For whatever reason, The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe was omitted from Arrow’s Coffin Joe Blu-Ray box set. Fortunately, I was able to track it down. Oh, and get this… it’s also a Christmas movie! (There’s a great bit where a little girl sees snakes and spiders in the Christmas tree.)
Director Jose Mojica Marins holds a press conference and proclaims, “Coffin Joe does not exist!” He then heads to a secluded house to spend Christmas with his friends and write the script for his next picture. It doesn’t take long before a bunch of weird shit starts happening (chairs move around by themselves, toy pianos play ominously, etc.). It seems a witch has it out for the family and is determined to make their life a living hell. Marins is horrified to learn that it is actually his alter ego Coffin Joe who is pulling the strings.
For the first hour or so, the film plays more or less like your typical horror flick. It’s only in the final act where Marins comes face to face with his on-screen character does it start feeling more like your average Coffin Joe installment. It’s here where topless dancers perform Satanic rituals while people are chained to the wall and wail helplessly. It’s not quite as wild and inventive as Marins’ best work and some of the gore looks really fake (fingers, tongues and ears are cartoonishly hacked off and eaten), but the close-ups of the possessed family members are quite effective.
Despite its uneven nature, The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe remains fun, if only to see Marins once again playing with the possibilities of cinema. It’s always interesting when he blends “real” and “reel” horror, and the outcome is almost always entertaining. I mean who wouldn’t want to see an actor square off against his most famous character?
AKA: The Black Exorcism of Coffin Joe. AKA: The Black Exorcism.
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