6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Three episodes: A dollmaker whose dolls are eerily human, a tale of necrophilia, and a doctor proves love is dead.
Starring: José Mojica Marins, Luís Sérgio Person, Nivaldo Lima, Mário LimaForeign | 100% |
Horror | 93% |
Surreal | 16% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Portuguese: LPCM Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe collection from Arrow Video.
If you know about Coffin Joe, no introduction is necessary, and if you don't, no introduction could probably ever suffice. That said, for those who
aren't aware of this weirdly iconic Brasilian character, he (it?) sprang from the febrile imagination of one José Mojica Marins, a writer and
director
who in addition to those tasks in fact played
Coffin Joe in several films aggregated in this gonzo new collection from Arrow Video. Rather interestingly, and perhaps saliently, one
supplement in this immense set has the redoubtable Stephen Thrower refusing to call Marins "insane", despite the fact that other pundits
have described Marins as meeting that clinical definition, while another supplement is devoted to Marins as a "neuro divergent"
and at least possibly ADHD afflicted filmmaker. That rather wide gamut of reactions will probably be matched by the general public, though if
Marins was "crazy", he was crazy like a fox, as they say, and his films, while intentionally provocative and rather frequently
horrifyingly
graphic in terms of bodily immolations and the like, generally have rather impressive production values, which suggests a certain competency at
least. One way or the other, virtually all of Marins'
films are suffused with mood, even if narrative structures can be on the wobbly side. This is another impressive effort from Arrow Video
that is obviously designed to cater to a cult audience, but that particular demographic should find themselves very well served by this release.
The Strange World of Coffin Joe is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Arrow's insert booklet offers some general information about all of the transfers, followed by more individualized information about this particular film, as follows:
The Coffin Joe films by José Mojica Marins have been exclusively restored by Cinecolor, in cooperation with One Eyed Films and Arrow Films. All restoration work was overseen by producer Paulo Sacramento in collaboration with Arrow Films.Additionally, a prefatory text card offers the following further information:
The original film elements sourced for this project represent the best existing film elements available, and while every effort has been made to present these films in the highest quality possible, some instances of damage remain, in keeping with the condition and age of these materials. Likewise, the audio soundtracks which at times have a slightly rough quality of are in keeping with their production origins. In places audio synch will appear loose as very little audio was ever recorded live and the mixes were generally recorded and created in post-production.
The Strange World of Coffin Joe / O Estranho Mundo de Zé do Caixão is presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio with mono Brazilian Portuguese audio.
The film was scanned and restored in 4K resolution from an original 35mm Interpositive and an original 35mm theatrical print.
The audio was remastered from an original 35mm print.
2023 4K restoration executed at Cinecolor Brazil Lab with the support of Arrow Films and under the supervision of Mojica's last producer, Paulo Sacramento.Somewhat like This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse, this transfer struck my eyes as being just a tad on the dark side, something that probably subliminally reinforces the ostensible horror, but the good news is despite passing deficits in shadow definition, detail levels are quite appealing (if that's the right word, given some of the bodily injuries depicted) throughout. Contrast is once again solid (within the "dark" context), and blacks are commandingly deep. This entry has fewer opticals than the two preceding films in this set, and that probably helps keep clarity and grain resolution more generally consistent looking.
Digital restoration done from the original 35mm image interpositives (printed in 1996) and a 35mm print supplied by Cinemateca Brasileira.
The audio files were restored from the preexisting telecine of a 35mm print.
The Strange World of Coffin Joe features LPCM Mono audio in the original Portuguese. There's some "Carnaval"-esque music offered here which is another quasi-tether to Black Orpheus, but this is another dialogue and or monologue heavy film. As with many of the other offerings in this set culled from this same general timeframe, post-looping is more than obvious, and the overall sound can be just slightly boxy and hollow, but there's no seriously problematic fidelity or damage to report. Optional English subtitles are available.
Arrow has packaged This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse and The Strange World of Coffin Joe on one disc, with the following supplements:
- This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (HD; 2:30)
- The Strange World of Coffin Joe (HD; 1:49)
The first vignette in this "trilogy of terror" is arguably the strongest, which means the subsequent two entries can't help but feel like things are on a downward spiral. Technical merits are generally solid and this disc offers some of the strongest supplements in Arrow's collection, for those who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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