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Coffin Joe
is back and once again he's trying to find
the perfect woman to bear his son, but in doing so
sacrifices must be made.
You know, I've never actually seen any of the Coffin
Joe movies from the 60's and 70's even though I've
heard great things about them. Maybe this is why I simply
couldn't enjoy Embodiment of Evil. Brazil doesn't make
a lot of theatrical horror movies and Embodiment of
Evil was a huge box-office flop in its native country.
One would think that bringing a classic horror icon
back would be a good idea but apparently not. Making a
new sequel to a franchise that died in the 70's clearly
wasn't a good idea (this is not a remake, it's a sequel).
Watching Embodiment of Evil it really feels like you're
watching a movie that was supposed to be in black and
white because this is so campy and exaggerated that
it's amazing that it found funding.
José Mojica Marins returns as Coffin Joe and while long
nails and a black cape may have worked in the 70's, it's
not quite as scary today. It's like watching a remake
of Nosferatu. Sure, the original is a classic but a
remake simply would never work because we've progressed
so much in terms of films since then. The times have
changed and movies about worshippers of Satan and
witchcraft are destined to go DTV and Embodiment of
Evil feels like a high budget version of what could've
been "Witchcraft 16". The story is extremely basic and
watching 72 year-old José make out with young women is
pretty repulsive to be honest with you.
It's obvious to me why a movie like Embodiment of Evil
would flop - it's simply not mainstream enough. It's
way too cheesy. Naked women bathing in pools of blood,
a rat crawling up into a woman's uterus and spiders
crawling out of a dead woman's intestines just doesn't
fare well with mainstream audiences. This stuff may have
worked in the past but now it just feels silly and campy.
There's nothing classy at all about Embodiment of Evil.
The acting is extremely poor and it feels as if most
of the actors were picked up from the street at random.
The script is flat and rather moronic and the movie
offers way too many unintentional laughs.
However, Embodiment of Evil is not without its moments
of glory. Clearly this movie will satisfy its fan base
and even though it won't gain any new fans, it will
please the old ones. The cinematography is stunning at
times and I was overall really impressed by the special
effects. This was clearly not a low-budget effort. The
gore scenes are enough to keep you watching until the
end despite the sloppy story and it does keep a rather
decent pace through and through. Still, Embodiment of
Evil is not a good movie in my book and I hope that this
won't scare Brazilian investors off from investing in
future theatrical horror flicks as this is a country
filled with potential. It's unfortunate that a movie
like Embodiment of Evil was the first movie in several
years to get the chance to win the Brazilian moviegoers
over because it clearly didn't stand a chance.
We get a butt cheek cut off, one guy gets hung from
hooks, we get impalements, guts, bleeding eyes and a
whole lot more. Very gory.
Surprisingly mainstream, didn't really suit the movie.
I really want to see more Brazilian horror movies going
up in the local cinemas but thanks to Embodiment of
Evil this probably won't happen for at least another
good few years. Embodiment of Evil may satisfy its
fan base but doesn't make much sense to the ones who
haven't seen any previous Coffin Joe movies.
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