Based on a “faceless figure dressed in black” from one of director José Mojica Marins' nightmares, Zé do Caixão, or 'Coffin Joe' in English, is a vicious undertaker in a tiny, superstitious Brazilian town. Harboring a malicious hatred for religion, a sociopathic disdain for its followers, and a deep-seated belief in his own superiority, he holds the townspeople in a constant state of terror, periodically intimidating and assaulting those who step out of line. Obsessed with continuing his bloodline, the only thing in life to which he assigns any meaning, Coffin Joe embarks on a reign of rape and murder as he seeks out the ‘perfect’ woman to give birth to his ‘perfect’ son. At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, this first film with the character of Coffin Joe, was part of a much bigger avant-garde movement raging in the movie theaters and film circles of Brazil during the 1960s: Udigrudi cinema. The Brazilian pronunciation of ‘Underground,’ Udigrudi was the term given to the work of a group of filmmakers who rejected cinematic norms in favor of a “dirty screen” and a “garbage” esthetic. But in addition to its place in the development of Brazilian cinema, At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul's greatest impact was found in the character of Coffin Joe himself. Screenwriter Rubens F. Lucchetti explained the true significance of the character of Coffin Joe, saying, “I didn’t think it was possible to create a Brazilian character like Frankenstein or Dracula. I thought there was no equivalent. But Mojica created one. He copied nothing from anyone, the character is pure Brazilian.” Indeed, Coffin Joe’s appeal to the Brazilian public came from his rebellion against the country’s societal norms. For much of the population that suffered under military rule from 1964 to 1985, the Coffin Joe films served as a vicarious release for their feelings of unrest. One of the most powerful examples of how Coffin Joe would have registered among Brazilian sensibilities of the day but not necessarily to those of foreigners involves an early scene that shows Coffin Joe feasting on a leg of lamb while perched above an Easter procession near his house on Good Friday. For Brazilians, who were forbidden by the Catholic Church from consuming meat on Holy Days, this simple act was seen as extreme blasphemy. Outsiders without a deep understanding of Brazilian culture would have more than likely failed to grasp the symbolic nature and import of Coffin Joe’s feast. Such was Marins' skill as a director that At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul remains to this day as a film of undeniable power and horror.
8/10
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