The Prague took me by the hand and led me back to the good old days of Cine Trash. Not only because of the presence of Zé do Caixão in the direction and as master of ceremonies, but also because of the undeniable quality of the work. Raw, trashy, and avant-garde, its origin dates back to 1967 and was lost in a fire, it was reworked in 1980 but was not finalized, returning to be rediscovered in 2007 and only concluded in 2021 - all thanks to the filmmaker Eugênio Puppo, who is as passionate about the material as Coffin Joe himself.
The plot, simple and efficient, presents the young and fiery couple Juvenal (Felipe von Rhein) and Mariana (Sílvia Gless), who, during a walk in the woods, come across a lonely old woman, played by veteran actress and director Wanda Kosmo. When Juvenal photographs and ridicules her, she places a curse on him, just like the ones Coffin Joe used to utter on TV shows. Juvenal's descent into hell begins with lysergic nightmares and evolves into irritability until he reaches total madness, to the despair of his beloved, whose beauty, as was customary, is quite objectified in the plot.
The great highlight is, without a doubt, the witch character. Filmed in the best Greek tragedy style, Wanda Kosmo has a strong presence on screen, and even though she's the "villain" of the story, it's clear that her character has a feminist bias, as she takes revenge on the man who offended her for being a woman and an old woman.
Even though it was not released at the time, "A Praga" has many similarities with "Drag Me to Hell" (2009) by director Sam Raimi, which loses badly in comparison, even with a larger budget. The delay in releasing "A Praga" was due to the recovery of the image and sound, as the film rolls were found in plastic bags. It certainly deserved a DVD release.
