Embodiment of Evil

To warm the audience up NZFF gave us the Kiwi short Brave Donkey. Where Brian's revenge on his ex-wife is interrupted by a violent dispute next door. Though ill clad for heroics, he attempts to rescue the dame in distress. It does not look good on so many levels when reality intrudes.

Ian's rating 4/5 (it probably rates 5/5 if you find glass ornaments tacky)


Coffin Joe is a character invented and played by Brazilian filmmaker José Mojica Marins in three horror films, the first two made in the 1960s and the third, last year. He is a grave digger with trademark long fingernails, top hat, cape and a declaminatory style of talking. Embodiment of Evil starts with Coffin Joe being released from prison 40 years after his killing spree in the 1960s, to the great distress of the prison superintendent. Joe is met by his Igor-like offsider Bruno who takes him to a hide out in the slums where four younger accolytes are waiting.

Coffin Joe is obsessed with "the continuation of the blood" by finding the perfect woman to bear him a child. He sends his followers out to kidnap women for him. He comes to the attention of the police and some police also end up in his clutches. There is a lot of torture in Embodiment of Evil much of it directed at women though in some of Coffin Joe's dream/hallucination sequences women are the torturers.

If you want to see a filmmaker having fun with the horror genre with a mixture of traditional horror film scenes and some more inventive and arty style ones and you are also comfortable with gratuitous female nudity and torture then Embodiment of Evil might be your cup of tea glass of absinthe.

If you want to read a plot spoiler check out Wikipedia, otherwise just check out the trailer.

Ian's rating 4/5