Zé do Caixão
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Zé do Caixão , known in English-speaking countries as Coffin Joe, is a character created and nominally played by Brazilian writer, director, and actor
José Mojica Marins José Mojica Marins (13 March 1936 – 19 February 2020) was a Brazilian filmmaker, actor, composer, screenwriter, and television horror host. Marins is also known for creating and playing the character Coffin Joe (loosely translated from Zé d ...
. An amoral
undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...
with Nietzschian beliefs, he is driven by his desire to have a son by "the perfect woman", believing that immortality is achieved through procreation, a concept he refers to as "the continuation of blood". He often resorts to murder, kidnapping, and rape to achieve his means, with his violent nature, atheism, and antagonism towards
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
placing him into conflict with his largely
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
neighbors. Despite his own disbelief in the supernatural, he often finds himself experiencing paranormal phenomena, including encounters with
ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
,
Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
, and visions of
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
. Initially conceived of by Marins to serve as the antagonist in ''
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul ''At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul'' ( pt, À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma) is a 1964 Brazilian horror film directed and co-written by José Mojica Marins. Marins stars as Zé do Caixão (known in English-speaking countries as Coffin Joe), an unde ...
'', Brazil's first
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
, Coffin Joe has gone on to appear in nine more films, three television series, songs, music videos, and comic books. The character has been called "Brazil's National Boogeyman",Bravilian Horror Iconic Coffin Joe at Latin Beat
/ref> and is considered a
horror icon A horror icon is a person or fictional character that is considered to be significant to horror fiction within mediums such as film, literature, television, or video games. History Pre 1900s: literary beginnings Examples of early horror icon ...
and a
cultural icon A cultural icon is a person or an artifact that is identified by members of a culture as representative of that culture. The process of identification is subjective, and "icons" are judged by the extent to which they can be seen as an authentic ...
of Brazil, with his popularity resulting in descriptions of him as being the Brazilian equivalent of the United States'
Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
.


Description

Coffin Joe is an undertaker by trade and runs his own funeral home, from which he also sells caskets, flowers, and wreaths. Unlike his neighbors, who dress largely in peasant or farming clothes, he wears a black top hat, black suit, and black cape; his most distinctive features are his thick beard and grotesquely long, curled fingernails. He is an amoral character who considers himself superior to others and exploits them to suit his purposes. He believes in reason and
materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...
, eschewing all religion and superstition, believing them to be impediments to human evolution; he looks down on anyone who does not hold his beliefs as inferior and exploitable, especially his Catholic neighbors. Conversely, he accepts others who share his beliefs as "superior", particularly women. The only individuals Joe considers to be pure are children, whom he believes have yet to be corrupted by the false moral codes of the adult world and towards whom he shows uncharacteristic displays of kindness. While Joe himself disbelieves in the paranormal, he oftentimes finds himself experiencing supernatural phenomena, including encounters with ghosts (''
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul ''At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul'' ( pt, À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma) is a 1964 Brazilian horror film directed and co-written by José Mojica Marins. Marins stars as Zé do Caixão (known in English-speaking countries as Coffin Joe), an unde ...
''), visions of Hell (''
This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse ''This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse'' ( pt, Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver) is a 1967 Brazilian horror film directed by José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego Coffin Joe (Zé do Caixão). It is the second installmen ...
''), and meeting otherworldly beings, including Death itself (''
Embodiment of Evil ''Embodiment of Evil'' ( pt, Encarnação do Demônio) is a 2008 Brazilian horror film directed by and starring José Mojica Marins. It is the third installment in his ''Coffin Joe'' trilogy, featuring Marins reprising his role as Zé do Caixão ...
''). The character rarely comments on these experiences, and they appear to have no lasting effect on his cosmology or personal beliefs. Although none of the films in which he appears explore the character's backstory, Marins has outlined in interviews that Joe became jaded when he fought with the
Brazilian Expeditionary Force The Brazilian Expeditionary Force ( pt, Força Expedicionária Brasileira, FEB), nicknamed Cobras Fumantes (literally "the Smoking Snakes"), was a military division of the Brazilian Army and Air Force that fought with Allied forces in the Me ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and developed his attitudes towards women when he returned home to learn that his beloved had begun an affair in his absence. The dual experiences both forged Joe's beliefs about mankind, as well as his desire to find the "perfect" woman.Jose Mojica Marins interview. Synapse DVD Special Features. ASIN: B01MYPQ7J0


