You know how movies used to tell you not to watch them. It’s something they used to do way back in the day, at the beginning of the movie the director or maybe one the stars would appear on screen and tell you that because this movie is so horrifyingly chilling that those with weak hearts better leave or they might just fucking DIE from sheer fright (William Castle, mastermind behind such films as The Tingler did that quite often, to the point that it became a regular feature in his films). It’s cheesy, and a relic from what we consider a simpler time, but for some reason I can’t help but enjoy it. It’s hype for the movie that’s been built into the movie itself, getting you in the proper frame of mind. It’s like if at the beginning of every album there was like 3 minutes where the band told you just how awesome the music you are about to listen yo is. And wouldn’t you know it, this entry’s film is exactly one of those movies! Almost like I planned it that way...
In At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul, director José Mojica Marins stars as the mysterious Zé Do Caixáo, who would later become known as ‘Coffin Joe’ in subsequent entries in the series, the only gravedigger in the unnamed Brazilian town where this film takes place. Coffin Joe is a sociopath of the highest order, an the only thing that Joe hates more than religion (which he shows by publicly breaking any sort of religious practice, and publicly denouncing God, spirits, whatever) seems to be every single person around him, who he derides for living as ‘fools’ and ‘cowards, afraid of life’. Coffin Joe, by contrast, is not afraid of life or supernatural hoodoo, and he exercises it by being the biggest piece of shit within a hundred mile radius. If you could imagine Snidely Whiplash but a bit more rapey, you have an approximate image of Coffin Joe in your mind. The Joker wearing a top hat and beard would also work, with the added benefit of that picture probably already existing. Batman falls prey to a death trap in the Hall of Presidents or, because he didn’t notice the Lincoln model had a pale white face and was holding an oversized mallet, and the Penguin is dressed like Herbert Hoover or something like that.
Back when comics were good.
So what does a man who despises people and the world they have built most desire in said world? Why a son of course, a continuation of his genetic line, that he can teach all the ways that you can be a huge dick and get away with it. Unfortunately for him, his girlfriend Lenita is barren, and therefore the most horrible garbage in the world (his implication, not mine). Unfortunately for everyone else, his ‘friend’ Antonio’s bride-to-be Terezinha (Magda Mei) is totes fertile (which makes her the most beautiful woman in the world, obviously). Coffin Joe has no problem with killing anyone or anything to get what he wants, but how low will he able to sink before his sins become too heavy to float? And perhaps, despite his claims to the contrary, life after death does exist after all...
The biggest selling point for this film (unless you really love Brazilian cinema) is the violence. At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul is a violent, even gruesome movie, mutilations and grisly murders abound within. While hyper-violence is no big shakes in modern-day horror, to the point that ‘torture porn’ very rarely means porn that happens to have torture anymore, but the fact that this was made in the 1960s (not even late 60s) is fascinating. Tom make Coffin Joe a truly unsympathetic character you need see the end results of his actions towards others, and Mojica does so with some impressively horrific special effects. It’s those striking visuals that set this movie apart from others at the time, that tried to frighten audiences with off-screen stranglings, bullet wounds with no blood or entry points, and papier mache monsters. The closest comparison I can think of at the moment is Night of the Living Dead which would come out about 4 years later, but where NotLD works because it builds tension over characters trying to avoid horrible fates, At Midnight shoves terrible human suffering in your face and laughs about it. Tension is instead built over how and when Coffin Joe is punished for all this shit that he’s done, and he does a decent amount of shit to be sure. It’s the classic ‘man destroyed by hubris’ story that you tend to see in tons of movies, but far more in the case of the villain/antagonist rather than the focus of the movie. Totally MacBeth style, know what I’m saying?
Aside from Coffin Joe, the rest of the cast is tolerable but not all that memorable. In all honesty, they seem to be extraordinarily stupid: Antonio is somehow Coffin Joe’s best friend despite the fact that Joe tells him he’s a fucking idiot to his face, Terezinha doesn’t tell Antonio or anyone that Joe basically attempts to rape her within the first 30 minutes of the movie, Joe somehow avoids jailtime for assaulting people due to ‘lack of evidence’ even though there are like 20 witnesses, etc. You could say that it’s to show that Coffin Joe is correct in believing that people are cowards, but it tests the suspension of disbelief just that not once does anyone think to just pull out a gun and blast the fucker between the eyes. Of course the rules of movies state that a big enough douchebag has to remain unmolested until the huge karmic payoff, but the characters here are so basic that they could have been replaced by puppies and the tone and message of the movie would have barely changed at all. Coffin Joe: Puppy Murderer would be much harder to sell to an audience though, I will admit.
Coffin Joe: Puppy Rapist could be the next Serbian Film. Think about it, Mojica. Make sure you put my name in the credits though.
Like my first entry, Bride of Frankenstein, At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul is a relatively obscure but ultimately worthwhile addition to the horror genre. If you’re a fan of the old-school scary, or perhaps a burgeoning gore hound, it’s a fun way to pass the time. Pick up the sequels too while you’re at it: I haven’t got to them myself yet, but I hear they get crazier every movie. Be forewarned that there is a strong anti-religion/anti-Christianity theme, most of which is embodied by the character with the most screentime, which is not an issue with me but could potentially be distressing for others (I don’t make no assumptions, ya dig). Either way, hope you all have pleasant evenings and good frights.
You see, I replaced the word ‘nights’ with ‘frights’, in a prime example of a literary device known as wordplay. Shakespeare ain’t the only guy in town now, bitches.
Result: Recommended
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