At
Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964)/This Night I'll Possess
Your Corpse (1967/Coffin Joe Series/Synapse Films DVDs)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B Film: B
After
a several year gap from Synapse issuing Embodiment of Evil on
Blu-ray, they have finally issued the first two films from the Coffin
Joe series on DVD, though we covered the trilogy soon after in an
import. More on that after our coverage of the new DVDs....
At
Midnight, I'll Take Your Soul
The
first installment in the Coffin Joe film saga, At Midnight
I'll Take Your Soul (1964) is ghastly black and white Brazilian
horror cinema that you may or may not be able to stomach or at least
watch alone. The first Brazilian horror film, this is a necessity
for diehard horror fans. Classics in their own right, Synapse has
release this first film in the series as well as This Night I'll
Possess Your Corpse as individual releases, as well as a three
disc edition entitled The Coffin Joe Trilogy, which includes
Embodiment of Evil exclusively.
Coffin
Joe is an unsettling long finger-nailed, top hat wearing, bearded
undertaker who isn't much for religion and is frustrated that his
wife can't bring him a child. After tying his wife up and setting a
poisonous spider loose on her body in bed with her mouth taped shut,
it's quickly evident that the two don't have much of a future
together. Soon, Joe decides to find another woman to have his child
despite the warning of a gypsy that his victims will one day come
from him!
Restored
from the original 35mm negative supervised by Director Jose Mojica
Marins, this edition of At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul looks
as good as it can on standard definition DVD (apparently better than
the Australian import we reviewed, but as compared to the Anchor Bay
U.K. edition, we don't know), which presents the film in a 1.33:1
full frame aspect ratio, as originally intended by the filmmakers.
The sound mix is in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Portuguese Mono, which is
as hauntingly great sounding and filled with screams of anguish and
howling wolves that are sure to rattle your nerves.
Special
Features...
Making
of Featurette
Jose
Mojica Marins discusses his short film Reino Sangrento (1952)
Interview
with Marins
New
scene filmed in 2002
Introduction
to the film by Coffin Joe
Original
theatrical trailer and rare promo trailer
This
Night I'll Possess Your Corpse
Is
life everything, and death nothing? Or is life nothing and death
everything?
Another
entry in the Coffin Joe series, This Night I'll Possess Your
Corpse (1967), is full of more gore and intense imagery than many
can handle. Lovingly restored by Synapse, the film is presented
looking better than before and up to what standard definition DVD can
provide in terms of presentation.
Coffin
Joe is still looking for the perfect woman to give birth to a son so
that he can spread his evil across the land. Somehow cleared of the
past crimes in At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, Coffin Joe is
up to his old tricks and is terrorizing the people in his small town
with his iconoclast and sadistic acts.
Restored
from the original 35mm negative supervised by Director Jose Mojica
Marins like the first film in this separate DVD release, this edition
of This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse also looks as good as
it can on standard definition DVD, which presents the film in a
1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio, as originally intended by the
filmmakers. The sound mix is again in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0
Portuguese Mono, which is as good sounding as to be expected at well,
though a lossless track might give us more clarity.
Special
Features on the disc include...
Making
of This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse
A
Visit to the Coffin Joe Museum
The
Universe of Mojica Marins - Vintage Featurette
Interview
with Marins
Introduction
to the film by Coffin Joe
Original
Trailer
Photo
Gallery
For
more on the import DVD set of the trilogy, try this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11425/The+Man+Who+Could+Cheat+Death+&+The+Skul
And
on the Embodiment Of Evil Blu-ray, go to this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10883/Embodiment+Of+Evil+(2008/Coffin+J
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
