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{{Portuguese name|Mojica|Marins}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = José Mojica Marins
| image              = File:José Mojica Marins, circa 2009.jpg
| caption            = Marins {{circa|2009}}
| birth_date         = {{birth date|df=yes|1936|03|13}}
| death_date         = {{death date and age|df=yes|2020|02|19|1936|03|13}}
| birth_place        = [[São Paulo]], Brazil
| death_place        = São Paulo, Brazil
| other_names        = Zé do Caixão<br>Coffin Joe<br>Mojica<br>J. Avelar
| known_for          = 
| occupation         = [[Filmmaker]]<br>[[Film actor]]<br>[[Television actor]]<br>[[Celebrity|Media personality]]<br>[[Horror host]]
}}

'''José Mojica Marins''' (13 March 1936 – 19 February 2020) was a Brazilian filmmaker, actor, composer, screenwriter, and television [[horror host]]. Marins is also known for creating and playing the character '''[[Coffin Joe]]''' (loosely translated from '''Zé do Caixão''') in a series of [[horror film]]s; the character has since gone on to become his [[alter ego]] as well as a [[pop culture icon]], a horror icon, and a [[cult figure]]. The popularity of Coffin Joe in Brazil has led to the character being referred to as "Brazil's National Boogeyman" and "Brazil's [[Freddy Krueger]]".<ref name=bdrip>{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3605777/r-p-brazilian-master-horror-jose-mojica-marins-passed-away/|title=[R.I.P.] Brazilian Master of Horror José Mojica Marins Has Passed Away|last=Squires|first=John|date=19 February 2020|website=[[Bloody Disgusting]]|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=whittaker>{{cite web|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2017-10-28/my-friend-coffin-joe/|title=My Friend Coffin Joe|last=Whittaker|first=Richard|date=28 October 2017|work=[[The Austin Chronicle]]|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref>

Born in [[São Paulo]], Marins made his feature film [[directorial debut]] in the 1950s with the film ''[[Adventurer's Fate]]''. He went on to direct the 1964 film ''[[At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul]]'', which is considered Brazil's first horror film.{{sfn|Bergfelder|Shaw|Vieira|2016|p=178}} ''At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul'' marks the first appearance of the Coffin Joe character, a role that Marins would reprise in ''[[This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse]]'' (1967) and ''[[Embodiment of Evil]]'' (2008), along with a number of other films and television series. He is considered to have been a pioneer of Brazilian horror cinema and of graphically violent horror films in general.{{sfn|Bergfelder|Shaw|Vieira|2016|p=191}}

==Early life==
Marins was born on Friday, 13 March 1936 in [[São Paulo]], [[Brazil]] at a farm in the [[Vila Mariana (district of São Paulo)|Vila Mariana]], to Antonio André Marins and Carmen Mogica Imperial, both descended from Spanish immigrants.{{sfn|Bergfelder|Shaw|Vieira|2016|p=178}}<ref name=rohter>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/movies/jose-mojica-marins-brazilian-filmmaker-conjures-macabre.html|title=A Cult Figure Conjures the Macabre|last=Rohter|first=Larry|date=19 October 2011|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref> His interest in filmmaking began at an early age. When Marins was three, his father ran a local cinema, and the family lived in a flat above it.{{sfn|Dennison|Shaw|2004|pp=140–141}}<ref name="offscreenref">{{cite web|url=http://www.offscreen.com/biblio/phile/essays/mojica_marins/|title=Jose Mojica Marins: Up-Close and Personal (interview)|last=Rist|first=Peter|author2=Donato Totaro|date=30 June 2005|publisher=Offscreen.com|access-date=7 January 2009}}</ref> During his childhood, Marins made short films with a camera that his parents had given to him as a present.{{sfn|Bergfelder|Shaw|Vieira|2016|p=178}} These shorts starred himself and his neighbours, and were exhibited at churches and amusement parks.{{sfn|Bergfelder|Shaw|Vieira|2016|p=178}}

In 1953, at the age of 18, Marins founded Cia. Cinematográfica Atlas (the Atlas Film Company).{{sfn|Bergfelder|Shaw|Vieira|2016|p=178}} He acquired an abandoned [[synagogue]] which he transformed into a film studio and academy, where he gave acting lessons and trained technicians in order to finance his films.{{sfn|Bergfelder|Shaw|Vieira|2016|p=178}}<ref name=rohter />

