The Strange World of Coffin Joe (O Estranho mundo de Zé do Caixão). José Mojica Marins, 1968.
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Edition screened: Included in Anchor Bay 5-DVD set The Coffin Joe Collection, released 2009. Portuguese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Strange World of Coffin Joe is a portmanteau of three short films, The Dollmaker, Obsession, and Theory. Theory is translated as Ideology in the subtitles for this film, won which your excellent non-ungrammar award for movies made in not your country.
The Dollmaker (18 minutes) is a straightforward Tales from the Crypt-style horror narrative. Weak and badly acted, it is the most enjoyable of the three.
Obsession (28 minutes) tests one’s patience. About half of the running time is devoted to several stagnant medium shots of the crippled balloon seller hobbling across a room in a crypt. It is worth noting that Hollis Frampton’s continuous loop of a close-up of a lemon is a compelling viewing experience, while Obsession’s necrophilia, fetishism, and grotesque morgue imagery might challenge even the most easily titillated to remain awake.
Theory (34 minutes) casts director Marins not in his Coffin Joe persona, but as a professor of philosophy who illustrates his thesis by presenting a carnival of sadistic horrors.
The three shorts are unified somewhat by themes macabre, but more so by shamefully poor subtitle translations and audio tracks so noisy and garbled that even a Portuguese speaker would be doggy paddling. Such spine-tingling deviations from normal communication contribute significantly to the sense of mystery and torture.