Coffin Joe detests everything and everybody, but he obviously has a soft spot for children, the "most prefect creation of nature" as he proclaims in this film. "Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver" aka. "This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse" (1967) is the second film about the crazed Zé do Caixão (aka. Coffin Joe), who only lives for one goal - finding the perfect woman to bear him the perfect son... a goal which he pursues in a highly unorthodox manner. Single-handedly created by José Mojica Marins, (who serves as writer, director and leading man), Zé do Caixão - a deranged black-clad gravedigger who sports a full-beard, a mono-brow, a top hat, a cape and extremely long fingernails, is (as far as I know) Brazil's one and only genuine Horror character. Coffin Joe pretty much personifies Brazilian Horror cinema - Kudos to José Mojica Marins for that! The films as such aren't exactly masterpieces, but they are highly bizarre and enjoyable cult gems. The first film, "À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma" ("At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul", 1964) was already fun to watch, and furthermore has to be respected for starting the trend, but this first sequel is even a lot more enjoyable in my opinion.

Feared by his entire village, the deranged undertaker Zé do Caixão (Mojica Marins) is cleared at court of the gruesome crimes he has committed in the last film. His freedom gives him the opportunity to return to his village and further pursue his goal - finding the perfect woman to bear him a son. Obsessed with finding the perfect woman to continue his bloodline, the sadistic gravedigger kidnaps a bunch of beautiful young women, whose worthiness he tests by gruesome rituals and sadistic tortures. (All that in spite of the fact that the two hottest women, who are also the only 'worthy' ones in his eyes, fall for him voluntarily). In the meanwhile, the villagers, whom Zé despises for being religious and superstitious, are getting more and more enraged about the disappearances of young beauties, and plan to take action against the villain in their midst...

The story is extremely bizarre, and logic should not be expected, but that's also what makes this film unique and a pleasure to watch. While he only wanted a son in the first film, Zé do Caixão is now obsessed with finding a perfect woman, in order to bear him a perfect son and start a perfect race. For some reason, he kidnaps a variety of girls, although the two hottest ones are in love with him anyway. He murders a bunch of people, and mocks superstition, only to feel haunted by his victims thereafter. Coffin Joe hates and despises everybody, except children, whom he apparently loves and values as the most precious and perfect creatures in the world - which is an unexpected character trait for a villain of the kind. Overall, this one's plot and characters are weird, weird, WEIRD - and delightfully weird, that is. The budget was still low, but obviously higher than in the first part, which allowed Mojica Marins to throw in some gruesome (and surprisingly well-done) gore effects, as well as sleaze and female nudity. The film is shot in black and white, except for one AWESOME 'Hell'-sequence which is in color.

I wouldn't call this film brilliant, but it has an inimitable bizarre charm that more or less makes it a must-see for cult-cinema fans. Coffin Joe IS Brazilian Horror, and that alone makes the films essential for genre-lovers. By the way, José Mojica Marins, now in his 70s, made another film about Coffin Joe as recently as 2008, in which our favorite psychopathic gravedigger is once again searching for the perfect woman to bear him a son. Kudos for such willpower!

Following up the success of his first appearance as Coffin Joe, Mojica filmed the second part of his horror trilogy with his character. The story starts exactly where the first movie left off, with Coffin Joe surviving the supernatural attack of the first movie. Being absolved of the crimes he commited, he returns to his city, still in search of the ideal woman to bear him a perfect son, this time aided by the hunchback servant Bruno. Joe kidnaps and tests several women who may prove worthy of bearing his offspring. All of them fail, and as they are being eliminated (with real live snakes!) a curse is set upon Coffin Joe...a curse that will make the funeral agent see hell in colour! A more ambitious follow-up for the first movie, "This night" suffered cuts and alterations on its dialogues by the military dictatorship censors prior to its release in Brazil. The coloured sequence of Joe's descent into hell (the rest of the movie was shot in B&W) are a fine example of the best that Mojica's cinema has to offer: brilliant, raw ideas on a shoestring budget.