==Career==
===Coffin Joe===
{{Main|Coffin Joe}}

Marins is best known for creating and portraying [[Coffin Joe]], a character who is considered a horror icon, a Brazilian [[cultural icon]], and a [[cult figure]].<ref name=bdrip /><ref name=rohter /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/rudy-ray-moore-horror/|title=The Horror Legacy of Rudy Ray Moore|last=Trussell|first=Jacob|date=29 October 2019|website=[[Film School Rejects]]|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref> An amoral undertaker with [[Nietzsche|Nietzschian]] philosophies and a hatred for organized religion, the character appeared as the primary character in a trilogy (known as the "Coffin Joe Trilogy") revolving around his homicidal quest to find "the perfect woman" so he can achieve metaphorical [[immortality]] by having a son.{{sfn|Pinazza|Bayman|2014|p=86}}{{sfn|Bergfelder|Shaw|Vieira|2016|p=180}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jul/04/twisted-genius-of-coffin-joe|title=Film preview: The Twisted Genius Of Coffin Joe, London|last=Hubert|first=Andrea|date=3 July 2009|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref> Following the success of the first film in the series, Marins reprised his role as the character in ''[[This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse]]'' (1967) and ''[[Embodiment of Evil]]'' (2008), along with a number of other films and television series. The character has also appeared in comic books<ref name=whittaker /> and [[music video]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/music/from-beyond-takes-on-coffin-joe-in-new-video-nsfw-6519342|title=From Beyond Takes on Coffin Joe In New Video (NSFW)|last=Rouner|first=Jef|date=3 September 2013|work=[[Houston Press]]|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref> The popularity of Coffin Joe has resulted in the character being referred to as the Brazilian equivalent of [[Freddy Krueger]].<ref name=bdrip /><ref name=whittaker /><ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Atkinson|editor-first=Michael|year=2008|title=Exile Cinema: Filmmakers at Work Beyond Hollywood|publisher=[[SUNY Press]]|page=126|isbn=978-0791473771}}</ref>{{sfn|Pinazza|Bayman|2014|p=23}}

===Other film work===
[[File:José Mojica Marins em o Profeta da Fome (1971).tif|thumb|José Mojica Marins in ''O Profeta da Fome'' (1971).]]
{{main article|José Mojica Marins filmography}}
Although most known for films in the horror genre, Marins also created [[Exploitation film|exploitation]], drugsploitation, [[sexploitation]] (often in the form of [[pseudo-documentaries]]), and [[Western film|Westerns]]. Marins is noted for his [[low-budget film]] style, often using friends and amateur actors as cast and crew. His films are usually set in [[São Paulo, Brazil]].{{cn|date=February 2020}}

Marins became interested in cinema at a young age. He recounted that he made his first film, ''O Juízo Final'' (''Judgement Day''), shot in [[8 mm film|8 mm]], in 1948 at the age of 12. He followed with ''Encruzilhada da Perdição'' (''Crossroads to Perdition'', 1952).{{sfn|Dennison|Shaw|2004|pp=140–144}}<ref name="filmografia">{{cite web|url=http://www.heco.com.br/mojica/extras/07_01.php|title=Filmografia/Cinema Brasileiro|year=2006|publisher=Portal de Cinema de Brasileiro|language=Portuguese|access-date=16 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303072345/http://www.heco.com.br/mojica/extras/07_01.php|archive-date=3 March 2011}}</ref> Mojica was one of several directors of the 2013 [[Anthology film|anthology]] horror film ''[[The Profane Exhibit]]'', directing the segment "Viral".<ref name=zimmerman>{{cite web|url=http://www.fangoria.com/index.php/home/all-news/1-latest-news/6954-coffin-joe-and-qtimecrimesq-director-now-part-of-qthe-profane-exhibitq|title=Coffin Joe and "Timecrimes" director now part of "The Profane Exhibit"|last=Zimmerman|first=Samuel|date=25 April 2012|work=[[Fangoria]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504191623/http://fangoria.com/index.php/home/all-news/1-latest-news/6954-coffin-joe-and-qtimecrimesq-director-now-part-of-qthe-profane-exhibitq|archive-date=4 May 2012|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref> In 2014 he again collaborated with other directors on the anthology film ''[[The Black Fables]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/84333/coffin-joe-hand-tell-one-black-fables-fabulas-negras/|title=Coffin Joe on Hand to Tell One of The Black Fables (As Fabulas Negras)|last=Barton|first=Steve|date=6 January 2015|website=[[Dread Central]]|access-date=6 January 2015}}</ref>

===Television work===
Marins hosted a monthly interview program ''[[The Strange World of Coffin Joe (TV series)|The Strange World of Coffin Joe]]''<ref name=rohter /> on the Brazilian television station Canal Brasil, in which he discussed Brazilian media and culture with other contemporary figures, such as actors and musicians. His guests included [[Zé Ramalho]], [[Rogério Skylab]], and [[Supla]].<ref name="canal">{{cite web|url=http://www.oestranhomundodezedocaixao.com.br/?cat=3|title=Official site for Canal Brasil television|year=2008|publisher=Canal Brasil|language=Portuguese|access-date=30 September 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023065501/http://www.oestranhomundodezedocaixao.com.br/?cat=3|archive-date=23 October 2008}}</ref><ref name="oestofficial">{{cite web|url=http://www2.uol.com.br/zedocaixao/producoes/tv/conteudo_estranho.htm|title=Official site/O Estranho Mundo do Zé do Caixão|year=2006|website=[[Universo Online]]|language=Portuguese|access-date=14 October 2009}}</ref>

