Embodiment of Evil (2008) Encarnação do Demônio (original title)

Director:

José Mojica Marins

Writers:

José Mojica Marins (writer)
Dennison Ramalho (writer)

Release Date:

8 August 2008 (Brazil)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The Master Of Horror Is Back

Plot:

The gravedigger Zé do Caixão continues his search for the perfect woman to bear his son.

Plot Keywords:

Son | Favela | Female Doctor | Hung By Hook | Throne

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

José Mojica Marins	...	Zé do Caixão
Jece Valadão	...	Coronel Claudiomiro Pontes
Adriano Stuart	...	Capitão Oswaldo Pontes
Milhem Cortaz	...	Padre Eugênio
Rui Resende	...	Bruno (as Rui Rezende)
José Celso Martinez Corrêa	...	Mistificador
Cristina Aché	...	Lucy Pontes
Helena Ignez	...	Cabíria
Débora Muniz	...	Lucrécia
Thaís Simi	...	Maíra
Cleo de Paris	...	Dra. Hilda (as Cléo De Páris)
Nara Sakarê	...	Elena
Giulio Lopes	...	Mário
Eduardo Chagas	...	Emiliano
Luís Melo	...	Seu Américo
Raymond Castile	...	Zé do Caixão jovem (as Raymond Castille)
Karina Bez Batti	...	Serva 1
Fernanda Brandão	...	Serva 2
Rubens Mello	...	Servo 1
Zumba	...	Servo 2
Guta Ruiz	...	Espectro Terezinha
Alessandra Miranda	...	Espectro Laura
Raissa Gregori	...	Espectro Lenita
Nilson Primitivo	...	Presidiário Tatuado
Geanine Marques	...	Morte
Jannete Tomiita	...	Nissei
Keila Siqueira	...	Mulher Ensangüentada
Ivi Mesquita	...	Mulata Sambista
Indayara Moyano	...	Jovem Tatuada
Marina Filizola	...	Bela Executiva
Elder Fraga	...	Policial Espancador 1
Freak Garcia	...	Policial Espancador 2
Leny Dark	...	Policial Espancadora 1
Thereza Amaral	...	Policial Espancadora 2
Mairun Sevá	...	Policial Invasão
Fábio Ferreira Dias	...	Detetive Penna
Javert Monteiro	...	Dr. Beltrão
Fausto Maule	...	Coronel Claudiomiro jovem
Mário Lima	...	Seu João
Satã	...	Fera
Nathan Corcino	...	Padre do Cemitério
Docinho	...	Padre do Pántano
Anderson Momesso	...	Padre Aspirante
André Frateschi	...	Repórter
Richard Graham Maddock	...	Curador (as Richard Maddock)
Valdênia Rangel	...	Vizinha 1
Ana Consania	...	Vizinha 2
Alex Silva	...	Menino 1
Guilherme Silva	...	Menino 2
Kelvin Christian	...	Menino 3
Andrey Marins	...	Filho do Mário
Thrash	...	Presidiário Tatuado (photo)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Juliane Elting	...	Mulher no Pulgatório
Carlos Primati	...	Frightened guy at the bar

Directed by
José Mojica Marins

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
José Mojica Marins		writer
Dennison Ramalho		writer

Produced by
Caio Gullane	....	producer
Fabiano Gullane	....	producer
Débora Ivanov	....	producer
Gabriel Lacerda	....	associate producer
Paulo Eduardo Ribeiro	....	associate producer (as Paulo Ribeiro)
Paulo Sacramento	....	producer
Patrick Siaretta	....	associate producer

Original Music by
André Abujamra		(original music by)
Marcio Nigro		(original music by)

Cinematography by
José Roberto Eliezer

Film Editing by
Paulo Sacramento

Casting by
Alessandra Tosi

Production Design by
Cassio Amarante		(as Cássio Amarante)

Art Direction by
Cassio Amarante

Costume Design by
David Parizotti

Makeup Department
Denise Borro	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Pablo Torrecillas	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Luciana Baptista	....	second assistant director
Dennison Ramalho	....	chief assistant director
Tomás Rezende	....	first assistant director
Carol Lutz Setubal	....	third assistant director (as Carol Lutz Setúbal)

Art Department
Renato Blaschi	....	storyboard artist
Fábio Goldfarb	....	set designer
Bia Pessoa	....	art painter

Sound Department
Simone Alves	....	sound re-recording assistant
Raul Jooken Baptista	....	sound editor
Miriam Biderman	....	supervising sound editor
William Lopes	....	sound editor
William Lopes	....	sound effects editor
Daniel Soares Pedroso	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Ricardo Reis	....	supervising sound editor
Louis Robin	....	sound recordist
Armando Torres Jr.	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Marcelo A.M.P.	....	special effects assistant
Kapel Furman	....	special effects coordinator (as André Kapel)
Kapel Furman	....	special effects makeup (as André Kapel)

Visual Effects by
Luis Ignacio Barrague	....	conforming editor
Omar Colocci	....	digital effects artist
Marcelo Ferreira PeeJay	....	digital effects artist
Fabian Gamarra	....	data manager
Rogério Marinho	....	visual effects
Robson Sartori	....	visual effects coordinator
Karina Vanes	....	post production coordinator
Ariel Wollinger	....	film scanning and recording supervisor
Mariana Zdravca	....	post production coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Pedro Eliezer	....	additional camera operator
Marco T. Guglielmoni	....	Steadicam operator (as Marco Túlio Guglielmoni)
Ulisses Malta	....	gaffer
Rodrigo Reis	....	second assistant camera
Virgílio Roveda	....	additional camera operator
Denner Silva	....	electrician
Fernanda Tanaka	....	first assistant camera

