If you’re in the mood for a supernatural horror film that promises an exorcism but delivers nothing but confusion and visual chaos, The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe (originally Exorcismo Negro) is exactly what you’re looking for — if you don’t mind a film that’s 90% bizarre, low-budget, and 10% actual horror. Directed by José Mojica Marins, the Brazilian filmmaker known for his infamous alter ego, Coffin Joe, this film attempts to blend occultism, exorcism, and gory visuals into something both mystifying and irritating. And while Marins’ name is synonymous with the shocking horror genre, this particular film doesn’t exactly live up to the legacy — unless, of course, you’re interested in a wild ride that ends in a trainwreck of incoherence.
The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe kicks off with a rather bizarre premise: Marins plays himself (yes, himself), an actor and filmmaker who is working on his latest project about exorcisms, while simultaneously being dragged into the very supernatural chaos he’s trying to depict. Yes, that’s right. The film opens with an interview, where Marins is asked about his iconic character Coffin Joe, and he casually dismisses him as a “fictional character,” only for an explosion to immediately disrupt the proceedings. It’s as if the film is saying, “Hey, don’t take anything seriously, not even our own premise,” and, frankly, it’s hard not to agree.
Marins, as the semi-fictionalized version of himself, goes to visit his friend Alvaro at his rural country home to write the script for his new film — The Demon Exorcist (how on-the-nose can you get?). Once there, the weirdness begins, with the introduction of Alvaro’s family and an assortment of strange, unexplained events, like horses being spooked and a strange woman with a white cat lurking around. But it doesn’t take long before the film veers into full-blown absurdity, revealing that Alvaro’s daughter, Vilma, is promised to a local witch’s son, Eugenio — who, conveniently enough, is the son of Satan himself. Ah, the tangled web of family ties in low-budget horror.
From here, things get predictably strange and downright incoherent. Tarantulas and snakes appear in Christmas trees, men are mysteriously struck by car accidents, and the witch performs gruesome sacrifices. But nothing quite prepares you for the real star of the show: Coffin Joe himself, who makes his appearance during a black mass in a fashion that can only be described as utterly ridiculous. Marins’ character, who has been investigating these weird events, now faces Coffin Joe in full force, spouting his usual catchphrases like “may the blood of those who don’t deserve to live burst out of their bodies!” The imagery here — with Coffin Joe walking up a staircase made of human bodies and topless women dancing amid screams of torture — isn’t so much disturbing as it is comically overdone.
At this point, it’s clear the filmmakers are attempting to shock for shock’s sake. But instead of creepy, unsettling visuals, we’re left with a carnival of gore and weirdness that loses its bite the more it drags on. Marins, in his role as himself, uses a crucifix to stop Vilma’s sacrifice (naturally), and he proceeds to “exorcise” the family members one by one, as if he’s being forced to endure this madness as much as the audience. There’s something unintentionally hilarious about watching the entire family get exorcised because, by this point, you’ve completely lost track of who’s good, bad, possessed, or just a figment of a fevered imagination.
The film’s attempts at building tension are nullified by the utterly nonsensical narrative and the awful pacing. Much of the horror is poorly executed due to the ultra-low budget and a reliance on rudimentary special effects. The soundtrack doesn’t help either — with strange audio tracks that feel like they were pulled together from a bunch of random sound effects and a clumsy attempt at an eerie atmosphere. In fact, the film seems to operate on the assumption that weird, random things happening on screen is enough to keep the audience engaged, when in reality, it only serves to make everything more tedious.
But it’s not all entirely without merit, as the film’s ending — which attempts to deliver a “twist” in true Coffin Joe style — is a moment of pure, unintentional camp. In the final scene, after Marins has defeated the evil and saved the family from some unspecified demonic doom, we zoom in on Betinha’s (one of the daughters) face. And then, as the camera zooms in on her eyes, we get the final “reveal” that Coffin Joe is still lurking in her soul. It’s an ending that’s as meaningless as it is laughably dramatic, and you’re left wondering if this whole movie was some kind of bad joke that you didn’t quite get.
Let’s talk about the acting, or rather, the lack of it. José Mojica Marins, playing himself, is as wooden as they come. Perhaps this was intentional, given that his character’s supposed to be an uninvolved, detached observer of the supernatural chaos around him, but it’s hard to care about his character when he’s just standing there looking awkward, like he’s trying to figure out if the camera is still rolling. The rest of the cast doesn’t fare much better, with performances that oscillate between completely flat and over-the-top in the worst possible way. The characters, particularly the family members, are so poorly written that you’ll quickly lose track of who’s who and why you should care about their fates.
By the time the film reaches its nonsensical conclusion, where Marins takes a silver bullet to end the curse (because why not?), you’ll likely have already checked out. The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe might appeal to hardcore fans of the Coffin Joe character or those who enjoy low-budget, exploitation horror films for their weirdness, but for the average viewer, it’s a frustrating, baffling experience that can’t decide if it’s trying to be scary, surreal, or just plain silly. It tries to be shocking but ends up being dull. It’s not so much an exorcism of evil as it is an exorcism of your patience.
In conclusion, if you’re hoping for a film that delivers classic Coffin Joe horror, this one will disappoint. It’s a low-budget mess of incoherence, awkward performances, and a convoluted plot that only seems to get weirder as it progresses. If anything, The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe is a perfect example of the “so bad it’s almost good” phenomenon, but don’t let that fool you — it’s mostly just bad.