From 1967 to 1988, Marins hosted the program ''Além, Muito Além do Além'' (''Beyond, Far Beyond the Beyond'')<ref name=rohter /> on [[TV Bandeirantes]], in character as Coffin Joe, presenting short horror tales written by author and screenwriter [[R. F. Lucchetti|Rubens Luchetti]]. Some scripts were later adapted as Coffin Joe comic books. The show's tapes were reused and currently there are no known intact recordings of this program.<ref name="muito">{{cite web|url=http://www2.uol.com.br/zedocaixao/producoes/tv/conteudo_alem.htm|title=Official site|year=2006|website=[[Universo Online]]|language=Portuguese|access-date=14 October 2009}}</ref>

Marins directed and hosted ''The Show from the Other World'' (''Um Show do Outro Mundo'') on Rede Record de Televisão, again appearing as Coffin Joe. The half-hour program featured short horror films, with many of the stories sent in by the viewers themselves and adapted by members of Marins' production team. As with his earlier show, the original tapes were reused and there is no known record of this material.<ref name="outromundo">{{cite web|url=http://www2.uol.com.br/zedocaixao/producoes/tv/conteudo_show.htm|title=Official site/Um Show do Outro Mundo|year=2006|website=[[Universo Online]]|language=Portuguese|access-date=14 October 2009}}</ref>

In 1996 Marins hosted the daily television program ''Cine Trash'' on [[TV Bandeirantes]], which featured full-length horror films.<ref name="cinetrash">{{cite web|url=https://www.angelfire.com/il/dirt007/joe/cjinterview.html|title=At Midnight|year=2008|publisher=Journal da Tarde|language=Portuguese|access-date=30 September 2009}}</ref><ref name="cine">{{cite web|url=http://www2.uol.com.br/zedocaixao/producoes/tv/conteudo_cinetrash.htm|title=Official site/Cine Trash|year=2006|website=[[Universo Online]]|language=Portuguese|access-date=14 October 2009}}</ref>

===Documentaries===
Marins appears in ''[[The Universe of Mojica Marins]]'' (''O Universo de Jose Mojica Marins'', 1978), a 26-minute [[documentary film]] directed by [[Ivan Cardoso (director)|Ivan Cardoso]]. Marins portrays himself in the film, which also features interviews with Marins' mother Carmen Marins, film editor [[Nilcemar Leyart]], and [[Satã]] (Marins' assistant and bodyguard).<ref name="universo">{{cite web|url=http://www2.uol.com.br/zedocaixao/producoes/documentarios/conteudo_universo.htm|title=Official site/O Universo de Jose Mojica Marins|year=2006|website=[[Universo Online]]|language=Portuguese|access-date=15 October 2009}}</ref> In 1987 Marins released the [[semi-autobiographical]] documentary film ''[[Demons and Wonders]]'' (''Demônios e Maravilhas''), in which he appears as himself re-enacting moments from his life, with his family and associates playing themselves as well.<ref name="uol">{{cite web|url=http://www2.uol.com.br/zedocaixao/cinema/20_demonios_e_maravilhas.htm|title=Demônios e Maravilhas|website=[[Universo Online]]|access-date=29 September 2009}}</ref>

A 2001 documentary film, ''[[Damned – The Strange World of José Mojica Marins]]'' (''Maldito - O Estranho Mundo de José Mojica Marins''), directed by biographers [[André Barcinski]] and [[Ivan Finotti]], examines Marins's life and works. It won the Special Jury Prize at the 2001 [[Sundance Film Festival]].{{sfn|Ruétalo|Tierney|2009|p=115}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-29-ca-18357-story.html|title=Going to Extremes|last=Turan|first=Kenneth|author-link=Kenneth Turan|date=29 January 2001|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref>

==Death==
Marins died of complications caused by [[bronchopneumonia]] on 19 February 2020, aged 83, in São Paulo.<ref name=bdrip /><ref name=finotti>{{cite web|url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/2020/02/morre-o-cineasta-jose-mojica-marins-o-ze-do-caixao.shtml|title=Morre o cineasta José Mojica Marins, o Zé do Caixão|last=Finotti|first=Ivan|date=19 February 2020|work=[[Folha de S.Paulo]]|language=pt-BR|access-date=19 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=associatedpress>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/6a63b8170464a9eaaa6c0f0093ebb609|title=Brazilian horror filmmaker and actor Marins dies at age 83|author=<!--Associated Press-->|date=19 February 2020|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref> Prior to his death, Marins had been hospitalized for about 20 days.<ref name=finotti /><ref name=associatedpress />

