This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.0

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 17, 2024

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.

For a self proclaimed Übermensch, you'd think Coffin Joe (José Mojica Marins) would have better luck with the ladies, at least if you consider that Nietzschean paradigm to be the very model of a modern Alpha Male. But this second Coffin Joe film finds the hapless Joe still trying to find a suitable "candidate" to carry on his bloodline, and, much like the first film, failing pretty spectacularly in that quest, though perhaps just a bit better than in the first film. This sophomore effort arguably takes a page from the old Universal Frankenstein franchise by offering a "monster" ostensibly killed at the end of the first film, only to reveal he (it?) is "not quite dead yet" as the second film begins.

Once that convenience is established, This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse traffics in much the same material as the first film, down to and including any number of presentational aspects, including scenes that will certainly send any arachnophobe running for the exit doors. That "same old, same old" aspect is probably gives this second outing a feeling of tedium, but there are still some mind boggling sequences, including Joe's journey to hell where the film suddenly bursts into eye popping color, and Joe perhaps unsurprisingly finds out that the Devil looks amazingly familiar.

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse 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.

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.

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse / Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver 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 the original 35mm camera negative and a 35mm Interpositive.

The audio was remastered from an original 35mm print.

Additionally, a prefatory text card offers the following further information:

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.

Digital restoration done from the original 35mm image negatives and the 35mm image interpositives (printed in 1985/86) supplied by Cinemateca Brasileira.

The audio files were restored from the preexisting telecine of a 35mm print.

This second Coffin Joe film exhibits all of the positives mentioned in the At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul Blu-ray review, and arguably even improves on some of them, something I'm attributing to the at least partial use of a negative for the transfer. Once again, contrast is really solid and blacks are very impressive, with detail levels remaining consistently strong throughout the presentation, with the possible exception of some of the opticals, including some "old school" composited effects. This outing seems a tad darker than the first film, but it doesn't materially affect overall detail levels. The color sequence in hell is like a Fellini fever dream, and while arguably just a bit on the yellow side, still offers some amazing suffusion and appealing fine detail levels.

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse features LPCM Mono audio in the original Portuguese, in a track that qualitatively is very much in line with the first film. Overall fidelity is actually quite good, though as with the first film there's a certain underlying boxiness or hollow quality to some of the dialogue in particular, especially the booming voice of Marins himself. That said, there's no real damage to report and no problem hearing anything. Optional English subtitles are available.

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse and The Strange World of Coffin Joe on one disc, with the following supplements:

• Audio Commentary for This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse is an archival piece featuring writer, director and star José Mojica Marins with filmmaker and writer Paula Duarte and film scholar Carlos Primati. In Portuguese with English subtitles. This is accessible under Special Features once the film has been chosen.


• Audio Commentary for The Strange World of Coffin Joe is an archival piece featuring writer, director and star José Mojica Marins with filmmaker and writer Paula Duarte and film scholar Carlos Primati. In Portuguese with English subtitles. This is accessible under Special Features once the film has been chosen.


• Eccentric of Cinema: A Retrospective on José Mojica Marins (HD; 1:27:28) is a first rate overview by Stephen Thrower which addresses both Marins' filmography and his personal peculiarities.


• On Tonight's Horror Show! (HD; 17:14) is another really interesting feature by Miranda Corcoran which tethers Coffin Joe to American horror hosts (and hostesses, like Elvira) on television.


• Alternative Ending for The Strange World of Coffin Joe (HD; 00:54) is a fascinating curio Marins crafted to overcome objections by the then ruling military dictatorship in Brasil.


• Alternative Ending for The Strange World of Coffin Joe - with Commentary (HD; 00:54) is an archival piece featuring writer, director and star José Mojica Marins with filmmaker and writer Paula Duarte and film scholar Carlos Primati. In Portuguese with English subtitles.


• Trailers

  This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (HD; 2:30)

  
  

  The Strange World of Coffin Joe (HD; 1:49)

This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's going to be an undeniable feeling of déjà vu for those who watch this film directly after seeing At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, though this film arguably is even more gonzo than its predecessor, at least in the blindingly colorful sequence set in hell. 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.