At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
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| At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster. |
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| Directed by | José Mojica Marins |
| Produced by | Arildo Iruam Geraldo Martins Simões Ilídio Martins Simões |
| Written by | Waldomiro França José Mojica Marins Magda Mei |
| Starring | José Mojica Marins |
| Music by | Salatiel Coelho Hermínio Gimenez |
| Cinematography | Giorgio Attili |
| Editing by | Luiz Elias |
| Release date(s) | November 9, 1963 |
| Running time | 84 min |
| Country |  Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Followed by | This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse |
| IMDb profile | |
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul is a 1963 Brazilian horror film, the first in writer/director/actor José Mojica Marins' Zé do Caixão film series. When the film was issued in the United States, the character became known as Coffin Joe, a loose translation or a mistranslation for Zé do Caixão. Based on a nightmare the director/protagonist suffered during a time of illness and depression, the script for the film was written by Marins, who also played the lead role of Coffin Joe after the actor originally assigned the role failed to show up for filming.
Filmed in 13 days on a tiny set, the film has become a horror classic, not only in Brazil, where Zé do Caixão is a pop-culture hero, but since 1993 it has become a classic in the United States.
[edit] Plot
The film is set in a small Brazilian town whose location is unknown. Zé do Caixão, the local undertaker who disdains of religion and emotion and who believes the only thing that matters is the "continuity of the blood", is looking for the perfect woman to bear him a superior child. His current wife Lentina is obedient but sterile. Zé begins to flirt with Terezinha, the fiancée of his best friend Antonio. Terezinha scolds him by saying Antonio is the only man of her life. During a Catholic holiday, Zé kills his wife by tying her up and having a poisonous spider bite her. The local authorities cannot find a clue to arrest him and he remains free to do whatever he wants.
Some days later, Zé is invited by Antonio to visit a local gypsy who will tell the fortune of Antonio's marriage with Terezinha. The gypsy reveals, however, that there is going to be a tragic disaster, and the two will never get married. Zé, in response, calls the her a fraud and states that the supernatural is a hoax. She warns him not to mock the supernatural forces, lest they make him pay. That night, Zé and Antonio go to Antonio's house, where Antonio claims that he really didn't believe the witch's words and he and Terezinha will have a happy life together. Fulfilling the witch's prophecy, Zé bludgeons and then drowns Antonio.
Once again, the police can find no evidence to directly implement Zé with the crime . He proceeds with his plan to seduce Terezinha by purchasing a canary for her, which she accepts. However, he starts to touch her against her will. Terezinha tries to resist, but Zé beats her and viciously rapes her. After this, Terezinha curses him for his brutality, saying she will commit suicide and return to bring his soul to hell. Zé laughs at her, but the next day she is found hanging in her home. To his surprise, she doesn't blame him in her suicide note. Meanwhile, the local doctor begins to suspect Zé for the recent outbreak of death that has occurred. Zé becomes aware of the doctor's suspicions and proceeds to brutally murder him.
Time passes, and Zé is still unpunished for his crimes. On the Day of the Dead he meets Marta, a young woman who is visiting her relatives, and decides to choose her as his next perfect woman. Zé escorts Marta home late at night, only to be confronted by the gypsy who predicted the doom of Antonio and Terezinha. She tells him that his soul shall be claimed by lost souls and the Devil at midnight. Zé threatens the gypsy, but after leaving Marta at her destination, he is soon visited by ghostly apparitions that test his courage. Realizing he cannot face the apparitions, Zé runs away, but coincidentally arrives at the mausoleum where Antonio and Terezinha were buried. Finally at the edge of his sanity, Zé opens the coffins of his victims to prove they are really dead, but instead sees that their eyes are open, as if they are still alive. Some time later, the locals come to the mausoleum after hearing Zé's blood-curdling screams and find him horribly disfigured, his eyes bulging open similar to those of the two corpses. At that same time, the bells of the local church ring, announcing the stroke of midnight.
[edit] Cast
- José Mojica Marins as Zé do Caixão
- Magda Mei as Terezinha
- Nivaldo Lima as Antônio
- Valéria Vasquez as Lenita
- Ilídio Martins Simões as Dr.Rodolfo