Background and conception

At the time of the first film's production, Brazil had produced no horror films of its own. Marins was a lifelong fan of horror films, having grown up watching them in the theater that his family owned, operated and lived above in an apartment. Marins states that the idea for the character came in a dream: 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:


Appearances


The Coffin Joe Trilogy

Coffin Joe first appears in ''
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul ''At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul'' ( pt, À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma) is a 1964 Brazilian horror film directed and co-written by José Mojica Marins. Marins stars as Zé do Caixão (known in English-speaking countries as Coffin Joe), an unde ...
'' as the sole undertaker of a small, rural town somewhere in the vicinity of
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
. Although the rest of the townspeople hold him in contempt for his anti-Catholic sentiments and violent nature, they live in fear of him for his physical prowess and ability to best any man in a fight. The only people with whom Joe shares even a cordial relationship are his wife, Lenita, best friend Anthony, and Anthony's fiancée, Terezinha, whom Joe lusts for. Believing himself to be of intellectual superiority to those around him, Joe's primary drive is "the continuity of blood" in the form of a son born from "the perfect woman". After learning that Lenita cannot conceive, Joe kills her with a venomous tarantula, then murders Anthony by drowning him in a bathtub. Both deaths are ruled accidental and Joe makes advances on Terezinha, who turns him down. An enraged Joe rapes her, but Terezinha commits suicide rather than report him, though she promises vengeance from beyond the grave. On Dia de Finados, Joe witnesses a procession of
ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
who chase him to Anthony and Terezinha's tomb, where he witnesses their bodies coming to life. Later, the townspeople find Joe on the tomb steps, apparently dead, with his eyes bulging from their sockets. Joe returns in ''
This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse ''This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse'' ( pt, Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver) is a 1967 Brazilian horror film directed by José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego Coffin Joe (Zé do Caixão). It is the second installmen ...
'', in which it is revealed that he survived his encounter with Terezinha and Anthony's ghosts, though he was temporarily blinded. After recovering and going to trial, he is found not guilty for his crimes and returns to his mortuary business. Still desiring a son, he orders his henchman, Bruno, to begin kidnapping women from the town that he has dubbed superior, subjecting them to a series of tortures to see who endures. A woman named Marcia seems impervious to fear or pain, prompting Joe to declare her his "perfect woman", though she rebuffs him when he tries to make love to her while listening to the rest of the women being fatally bitten by venomous snakes. Joe permits her to leave alive, then sets his sights on Laura, the
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
daughter of a prominent colonel. Sharing Coffin Joe's beliefs, the pair become lovers, and Joe conspires to blame his crimes on the Colonel's protege. Although Laura becomes pregnant, both she and their son die in childbirth. Meanwhile, Marcia, wracked with guilt, confesses her experiences, and a lynch mob forms to pursue Joe. They chase him to a swamp, where he is shot. As Joe sinks into the water, a priest offers him salvation, and Joe agrees to die as a Christian before apparently drowning. Joe returns again in ''
Embodiment of Evil ''Embodiment of Evil'' ( pt, Encarnação do Demônio) is a 2008 Brazilian horror film directed by and starring José Mojica Marins. It is the third installment in his ''Coffin Joe'' trilogy, featuring Marins reprising his role as Zé do Caixão ...
'', with a flashback revealing that Joe only momentarily faked his death, surfacing seconds later to deny God and mock the priest before blinding him with his fingernails. Captured and tried for murder, Joe is sentenced to 40 years in prison before being released onto the streets of 2008
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
. Reuniting with Bruno, Joe discovers that a
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
has formed around his teachings and beliefs. Joe begins dispatching his followers to bring him women, whom he subjects to mental and physical torture; several women voluntarily fall under his sway, including a
eugenicist Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
. Throughout the ordeal, Joe is haunted by visions of his past victims, as well as disturbing hallucinations foretelling his own death. Meanwhile, Joe is pursued by a fervently Catholic police captain and a mentally unhinged priest named Father Eugenio, the son of one of his victims. The pair ultimately pursue Joe to an abandoned amusement park, where he succeeds in killing the captain before himself being stabbed to death with a crucifix by Father Eugenio. In an epilogue, Joe's followers congregate at his graveside, where it is revealed that several of the women are pregnant.


