Embodiment of Evil
Encyclopedia
Embodiment of Evil is a 2008 Brazilian horror film
by Brazilian film director
José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego
Zé do Caixão (Eng
: Coffin Joe). It is the third installment of his Coffin Joe trilogy. It is preceded by At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
(1963) and This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse
(1967).
A flashback
scene in the film reveals that the young Coffin Joe (portrayed in the scene by Raymond Castile) survived after submerging in a swamp at the end of the previous film. After serving 40 years in a prison mental ward, Coffin Joe (José Mojica Marins) is released to the streets of modern day São Paulo
. Immediately after his release, Coffin Joe renews his life-long obsession to sire a male child with a woman whom he perceives to be of exceptional qualities capable of continuing his bloodline, which he feels to be "superior" above all others.
After being released from the prison mental ward, Coffin Joe is greeted at the gate by his old and loyal servant Bruno (Rui Rezende), who takes him to a secluded basement below a favela
in São Paulo. As well as Bruno, the hideout is populated by four fanatics who are obsessed with Coffin Joe's history and ideas, and have been waiting and preparing for his arrival in order that they may faithfully serve him. After questioning their motives and testing their loyalty, Coffin Joe immediately orders the followers to begin kidnapping women so he can renew his murderous quest for "the continuation of the blood", his lifelong obsession to find who he determines to be a perfect woman who will bear him a son. His first victim is Dr. Hilda (Cléo De Páris), a controversial eugenicist
who Bruno kidnaps. Coffin Joe tests her will by injecting her with drugs and she has hallucinations of Coffin Joe cutting off her buttock and presenting it to her after which she willingly eats it. Meanwhile, Coronel Claudiomiro Pontes (Jece Valadão), a fervidly Roman Catholic
police captain who holds an old grudge against Coffin Joe for blinding his eye, and Father Eugênio (Milhem Cortaz
), a mentally unstable priest (the son of one of Coffin Joe's past victims, Dr. Rudolfo in At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul) learn about Coffin Joe's release, and decide to join forces to seek Coffin Joe and kill him once and for all.
On his first night, Coffin Joe starts to be haunted by ghostly visions of his previous victims, including Terezinha and Lenita from At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, and Laura from This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse. However, he convinces himself that they are just his imagination although they continue to haunt him throughout the film. He later singles out a young gypsy woman named Elena (Nara Sakarê), who has also been intrigued with him since his appearance at the favela. Elena's aunts, Cabíria (Helena Ignez) and Lucrécia (Débora Muniz), knowing of his evil past history, perform a ritual to protect Elena from Coffin Joe and place a curse on him. After Joe kills the two aunts, Elena offers herself to him, although while having sex with her he has a vision where he finds himself in another dimension which is a bloody, intestine
-like maze. There he is met by a figure called the Mystifier (José Celso Martinez Corrêa), who takes him to an arid, surreal landscape called Purgatory. The Mystifier shows Coffin Joe horrific visions of human depravity, suffering, and perversion, as well as a female figure of Coffin Joe's death. Greatly disturbed, Joe sends his followers to quickly kidnap several more women and proceeds to torture them through sadistic ordeals to test their endurance and willingness to succumb to his perceived superiority.
When the police find Coffin Joe's hideout that night they find it deserted, except for the gruesome remains of his victims. Joe escapes through the dark woods with Colonel Pontes and the Father Eugenio after him. Joe arrives at a closed amusement park
where Joe kills the policemen, but is wounded by the Father Eugênio, who impales Coffin Joe through the heart with a large crucifix
. Although relieved thinking he has killed Coffin Joe, Father Eugênio is immediately pursued by shadows and the voice of Coffin Joe as he leaves the amusement park. As Father Eugênio leaves, Elena appears. She pulls the crucifix out of Coffin Joe, removes her clothes and has sexual intercourse
with him. The final scene takes place at Coffin Joe's funeral, where it is revealed that Coffin Joe achieved his goal in the end, as the women who survived his ordeals, including Hilda and Elena, gathered at his funeral, are all pregnant.
, Sao Paulo
, Brazil
, Embodiment of Evil won 7 of 15 categories for fictional films. Marins was presented the Critics Choice award for best film. Other awards were best photography (José Roberto Eliezer), best film editing (Paulo Sacramento), best sound editing (Ricardo Reis), best soundtrack
(André Abujamra and Márcio Nigro), best art direction (Cássio Amarante).
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
by Brazilian film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
Zé do Caixão (Eng
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Coffin Joe). It is the third installment of his Coffin Joe trilogy. It is preceded by At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul is a 1963 Brazilian horror film, by filmmaker/actor José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his created alter ego Coffin Joe . It is also Brazil's first horror film, and it marks the first appearance of Marins' character Zé do Caixão...
(1963) and This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse
This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse
This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse is a 1967 Brazilian horror film by actor/filmmaker José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego Coffin Joe...
(1967).
A flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
scene in the film reveals that the young Coffin Joe (portrayed in the scene by Raymond Castile) survived after submerging in a swamp at the end of the previous film. After serving 40 years in a prison mental ward, Coffin Joe (José Mojica Marins) is released to the streets of modern day São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. Immediately after his release, Coffin Joe renews his life-long obsession to sire a male child with a woman whom he perceives to be of exceptional qualities capable of continuing his bloodline, which he feels to be "superior" above all others.