==Selected filmography==
{{main article|José Mojica Marins filmography}}

* ''[[Adventurer's Fate]]'' (1958)<ref name=rohter />
* ''[[My Destiny In Your Hands]]'' (1963)<ref name=rohter />
* ''[[At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul]]'' (1964)<ref name=bdrip /><ref name=rohter />{{sfn|Ruétalo|Tierney|2009|pp=45, 94}}
* ''[[This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse]]'' (1967)<ref name=bdrip /><ref name=rohter />{{sfn|Ruétalo|Tierney|2009|p=45}}
* ''[[The Strange World of Coffin Joe]]'' (1968){{sfn|Ruétalo|Tierney|2009|p=115}}
* ''[[Awakening of the Beast]]'' (1970)<ref name=bdrip /><ref name=rohter />{{sfn|Ruétalo|Tierney|2009|p=45}}
* ''[[The End of Man]]'' (1970)<ref>{{cite book|last=Rabkin|first=Leslie Y.|year=1998|title=The Celluloid Couch: An Annotated International Filmography of the Mental Health Professional in the Movies and Television, from the Beginning to 1990|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|page=387|isbn=978-0810834620}}</ref>
* ''[[The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe]]'' (1974)<ref name=bdrip /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Olson|first1=Christopher J.|last2=Reinhard|first2=CarrieLynn D.|year=2016|title=Possessed Women, Haunted States: Cultural Tensions in Exorcism Cinema|publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|page=185|isbn=978-1498519083}}</ref>
* ''[[The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures]]'' (1976){{sfn|Pinazza|Bayman|2014|p=23}}
* ''[[Hellish Flesh]]'' (1977)<ref name=bdrip />
* ''[[Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind]]'' (1978)<ref name=rohter />
* ''[[Perversion (film)|Perversion]]'' (1979)<ref>{{cite book|last=Heller-Nicholas|first=Alexandra|year=2011|title=Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|page=154|isbn=978-0786449613}}</ref>
* ''[[Embodiment of Evil]]'' (2008)<ref name=rohter />
* ''[[The Profane Exhibit]]'' (segment: "Viral", 2013)<ref name=bdrip /><ref name=zimmerman />

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Bergfelder|editor-first1=Tim|editor-last2=Shaw|editor-first2=Lisa|editor-last3=Vieira|editor-first3=João Luiz|year=2016|title=Stars and Stardom in Brazilian Cinema|publisher=[[Berghahn Books]]|isbn=978-1785332982}}
* {{cite book|last1=Dennison|first1=Stephanie|last2=Shaw|first2=Lisa|year=2004|title=Popular Cinema in Brazil, 1930-2001|publisher=[[Manchester University Press]]|chapter=Mojica Marins: Coffin Joe and Brazilian Horror|isbn=978-0719064999}}
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Pinazza|editor-first1=Natália|editor-last2=Bayman|editor-first2=Louis|year=2014|title=Directory of World Cinema: Brazil|publisher=Intellect Ltd|isbn=978-1783200092}}
* {{cite book|editor-last1=Ruétalo|editor-first1=Victoria|editor-last2=Tierney|editor-first2=Dolores|year=2009|title=Latsploitation, Exploitation Cinemas, and Latin America|series=Routledge Advances in Film Studies|publisher=[[Routledge]]|chapter=José Mojica Marins and the Cultural Politics of Marginality in 'Third World' Film Criticism|isbn=978-0415993869}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0596261}}
* [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/711963436 "Brazilian Horror: Zé do Caixão in the multimedia work of José Mojica Marins"] {{in lang|en}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081120012211/http://www.heco.com.br/mojica/01.php José Mojica Marins: 50 Year Retrospective] on [https://web.archive.org/web/20081223202156/http://www.heco.com.br/index2.php Portal Heco de Cinema] {{in lang|pt}}

{{José Mojica Marins}}
{{Order of Cultural Merit}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Marins, Jose Mojica}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Brazilian people of Spanish descent]]
[[Category:Brazilian male actors]]
[[Category:Brazilian film directors]]
[[Category:Brazilian screenwriters]]
[[Category:Brazilian male screenwriters]]
[[Category:Brazilian film producers]]
[[Category:Brazilian pornographic film directors]]
[[Category:Brazilian horror film directors]]
[[Category:Horror hosts]]
[[Category:Male actors from São Paulo]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=José Mojica Marins|access_date=2026-03-04}}