Appearance in other films

Joe appears as the
host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...
of the 1968
anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...
''
The Strange World of Coffin Joe ''The Strange World of Coffin Joe '' ( pt, O Estranho Mundo de Zé do Caixão) is a 1968 Brazilian anthology horror film directed by José Mojica Marins, who also plays his alter ego Zé do Caixão (in English, Coffin Joe). The film is a co ...
'', introducing the film's segments. Joe appears as a fictional character in the 1970 film '' Awakening of the Beast'', in which test subjects dosed with
LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
have hallucinations of him after viewing a movie poster for ''The Strange World of Coffin Joe''. '' The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe'' is a
metafilm Metacinema, also meta-cinema, is a mode of filmmaking in which the film informs the audience that they are watching a work of fiction. Metacinema often references its own production, working against narrative conventions that aim to maintain the a ...
about José Mojica Marins being haunted by the character, who has come to life as an
avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...
of Satan. '' The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures'' features a character strongly implied to be Coffin Joe, here operating as the proprietor of an ambiguously haunted
hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...
. He again returns as a fictional character in ''
Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind ''Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind '' ( pt, Delírios de um Anormal) is a 1978 Brazilian horror film directed by José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego Zé do Caixão (in English, Coffin Joe). The film features Coffin Joe a ...
'', in which a scientist seeks out the help of Marins after being haunted by dreams in which Coffin Joe abducts his wife. The film is partially composed of
deleted scenes A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...
from previous Coffin Joe movies.


As a horror host

Marins has often appeared in character as Coffin Joe in the role of a
horror host A horror host is a person who acts as the host or presenter of a program where horror films and low-budget B movies are shown on television or the Internet. Usually the host assumes a horror-themed persona, often a campy or humorous one. General ...
. From 1967 to 1988, Marins hosted the program ''Além, Muito Além do Além'' (''Beyond, Much Beyond the Beyond'') Fridays on
TV Bandeirantes Rede Bandeirantes (, ''Bandeirantes Network''), or simply known as Band (), is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It began broadcasting on May 13, 1967 on VHF channel 13 in São Paulo. Its founder was businessman João Saad with t ...
, 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 Rede Bandeirantes (, ''Bandeirantes Network''), or simply known as Band (), is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It began broadcasting on May 13, 1967 on VHF channel 13 in São Paulo. Its founder was businessman João Saad with t ...
, which featured full-length horror films.


Portrayals by other actors

Across all his appearances, Coffin Joe has been portrayed by Marins with the exception of the flashback sequences in ''Embodiment of Evil'', in which he was played by actor, writer, and director Raymond Castille. Castille came to Marins' attention for his comedic short film ''The Blind Date of Coffin Joe'', a parody of the first two films in the trilogy in which Joe—played by Castille and living in modern-day
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
—attempts to find the perfect woman through
internet dating Online dating, also known as Internet dating, Virtual dating, or Mobile app dating, is a relatively recent method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An onlin ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffin Joe Film characters introduced in 1964 Fictional kidnappers Fictional torturers Fictional murderers Fictional undertakers Male horror film villains Fictional rapists Fictional Brazilian people Horror film series Horror hosts