Rating: 3.5/5
Hooptober 5.0 | 12/32 | Before 1970 3/6
What is life? It is the beginning of death. What is death? It is the end of life. What is existence? It is the continuity of blood. What is blood? It is the reason to exist!
Coffin Joe strikes his gloved hands against Terezinha’s bloodied face. Coffin Joe strangles Antônio in the bath. A tarantula climbs Lenita’s neck and into her hair, her mouth covered with cotton and tape. Dr. Rodolfo backs away in horror. Velha Bruxa appears, skull in hand, to warn the audience of what they will experience — to be brave because, at midnight, she will take your soul.
At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul was Brazil’s first horror movie. Coffin Joe is a Catholic nightmare — an atheist undertaker who will rape and murder to procreate and spread his nihilist seed. This emissary of Satan even eats lamb on Holy Friday!
In this movie, his wife, Lenita, cannot bear children. He makes advances on Terezinha, the fiance of his friend, Antônio. His having friends and a wife is perplexing.
Terezinha refuses him, driving him into a frenzy. He murders Lenita and gets away with it, thus invigorating him to chase his desires.
This film is brutal! Coffin Joe is cutting off fingers, whipping bar patrons bloody.
The movie is also low-budget exploitation. Are you looking for subtlety or good acting? Prepare for disappointment. But if you can accept the film on its terms, it’s a classic for a reason.