At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
| At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul | |
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Theatrical release poster.
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| Directed by | José Mojica Marins |
| Produced by | Arildo Iruam Geraldo Martins Simões Ilídio Martins Simões |
| Written by | Waldomiro França José Mojica Marins Magda Mei |
| Starring | José Mojica Marins |
| Music by | Salatiel Coelho Hermínio Gimenez |
| Cinematography | Giorgio Attili |
| Edited by | Luiz Elias |
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Production
company |
Indústria Cinematográfica Apolo
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| Distributed by | N.T.M. |
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Release date
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Running time
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84 minutes |
| Country | Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (Portuguese: À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma) is a 1964 Brazilian horror film directed by José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his created alter ego Coffin Joe (Zé do Caixão). It is also Brazil's first horror film, and it marks the first appearance of Marins' character Zé do Caixão (Coffin Joe). The film is the first installment of Marins' "Coffin Joe trilogy", and is followed by This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967), and Embodiment of Evil (2008).
The film is set in an unnamed Brazilian small town. Zé do Caixão (Coffin Joe), the local undertaker who disdains religion and emotion and who believes the only thing that matters is the "continuity of the blood" (specifically his own), is looking for the "perfect woman" to bear him a superior child who will be immortal. Since his wife Lenita has been found to be unable to bear children, Coffin Joe begins to make advances with Terezinha, the fiancée of Joe's friend Antonio. Terezinha scolds him by telling him that Antonio is the only man in her life. During a Catholic holiday, Joe kills his wife Lenita (because of her infertility) by tying her up and having a venomous spider bite her. The local authorities cannot find a clue to arrest him and he remains free to do whatever he wants.
Some days later, Coffin Joe is invited by Antonio to visit a local gypsy who will tell the fortune of Antonio's marriage with Terezinha. The gypsy reveals, however, that there is going to be a tragic disaster, and the two will never get married. Joe, in response, calls her a fraud and states that the supernatural is a hoax. She warns him not to mock the supernatural forces, lest they make him pay. That night, Joe and Antonio go to Antonio's house, where Antonio tells Joe that he really didn't believe the witch's words, and that he expects to marry Terezinha and have a happy life together. Fulfilling the witch's prophecy, Coffin Joe brutally bludgeons and then drowns Antonio in a bathtub.
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Wikipedia