Plot
Favela
A favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...
in São Paulo. As well as Bruno, the hideout is populated by four fanatics who are obsessed with Coffin Joe's history and ideas, and have been waiting and preparing for his arrival in order that they may faithfully serve him. After questioning their motives and testing their loyalty, Coffin Joe immediately orders the followers to begin kidnapping women so he can renew his murderous quest for "the continuation of the blood", his lifelong obsession to find who he determines to be a perfect woman who will bear him a son. His first victim is Dr. Hilda (Cléo De Páris), a controversial eugenicist
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
who Bruno kidnaps. Coffin Joe tests her will by injecting her with drugs and she has hallucinations of Coffin Joe cutting off her buttock and presenting it to her after which she willingly eats it. Meanwhile, Coronel Claudiomiro Pontes (Jece Valadão), a fervidly Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
police captain who holds an old grudge against Coffin Joe for blinding his eye, and Father Eugênio (Milhem Cortaz
Milhem Cortaz
Milhem Cortaz is a Brazilian actor of film, stage and television.Cortaz' first role came on the 2000 film Mater Dei, written by Diogo Mainardi, where he portrayed a security guard. On 2002, he premiered on the television with a minor character on Rede Globo's unsuccessful telenovela Desejos de...
), a mentally unstable priest (the son of one of Coffin Joe's past victims, Dr. Rudolfo in At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul) learn about Coffin Joe's release, and decide to join forces to seek Coffin Joe and kill him once and for all.
On his first night, Coffin Joe starts to be haunted by ghostly visions of his previous victims, including Terezinha and Lenita from At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, and Laura from This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse. However, he convinces himself that they are just his imagination although they continue to haunt him throughout the film. He later singles out a young gypsy woman named Elena (Nara Sakarê), who has also been intrigued with him since his appearance at the favela. Elena's aunts, Cabíria (Helena Ignez) and Lucrécia (Débora Muniz), knowing of his evil past history, perform a ritual to protect Elena from Coffin Joe and place a curse on him. After Joe kills the two aunts, Elena offers herself to him, although while having sex with her he has a vision where he finds himself in another dimension which is a bloody, intestine
Intestine
In human anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the alimentary canal extending from the pyloric sphincter of the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine...
-like maze. There he is met by a figure called the Mystifier (José Celso Martinez Corrêa), who takes him to an arid, surreal landscape called Purgatory. The Mystifier shows Coffin Joe horrific visions of human depravity, suffering, and perversion, as well as a female figure of Coffin Joe's death. Greatly disturbed, Joe sends his followers to quickly kidnap several more women and proceeds to torture them through sadistic ordeals to test their endurance and willingness to succumb to his perceived superiority.
When the police find Coffin Joe's hideout that night they find it deserted, except for the gruesome remains of his victims. Joe escapes through the dark woods with Colonel Pontes and the Father Eugenio after him. Joe arrives at a closed amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
where Joe kills the policemen, but is wounded by the Father Eugênio, who impales Coffin Joe through the heart with a large crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
. Although relieved thinking he has killed Coffin Joe, Father Eugênio is immediately pursued by shadows and the voice of Coffin Joe as he leaves the amusement park. As Father Eugênio leaves, Elena appears. She pulls the crucifix out of Coffin Joe, removes her clothes and has sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with him. The final scene takes place at Coffin Joe's funeral, where it is revealed that Coffin Joe achieved his goal in the end, as the women who survived his ordeals, including Hilda and Elena, gathered at his funeral, are all pregnant.
Cast
- José Mojica Marins as Zé do Caixão (Coffin Joe)
- Raymond Castile as Young Coffin Joe
- Jece Valadão as Coronel Claudiomiro Pontes
- Adriano Stuart as Captain Oswaldo Pontes
- Milhem CortazMilhem CortazMilhem Cortaz is a Brazilian actor of film, stage and television.Cortaz' first role came on the 2000 film Mater Dei, written by Diogo Mainardi, where he portrayed a security guard. On 2002, he premiered on the television with a minor character on Rede Globo's unsuccessful telenovela Desejos de...
as Father Eugênio - Rui Rezende as Bruno
- José Celso Martinez Corrêa as Mystifier
- Cristina Aché as Lucy Pontes
- Helena Ignez as Cabíria
- Débora Muniz as Lucrécia
- Thais Simi as Maíra
- Cléo De Páris as Dr. Hilda
- Nara Sakarê as Elena
- Giulio Lopes as Mário
Reception
During the Paulinia Film Festival, held July 5–12, 2008 in PauliniaPaulínia
Paulínia is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. As of 2009, its population was 84.577 inhabitants in an area of 145.27 km². The elevation is 590 m...
, Sao Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Embodiment of Evil won 7 of 15 categories for fictional films. Marins was presented the Critics Choice award for best film. Other awards were best photography (José Roberto Eliezer), best film editing (Paulo Sacramento), best sound editing (Ricardo Reis), best soundtrack
(André Abujamra and Márcio Nigro), best art direction (Cássio Amarante).