A Estranha Hospedaria dos Prazeres

Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures, The (1976)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Brazilian horror film has Jose Mojica Marins, the man behind Coffin Joe, running a hostel where a mixed group of people, ranging from hippies to gamblers, show up with nightmarish events to follow. I've heard some call this a Coffin Joe film but I don't see it as such since Marins' character, the hostel owner, is never called that nor is it ever implied that he's Coffin Joe. With that said, I found the film pretty hard to get through for a variety of reasons but the biggest being the dialogue. It really seemed like they were going for some type of Bob Dylan like lyrics because Marins' character is constantly coming up with various sayings, which are meant to be thought provoking but they left me wanting to laugh. After a while these sayings stop being funny and instead just come off as lame and this is what happened to the film as it kept going. For the most part we've got a twenty-minute movie spread out to 78-minutes and that means we get a bunch of scenes, which just replay over and over. This includes one of the dumbest orgy sequences I've ever seen where the hippies are just passing around bottles of vodka while canting an incredibly stupid line about getting naked. The final twenty-minutes is when the violence starts to kick up and we get countless more lines trying to be deep. I'm really not sure what the killings were about since the lines are so dumb but we get a wide range of events with a couple nice sequences. One such sequence is when a man is shot in the head only to have firework sparks come out before the screen turns all red in blood. We have other scenes involving the likes of a snake and crab but these add to very little. The entire movie is strange as you might expect and there's a certain level of atmosphere, especially the first ten minutes, but in the end the movie is just too dull to really work. Fans of the bizarre or surreal will want to check this out but others should certainly stay clear. Original title: A Estranha Hospedaria dos Prazeres.

Decided to revisit this one and update my review since I was in the mood for something weird and it's still currently free on youtube. It worked better for me this time, there's some nice terrifying moments and creepy camera work and effects, even though the whole middle portion of this is just a repeat of the same three or so scenes while José Mojica Marins looks on creepily. I'm sure it's probably not the best of the unofficial Coffin Joe flicks, but It's still a fun weird surreal ride.

Generally speaking, I am a fan of the iconic Brazilian Horror filmmaker José Mojica Marins and his most famous creation and alter ego Zé do Caixão aka. Coffin Joe. I liked the first two Coffin Joe films "À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma" ("At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul") and "Esta Noite Encarnarei no Teu Cadáver" ("This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse") (both from 1964) and I absolutely loved the third film "O Estranho Mundo de Zé do Caixão" ("The Strange World of Coffin Joe") of 1968, which is a morbid anthology in which the eponymous gravedigger only gives an introduction. The fourth (sorta) Coffin Joe feature "O Ridual Dos Sádicos" ("Awakening of the Beast", 1970) already bored me, and I regret to say that I hated this film. "A Estranha Hospedaria dos Prazeres" aka. "The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures" (1976) is an insufferably boring affair that is not saved by its unintentional (?) fun-factor, since it just drags and drags way too slowly to be fun to watch. After a never-ending bizarre sequence in the beginning, Zé Do Caixão is apparently not looking for a woman to bear him a son any longer, but has opened a hostel in which, naturally, strange things are going on...

Seriously, "The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures" is an excruciatingly tiresome affair. The orgy scene in which a bunch of people in red speedos are yelling "Everybody Naked! Great" for about ten minutes must be one of the least erotic sex scenes ever filmed. A few outburst of morbidity are not nearly enough to make the film watchable. The first three Coffin Joe films (especially the third) were incredibly macabre and controversial for their time. This one really isn't. I have no idea why this is labeled an "Adult" film on IMDb; there is no pornography involved, the film isn't more explicit than any other 70s Exploitation film. I seriously hope that the four remaining films in my 9-film Coffin Joe DVD-Box are going to be better than this one, and preferably more like the first three. 2.5 out of 10 for the cult-value. Overall, one to avoid.

The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures, directed by Brazilian horror filmmaker José Mojica Marins (also known as Zé do Caixão), presents a perplexing and disjointed narrative. Although it features many typical elements of Marins' horror cinema, such as macabre monologues, twisted sexual scenes, and sadistic violence, the execution falls short. Let's delve into the eerie inn where time stands still and guests face their eternal torment.

The film opens with a surreal sequence: dancing women, monkey-like figures, and native Brazilian drummers. An old man chants over a closed coffin, and a mysterious man rises from it-top hat, cape, and long fingernails in tow. At the isolated "Hospedaria dos Prazeres" (Hostel of Pleasures), the proprietor invites guests to stay during a tempestuous storm. Among them are drunken bohemian motorcyclists, an adulterous couple, a suicidal man, and more. As the night unfolds, they discover their watches all display midnight, and the proprietor reveals gruesome scenes of their deaths before midnight-a chilling punishment where time ceases to exist.

Despite its intriguing premise, The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures disappoints. The film lacks coherence, dragging with repetition and a slow pace. Practically nothing happens until the final revelation, leaving viewers wondering why such an inexplicable establishment exists. While I appreciate some aspects, including the atmospheric setting, the overall experience falls flat.

Probably the worst of José Mojica Marins's horror films, in spite of the good general idea. There is much more noise (what a noisy film! Lots of screams and a very unfortunate music score that mostly does not fit the movie) and no good connections for a chaotic sequence of not very well shot footage (differently from Mojica's best films, despite their low budget). The film also lacks the innovative editing of other movies by Mojica. Here, his famous character Coffin Joe has some different traits, what is by far the most interesting element: his psychic powers are impressive, being able to charm, kill, cause accidents... In the very beginning, he is ressurrected in a ritual (which mixes interesting trance dark scenes of drummers with an amateur performance of beautiful girls in bikini). Then, he recruits employers and guests for his lodge, under a heavy storm. His selection clearly indicated that those who were accepted were destined to. Among them, there were gamblers (one of them being the victim of the other three), a gigolo and his women, an adulterous couple, a man wishing to commit suicide, other characters I could not understand who they were (robbers?), and the worst of them all: a numerous "party hard" group of drunk people who enjoyed to shout "todo mundo nu, oba!" ("everybody nude! Oh yeah!") while dancing naked (they only shut up when make sex!). Perhaps a new cut, shortening it a lot, could have saved the film. However, in the wat it was released, it is hard to understand (not the general trend, which is predictable, but the specific fates of each character) and to keep interested on it.