Inside
The Mind Of Joe Coffin
(1964 - 2008/MVD/Arrow Blu-ray Set/10 films)/The
Nun II 4K (2023/Warner 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B-/X Sound: C+ (B- for 5.1)/A-
Extras: B/C+ Films: C+/B-
Now
for Horror that keeps coming back....
Inside
The Mind Of Joe Coffin
(1964 - 2008) is a new Blu-ray box set that restores and upgrades all
the films from the famous Portuguese Horror movie series and is
offered in a big deluxe box set that delivers 4K scans of all the
films and audio restorations to go with them. Already finding an
audience over the years on home video, here are the films we
previously covered:
At
Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964) + This Night I'll
Possess Your Corpse (1967) Blu-ray double feature:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14830/At+Midnight+I'll+Take+Your+Soul+(1964)/This+Ni
Embodiment
Of Evil
Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10883/Embodiment+Of+Evil+(2008/Coffin+Joe+series/Sy
Coffin
Joe
DVD Import
Set with At
Midnight I'll Take Your Soul,
This
Night I Will Possess Your Corpse,
The
Awakening Of the Beast
(1969) and The
Strange World Of Jose Mojica Marins
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11425/The+Man+Who+Could+Cheat+Death+&+The+Skul
New
films on this set include The
Strange World Of Coffin Joe (1968) with an anthology of
three tales, End Of Man
(1971) with a nude man from the sea (???) showing up to battle evil,
When The Gods Fall Asleep
(1972 sequel to End Of
Man), The
Strange Hostel Of Naked Pleasures
(1976) hotel possessed with evil, voodoo, etc., Hellish
Flesh
(1977) married scientist more interested in science than his wife has
her finding another man and the pair plot to kill him and
Hallucinations Of A
Deranged Mind (1978) which is a 'cheat' movie with a
deconstructionist approach that has a psychiatrist haunted by Coffin
Joe hiring the actor who plays him to prove he does not exist. Each
'flashback/haunted image' recycles various scenes from previous
films, second-generation issued be damned.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.33 X 1, 1.66 X 1 and 1.85 X 1
black & white and color digital High Definition image transfer
can show the age of the materials used, especially in respect to
budget, but the new and extensive restoration work in 4K pays off,
sometimes very impressively so, though the previous editions from
Severin were not bad under the circumstances, Arrow co-funded these
preservations, upgraded and restorations. The results retain the
flaws and styling without changing or botching anything as far as I
can see from the materials we covered year ago and the included
trailers, which can give a hint of changes depending.
Other
than Kodak (color confirmed for End Of Man
and When The Gods Fall
Asleep, which was likely used in most or all cases
afterwards) there may be other film stocks here, including black and
white from possibly from Agfa-Geavert, DuPont, Ansco, Ferrania or
maybe even Fuji, which would also apply to early color work, though
lab work would also make a difference on how each film looked.
Especially considering the low budgets of the early films, this is
impressive work all around. The color in the pre-1971 films
definitely look different and if we find out more, we'll post an
update.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) Portuguese 5.1, 2.0 Stereo and (in most
cases) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes on the films are from the original
optical monophonic materials and show their age on average more than
the filmed images, but that is the sound and it is as good as it will
ever sound and that goes for all the films here. The later stereo
and 5.1 films are limited in range and soundfield, but are a somewhat
noticeable improvement over the early mono films, even by default.
Extras
are many, loaded (especially for the Limited Edition) and include....
Coffin
Joe: Against the World!,
an illustrated collector's book featuring new writing by Tim Lucas,
Carlos Primati, Jerome Reuter, Amy Voorhees Searles, Kyle Anderson,
and Paula Sacramento
Reversible
sleeves featuring newly commissioned artwork by Butcher Billy
Double-sided
fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Butcher
Billy
12
postcard-sized double-sided art cards
Disc
1: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
Brand
new 4K restoration from a 35mm interpositive and a 35mm print
Archive
audio commentary with writer, director and star Jose Mojica Marins,
filmmaker Paulo Duarte and film scholar Carlos Primati (Portuguese
with English subtitles)
Coffin
Joe's Sadean Underworld, a new video essay by film scholar
Lindsay Hallam
Damned:
The Strange World of Jose Mojica Marins, the definitive documentary
on the life and work of Jose Mojica Marins by Andre Barcinski and
Ivan Finotti
Bloody
Kingdom, Jose Mojica Marins' first short film with director's
commentary
The
Adventurer's Fate and My Destiny in Your Hands, excerpts
from early works by Jose Mojica Marins
Theatrical
trailer
Disc
2: This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse / The Strange World
Of Coffin Joe
Brand
new 4K restoration of This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse
from the original 35mm camera negative and 35mm interpositive
Brand
new 4K restoration of The Strange World of Coffin Joe from a
35mm interpositive and a 35mm print
Archive
audio commentaries for both films with Jose Mojica Marins, Paulo
Duarte and Carlos Primati (Portuguese with English subtitles)
