Exorcismo Negro

In the opening scene to The Bloody Exorcism, Brazilian horror director José Mojica Marins states that his infamous creation Coffin Joe is entirely fictional: HE is not Coffin Joe. However, in a plot device that reminds me a bit of Wes Craven's New Nightmare, the director discovers that his wicked character has become a reality and is trying to usher in a new era of evil by wedding his own daughter to the son of Satan with the help of a witch named Malvina.

In some ways, this film is riding the coat-tails of William Friedkin's The Exorcist, with Marins' friends becoming possessed when he visits them over the Christmas holidays. Those affected turn into deranged red-eyed zombies that speak in demonic voices. There's even a scene where one of the possessed women masturbates with a wooden pole. But this is also very much a Marins' movie meaning that it gets rather strange at times, particularly towards the end when Malvina's coven performs a diabolic wedding ceremony and the director throws in as much torture, dismemberment and cannibalism as he can (the gore is totally unconvincing but still entertaining).

As is often the case with Marins' movies, there are pacing issues, the film really dragging during the talky parts, and I found myself struggling to keep up with what was happening when the going got really weird. The director's films are certainly not for everyone, but if you've already acquired a taste for his particular brand of lunacy, then you'll no doubt lap up this one as well.