11. Coffin Joe - At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1963)
Coffin Joe is the alter ego/film character created by the great Brazilian horror icon José Mojica Marins. Marins essentially brought the horror movie to Brazil with At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul and Coffin Joe as the antagonist. In At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, Coffin Joe is on a mission to find a woman to bear his child, as his wife cannot have children. He actually kills his wife with a spider bite as he has fallen for Terezinha, his friend Antonio's fiancee. Joe goes to a fortune teller who says there will be a horrific tragedy and the marriage will not go ahead. In order to fulfil the witch's prophecy, Joe drowns Antonio and beats and rapes Terezihna. She curses him to hell and back, telling him she will come for his soul and take it to hell. Joe laughs at all of this perceived supernatural rubbish, but Terezihna is found hanged the next day and the local doctor begins to suspect Joe. A bit of time goes past and Joe takes a fancy to a woman called Marta. The fortune teller confronts him again and tells him that the bodies of those he killed will come for his soul at midnight. Again he believes the witch is speaking nonsense but at midnight, he receives some unwanted visitors... Coffin Joe is deeply evil and immoral; he believes he is superior to everyone and hates superstition. Anyone who doesn't agree with him is weak and inferior. He is obsessed with the 'continuity of blood' and finding the perfect woman to bear his child. He is a terrific horror icon who deserves more love.
Clare Simpson
Contributor
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
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Clare