Eccentric
of Cinema, a new interview with author Stephen Thrower examining
the early life and influences of Jose Mojica Marins
On
Tonight's Horror Show!, a new video essay by film scholar
Miranda Corcoran looking at the mythic figure of Coffin Joe within
the canon of horror hosts
Alternative
ending for The Strange World of Coffin Joe with commentary by
Jose Mojica Marins
Theatrical
trailers
Disc
3: The Awakening Of The Beast / The End Of Man
Brand
new 4K restoration of The Awakening of the Beast from a 35mm
interpositive and a 35mm print
Brand
new 4K restoration of The End of Man from the original 35mm
camera negative
Archive
audio commentaries for both films with Jose Mojica Marins, Paulo
Duarte and Carlos Primati (Portuguese with English subtitles)
The
Strange Mind of Coffin Joe, a new interview with author Guy
Adams exploring the esoteric aspects of Jose Mojica Marins
A
Woman for Joe, a new video essay by film scholar Alexandra
Heller-Nicholas exploring the complex gender politics of Marins'
filmography
Alternate
opening titles for The Awakening of the Beast
Theatrical
trailers
Disc
4: When The Gods Fall Asleep / The Strange Hostel Of Naked
Pleasures
Brand
new 4K restoration of When the Gods Fall Asleep from a 35mm
film print, the only known existing element
Brand
new 4K restoration of The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures
from the original 35mm camera negative
The
Demonic Surrealism of Coffin Joe, a new interview with scholar
and filmmaker Virginie Selavy exploring the parallels between the
work of Jose Mojica Marins and the European and South American
surrealist movements
Delirium,
Surrealism, and Vision, a new interview with author Jack
Sargeant
Apostle
of Evil, a new interview with Dennison Ramalho (co-writer of
Embodiment of Evil) about his early connection to Coffin Joe
Mojica
in the Snow: Tonight I Incarnate at Sundance!, footage of Marins
attending the Sundance Film Festival in 2001
A
Blind Date for Coffin Joe, a short film by Raymond 'Coffin Ray'
Castile
Theatrical
trailer for The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures
Disc
5: Hellish Flesh / Hallucinations Of A Deranged Mind
Brand
new 4K restorations of both films from the original 35mm camera
negatives
Archive
audio commentary for Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind with
Jose Mojica Marins, editor Nilcemar Leyart, Paulo Duarte and Carlos
Primati (Portuguese with English subtitles)
Aesthetics
of Garbage: Jose Mojica Marins, a Complicated Icon, a new
interview with filmmaker Andrew Leavold (The Search for Weng
Weng) examining Marins' place in the Marginal Cinema movements
of the 60s and 70s
Beyond
Good and Evil, a new video essay by film critic Kat Ellinger
Theatrical
trailers
Disc
6: Embodiment Of Evil
Original
lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 audio options
Archive
audio commentary with producer Paulo Sacramento and co-screenwriter
Dennison Ramalho (Portuguese with English subtitles)
Learning
from the Master, a new interview with screenwriter Dennison
Ramalho
Fantasia
Film Festival Premiere Footage, archival footage of Jose Mojica
Marins at the film's premiere
Apprenticeship
of Evil, an archival interview in which Ramalho pays tribute to
Jose Mojica Marins and looks back on their friendship
Official
Making Of and Experimental Making Of, two archival featurettes
about the production
Deleted
scenes with commentary by director Jose Mojica Marins
Visual
Effects: Purgatory, an archival featurette with commentary by
director Jose Mojica Marins
Storyboards,
an archival featurette with commentary by director Jose Mojica
Marins
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer.
Fans
will be ecstatic and it turns out more films exist with the star in
the genre, so maybe we'll get a second volume, so we'll see.
Otherwise, fans will want to order this set while supplies last as
soon as possible!
The
Nun II 4K
(2023) is
the eighth film in the Conjuring
cinematic universe and better than this reviewer expected it to be in
all honestly. The well shot feature keeps the same tone as the prior
Nun
film and the suspenseful Conjuring
franchise and is set in 1958 France where characters from the first
film are once again faced with the demonic entity posing as a Nun.
In
essence, the film succeeds in many ways where The Exorcist:
Believer failed and utilizes digital VFX and beautiful cinematic
on-location photography in an effective way. The sequel doesn't feel
like a cash grab, but an organic extension of the first entry, a
trait that isn't common in many other recent films of its kind.
The
Nun 2 stars Taissa Farmiga, Anna Popplewell, Jonas Bloquet, Storm
Reid, and Bonnie Aarons as The Nun.
The
film is presented in 2160p on 4K UHD disc with HDR10, an HEVC / H.265
codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and an audio track in
48kHz, 24-bit, lossless Dolby Atmos
11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems). As
mentioned, the cinematography is expertly done with some beautiful
shots of locations in France that are captured well on the 4K UHD
format and very darkly lit scenes which give the film atmosphere
effectively, but don't account for loss in detail on the images.
Special
Features include two featurettes: Demons in Paradise and
Handcrafter Nightmares.
The
Nun 2
is a creepy horror film that succeeds its predecessor.
-
Nicholas Sheffo (Coffin) and James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
