Podcast Episode: Coffin Joe (1964-2008) (ft. Gavin McDowell) – Don’t do what Donny Don’t does

Religious scholar and recurring guest Gavin joins Dan and Brian to discuss the long-running Brazilian series of horror films directed by, written by, and starring José Mojica Marins as “Coffin Joe” — the monstrous, atheist, libertine undertaker. Join as they discuss Coffin Joe’s persona, the religious and political context of the film, the shifting tone in the series, Marins’ three-pronged approach to horror, the role of transgressive ickiness in telling a horror story, and the censorship forces on Marins. They talk through the three “main” Coffin Joe films in detail, while Gavin gives an overview of the semi-canonical outings through the decades.

Read Gavin’s “Sects, Lies, and Videotape” column

Link to Podbean episode

Episode Number

226

Films Reviewed

At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (1964)
This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (1967)
Embodiment of Evil (2008)

Is It Good?

Is It Good? - Dan's Rating

At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul – Good (5/8)
This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse – Good-ish (4/8)
Embodiment of Evil – Not Good (2/8)

Is It Good? - Brian's Rating

At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul – Good (5/8)
This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse – Good (5/8)
Embodiment of Evil – Good-ish (4/8)

Is It Good? - Gavin's Rating

At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul – Good (5/8)
This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse – Very Good (6/8)
Embodiment of Evil – Good (5/8)

Supplemental Media

From Brian:

In the episode I ask “was there ever a mob formed to stop Gauntly?” And actually yes; somehow I forgot it’s part of his origin story

Coffin Joe vs. Count Gauntly (i.e. Brian)

From Brian:

This was the video where I first learned about coffin Joe. Linking to this third party upload because, after doing it for like ten years, James Rolfe suddenly took down all the Monster Madness reviews and replaced them with bowdlerized versions that used only still photos from the movies, instead of video and audio. Made me really glad I made a whole homebrew set of DVDs.