José Mojica Marins

Biography

Marins was born in São Paulo, Brazil at a farm in the Vila Mariana, to Antônio and Carmem Marins. His interest in filmmaking began at an early age. When Marins was three, his father ran a local cinema, and the family lived in a flat above the theater.

Zé do Caixão: The Coffin Joe character

Coffin Joe is the English equivalent of Zé do Caixão. Marins created the character in 1963 for the film At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul. The character went on to appear in many more films and as it gained popularity, the Coffin Joe persona appeared in television programs, songs, music videos and comic books.

Although rarely mentioned in the films, Coffin Joe's true name is Josefel Zanatas. Marins gives an explanation for the name in an interview for Portal Brasileiro de Cinema:

"I was thinking a name: Josefel: "fel" ("gall") for being bitter — and also Zanatas as a last name, because backward it reads "Satanás" ("Satan")".

Coffin Joe wears a black suit, a cape and a top hat. His most notable features are his grotesquely long, curled fingernails. Marins grew his fingernails several inches long for the role, always wearing them in public in the style of the character.

Coffin Joe is an evil, amoral character who considers himself superior to others and exploits them to suit his purposes. He hates morality and superstition (which he includes religion as) to the point of obsession. His central belief is that (self) imposed superstitious beliefs tend to prevent individual development, inhibit positive social change. Those who do not accept his central belief are considered to be weak, lack power, and limited in their ability to rationalize objectively. Those who share with him similar beliefs are considered to have power and intelligence above the 'normal' person.

The primary theme of the character is his single-minded obsession with the "continuity of the blood"; he wants to sire the "superior" child from the "perfect woman." His idea of a "perfect woman" is not exactly physical but someone he regards intellectually superior to the Brazilian average, and in this quest he is willing to kill anyone who crosses his path.

Coffin Joe's weakness is his overconfidence in his primary belief. The overconfidence inhibits his ability to cope with forces that reveal themselves to exist, contrary to his beliefs.

Marins states that the idea for the character came in a dream:

"In a dream saw a figure dragging me to a cemetery. Soon he left me in front of a headstone, there were two dates of my birth and my death. People at home were very frightened, called a priest because they thought I was possessed. I woke up screaming, and at that time decided to do a movie unlike anything I had done. He was born at that moment the character would become a legend: Coffin Joe. The character began to take shape in my mind and in my life. The cemetery gave me the name, completed the costume of Joe the cover of voodoo and black hat, which was the symbol of a classic brand of cigarettes. He would be a mortician."

Cinema

Although most known for films in the horror genre, Marins also created exploitation, drugsploitation, sexploitation (often in the form of pseudo-documentaries), and Westerns. Marins is noted for his low-budget film style, often using friends and amateur actors as cast and crew. His films are usually set in São Paulo, Brazil.

Early years

Marins became interested in cinema at a young age. He recounts that the 8mm O Juízo Final (Judgement Day, 1948) was the first film which he made as a teenager. He followed with Encruzilhada da Perdição (Crossroads to Perdition, 1952).

The Coffin Joe trilogy

The theme of the films in the Coffin Joe trilogy focuses on Coffin Joe's bloody and determined quest to find his perfect bride. His plans are undone at the end of each film when, while haunted and pursued by authorities and those he wronged, he is seemingly killed.

The first film, At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma) (1963), is Brazil's first horror film. This is the first appearance of Coffin Joe.

In the second installment, This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver) (1967), it is revealed that Joe survived his ordeal at the end of the first film and returns to São Paulo to continue his quest.

Marins released Embodiment of Evil (Encarnação do Demônio) in 2008, in which Coffin Joe returns after 40 years in a prison mental ward and immediately proceeds to exploit, terrorize, and kill in order to find the perfect woman to bear his child.

Other films with Coffin Joe

Marins played the character of Coffin Joe in his other films that mixed horror with elements of exploitation and surrealism, such as Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind, Awakening of the Beast and The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe. In these films, Coffin Joe is not the central character and generally inhabits an abstract realm such as nightmares, hallucinations and hell. Despite its title, The Strange World of Coffin Joe does not contain the Coffin Joe character.

The Profane Exhibit

Mojica will direct The Profane Exhibit Segment Viral, with a score composed by Chris Vrenna.

Fabulas Negras

2014 filmed along Rodrigo Aragão, Petter Baiestorf and Joel Caetano with the splatter anthology film The Black Fables.

Television

Marins currently hosts a monthly interview program O Estranho Mundo de José Mojica Marins (The Strange World of José Mojica Marins) on the Brazilian television station Canal Brasil, in which he discusses Brazilian media and culture with other contemporary figures, such as actors and musicians. His guests have included Zé Ramalho, Rogério Skylab, and Supla.

From 1967 to 1988, Marins hosted the program Além, Muito Além do Além (Beyond, Much Beyond the Beyond) Fridays on TV Bandeirantes, in character as Coffin Joe, presenting short horror tales written by author and screenwriter Rubens Luchetti. Some scripts were later adapted as Coffin Joe comic books. The show's tapes were reused and currently there are no known intact recordings of this program.

Marins directed and hosted The Show from the Other World (Um Show do Outro Mundo) on Rede Record de Televisão, again appearing as Coffin Joe. The half-hour program featured short horror films, with many of the stories sent in by the viewers themselves and adapted by members of Marins' production team. As with his earlier show, the original tapes were reused and there is no known record of this material.

In 1996 Marins hosted the daily television program Cine Trash on TV Bandeirantes, which featured full-length horror films.

Documentaries

The Universe of Mojica Marins (1978) (O Universo de Jose Mojica Marins) is a 26-minute documentary film by Ivan Cardoso. Marins portrays himself in the film, which also features interviews with Marins' mother Carmem Marins, film editor Nilcemar Leyart, and Satã (Marins' assistant and bodyguard).

A 2001 documentary film, Damned - The Strange World of José Mojica Marins (Maldito - O Estranho Mundo de José Mojica Marins), by biographers André Barcinski and Ivan Finotti examines Marins' life and works. It won the Special Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

In 1987 Marins released the semi-autobiographical documentary film Demons and Wonders (Demônios e Maravilhas), in which he appears as himself re-enacting moments from his life, both good and bad. Marins' family and associates play themselves, including his mother Carmem Marins, former wife and film editor Nilcemar Leyart, and Satã, Marins' long-time assistant and bodyguard.

Selected filmography

In popular culture