Animation Department
Alessandro Ceglia	....	animator
Andy Lyon	....	animator
Guilherme Marcondes	....	opening animation

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Alexandre Herchcovitch	....	costumes: guest designer

Editorial Department
Fábio Fatorelli	....	assistant editor
Daniel T. Müller	....	post-production assistant
Ely Silva	....	color grader
David Block	....	colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Patrícia Portaro	....	music clearance
Carlos Primati	....	musical consultant

Other crew
Rodrigo Castellar	....	set manager
Marcelo Colaiacovo	....	stand-in: José Mojica Marins
Nilcemar Leyart	....	continuity
Manuela Mandler	....	marketing coordinator
Crounel Marins	....	director assistant
Merisol Marins	....	director assistant
Leandro Scorsafava	....	archival supervisor
Roberto Wolf	....	stand-in: Jece Valadão

Production Companies

• Gullane Filmes
• Olhos de Cão Produções Cinematográficas

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Brazil (2008) (Brazil) (all media)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (UK) (2009) (UK) (DVD)
• Schmalz-Schneider (2009) (Austria) (DVD) (as Illusions Unltd. Films)
• Sunfilm Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Synapse Films (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Synapse Films (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Other Companies

• Yazbek e Portaro Advogados  clearance services
• Yazbek e Portaro Advogados  legal services

Also Known As:

"Encarnação do Demônio" - Brazil (original title)
"Devil's Reincarnation" - USA (literal English title)

Runtime:

94 min | Argentina:90 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | UK:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Germany:18 (heavily cut) | Brazil:18

Filming Locations:

São Paulo, Brazil

Company:

Gullane Filmes

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Coffin Joe:In the past I did everything possible to find the woman who'd give me immortality. And the continuation of my blood.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Coffin Joe (#3.15)" (2009)

A Unique and Horrific Vision

I was at the Canadian Premiere of Embodiment of Evil during Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival. The introduction alone was worth the price of admission as the co-screenwriter Dennison Ramalho, dressed in a leather straight-jacket, introduced the director and star, Coffin Joe himself, José Mojica Marins, who was wheeled onstage by three gorgeous, fetish-wearing goths in a shroud covered container that was unveiled to be an open coffin.

Embodiment of Evil is the third in the Coffin Joe trilogy, the first two films being À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma (1964)... aka At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul and Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver (1967)... aka This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse.

Zé do Caixão, the Coffin Joe character is a combination of showy horror host, comic-book magician (specifically Mandrake the Magician) and depraved, sadistic serial torturer and murderer. A gravedigger, he wears a top hat, black cloak and has supernaturally long fingernails. A fierce atheist who denies the existence of both Heaven and Hell, Coffin Joe is obsessed by his search of the perfect woman with whom he can mate and continue his bloodline, preserving his eternal blood in a son. Joe's definition of a perfect woman is one that, like him, has no fear. To identify her, Joe uses the most diabolical tortures possible and those who fail his tests die in the most hideous and painful manner possible.

Fantasia programmed the two previous Coffin Joe films back in 1999 and brought José Mojica Marins from Brazil to present them. While by no means the only people who can take credit, the Fantasia team must share the blame for reintroducing the world to Zé do Caixão.

I am not a fan of torture in horror films. What makes the Coffin Joe films palatable to me is the barely veiled metaphor of Coffin Joe trying to free Brazil from its imprisonment - chained by fear of violence from the military dictatorship and superstitious fear of the Roman Catholic Church. Nothing that Coffin Joe did or could do could ever be as evil or perverse as the way that the Junta and the church conspired to enslave Brazil and Brazilians. Coffin Joe is like a Pied Piper for freedom, offering a path filled with pain and for many, death, but promising at the end of the road a freedom that neither government nor church can take away.

Embodiment of Evil begins with Coffin Joe being released from an insane asylum where he has been confined for the last 40 years after his crimes in the first two films. (Amusingly, his hunchback assistant Bruno has been waiting for him for all these years.) Coffin Joe exits to a world both completely different from the one that he left and eternally the same. There is very much a sense that Coffin Joe is a man from a time that has past while simultaneously a prophet whose time has come.

Coffin Joe's quest is both easier and more difficult than it was in the past. Easier because he now has disciples, the children and grand-children of those who heard his message in the sixties. And a new generation of women unshackled by fear gives Coffin Joe an embarrassment of choice to be his perfect woman.

His quest is more difficult because the barriers of fear and superstition still exist. The metaphor still works: fear of a violent military has been replaced by the fear of a corrupt and violent police. The superstitious fear of the church remains although its grip has weakened. The biggest change is that everyone is haunted by the sins of the past. The new Brazil is built on the bones and blood of the old Brazil and everyone (including Coffin Joe) is haunted by the ghosts of that past.

For Joe, this is a revolting development. As a man whose entire life is built on a denial of the existence of a life after death, ghosts are an abomination. Coffin Joe works even better as a metaphor for the new Brazil, futilely denying its' bloody past, like Lady Macbeth trying desperately to wash away the bloody spot.

Embodiment of Evil, like all the films in the Coffin Joe trilogy, is not a film for the squeamish. The images of pain and torture are all the more horrific since many of them are real. (Apparently for many in the Brazilian fetish community, being tortured by Coffin Joe is a badge of honour.) What can't be denied is that his vision is a unique vision of horror that speaks to those who will listen as clearly today as it did in the sixties.