The story is this: Ze do Caixao is the local undertaker and the townspeople are afraid of him. He’s not a big guy or anything (though he DOES have these really long fingernails) but he goes against local religious thoughts by eating meat on a holy day and mocking their beliefs. He lays his eyes on Terezinha, the girlfriend of the only friend he seems to have then decides to have her bear him a son. His own wife, Lenita has never gotten pregnant so he decides to kill her thus sparing her (in his words) from wanting any other man. Gee, thanks Joe!

He tries to seduce Terezinha while walking her home one night but she bites his lip and promises not to tell Antonio. This, of course, makes him pursue her all the more. So he kills his wife by tying her down and letting a tarantula stroll up her body then bite her. He calls the doctor, who pronounces her dead. When he meets up with Antonio and Terezinha after Lenita’s funeral, he decides to do away with Antonio too. Antonio doesn’t notice how uncomfortable Terezinha is in Ze’s presence as they walk her home - the man is blind!!!! Anyway, he invites Ze in for a drink then talks about his faith and future plans with Terezinha, which Ze responds to with a whack across the back of his head. Then he drags his body to a tub, fills it with water then goes home.

Terezinha comes over the next morning to wake Antonio up but finds his body instead. At his funeral, she accuses Ze of being a murderer and the doctor eyes him warily as he leaves. That evening as the doctor types up his report of Antonio’s death, he’s interrupted by Ze, who pokes him in the eyes with those long nails then sets him on fire! Boy, this guy didn’t worry about the law, did he? He goes to the local pub and bullies the patrons, throwing money at the owner for the canary hanging in back of the bar. He then goes to visit Terezinha and offers her the bird as a present. She demurs but he invites himself in then says if she doesn’t want it, he’ll get rid of it. She takes the bird and cuddles it close. He comes up behind her and start to grope her, she fights him off again and this leads to him slapping her over and over-this scene went on forever to me and it was very unpleasant.

He then rapes her and in her agony, she throttles the canary. Afterwards, she tells him he’s ruined her and that she’ll kill herself but he laughs at her, saying that women say that but don’t mean it. That she’ll bear him a son and that’s all that matters. The next morning, he’s surprised that Terezinha has indeed hanged herself. The villagers eye him as he comes to Terezinha’s funeral but say nothing. Since they were engaged , she and Antonio are buried together. That night a big storm wails outside and Ze gets drunk and dares the spirits to come after him. It’s quite a scenery chewing scene and Joe plays it for all its worth.

The next day is the Day of the Dead and the villagers are hanging about the pub when a woman comes in, looking for assistance. The men all warn her it’s not safe to be out after dark but Ze dismisses her superstitions and offers to escort the woman to the house she’s looking for. They’re interrupted during their walk by a gypsy who warns Ze about the dangers of being out at night. The couple make it to the house and the woman lets him know she’d be interested if he wants to see her again. (guess it’s the cape & the nails) He goes back down the path, thinking this woman might be a good distraction for him.

As he walks, noises follow him And he tries to ignore them but his fear gets the better of him. He pulls out his gun and fires at whatever sounds he hears. Finally, he takes a deep breath and decides to have a smoke. Suddenly, a candle is at his side-held by Antonio! Ze runs off and ends up in the crypt of Terezinha and Antonio. He rips the lids of their coffins and sees their bodies are still there. We cut to a group of villagers who’s heard his screams and band together to find him. They hear the screams again and go to the crypt where they find Ze dead with his eyes bugged out.

Like I said, I’d heard of Coffin Joe but was unaware of his films. At first, I didn’t care for this movie but watching the interview with Jose Mojica Marins, the director, writer and star changed my mind. First of all, considering what little money he had, the sets were good. He talks of people constantly underrating him then being impressed with what he managed to do. The actors were good, though he was over the top sometimes but it enhanced the character. After actually seeing the character and seeing what an unpleasant bully he was, not to mention a killer, I was surprised at his cult status. But then again, coming from a culture that has turned Jason, Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger into lovable icons, it would be hypocritical for me to question that.

Mr. Marins also explained more of Ze’s background, which wasn’t shown in the movie and though it didn’t make his character any more bearable, it DID make you understand why he did what he did (well for the most part). Here’s a box set of his films being released and while I’m not sure if I actually want to OWN any of his movies, I’d definitely recommend a look.