's the same movie in which he created his most famous character, Zé do Caixão, a.k.a. Coffin Joe.
I have described AT MIDNIGHT I'LL TAKE YOUR SOUL as "a character study of the worst human being on the planet", and Coffin Joe is an awful person, an evil undertaker who feels superior to everyone and whose primary concern is the continuation of his bloodline. He does some appalling, horrific things on his quest to have a son.
And even though he's so awful, Coffin Joe became a pop culture sensation. Mojica brought the character back for several films, telling Coffin Joe's story through a trilogy – the second film was 1967's THIS NIGHT I'LL POSSESS YOUR CORPSE, the third 2008's EMBODIMENT OF EVIL – while also featuring him in some other films on the side; THE STRANGE WORLD OF COFFIN JOE, AWAKENING OF THE BEAST, THE BLOODY EXORCISM OF COFFIN JOE, THE STRANGE HOSTEL OF NAKED PLEASURES, and HALLUCINATIONS OF A DERANGED MIND. He even had his own horror host show where he introduced movies as the character.
Mojica had over 40 directorial credits to his name, with credits spanning 60 years. His first feature was the western ADVENTURER'S FATE, and in recent years he had contributed segments to the anthology films THE PROFANE EXHIBIT and THE BLACK FABLES. He made films in several different genres, but it's his work in horror and particularly the films featuring Coffin Joe that he'll always be remembered for.
Sadly, Mojica has passed away just shy of his 84th birthday. Born on Friday, March 13th, 1936, he died of bronchopneumonia on February 19th, 2020.
He may not have gotten as much attention in other countries as he did within Brazil, but Mojica truly was one of the genre's greatest legends, and it's sad to see him go. I'm going to be watching the Coffin Joe films to celebrate his life, and if you'd like to do the same the core trilogy is readily available. You can pick it up HERE.
Our condolences go out to José Mojica Marins' family, friends, and fans.
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