Awakening of the Beast
| Awakening of the Beast | |
|---|---|
 Brazilian theatrical poster |
|
| Directed by | José Mojica Marins |
| Produced by | Giorgio Attili José Mojica Marins George Michel Serkeis |
| Written by | Rubens F. Lucchetti |
| Starring | José Mojica Marins Mário Lima |
| Cinematography | Giorgio Attili |
| Editing by | Luiz Elias |
| Release date(s) | October 1970 (Brazil) |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
Awakening of the Beast (original titles: O Ritual dos Sádicos, and O Despertar da Besta) is a 1970 Brazilian horror/exploitation film by filmmaker and actor José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego Coffin Joe (Zé do Caixão). Marins appears as himself and as the Coffin Joe character in the fictional film which is in the form of a pseudodocumentary.[1][2]
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[edit] Synopsis
In the film's first portion, filmed in B&W, Dr. Sergio, a psychiatrist, appears on a television program on a panel with three other contemporary psychiatrists after he claims to have conducted experiments on four volunteer drug addicts with LSD in order to investigate his claim that sexual perversion is caused by use of illegal drugs. As evidence, he presents a series documented accounts of drug use leading to lewd and bizarre sexual acts. Marins appears (as himself) on the panel with the psychiatrists as some type of expert on the subject of depravity. During the program, Dr. Sergio recounts the experiment to his colleagues on the panel, who argue with his claims.
Dr. Sergio gathers the four volunteers, and after receiving an injection, the volunteers (four drug users seen in the previous segments) are instructed to stare at a movie poster of Marins' The Strange World of Coffin Joe. The film changes to color and each patient's experience is vividly portrayed in a series of surreal scenes.
[edit] Cast
- Andréa Bryan
- Annik Malvil
- Graveto
- Ítala Nandi
- José Mojica Marins as Coffin Joe
- Lurdes Vanucchi Ribas
- Mário Lima as Volunteer
- Ozualdo Candeias as Volunteer
- Roney Wanderney
[edit] The television panel
- Carlos Reichenbach
- Jairo Ferreira
- João Callegaro
- José Mojica Marins as himself
- Maurice Capovilla
- Sérgio Hingst as Dr Sérgio
- Walter C. Portella
[edit] References
- ^ "O Despertar da Besta - O Ritual dos Sádicos" (in Portuguese). UOL.com (official website). 2006. http://www2.uol.com.br/zedocaixao/cinema/10_odespertar_dabesta.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
- ^ "O Ritual dos Sádicos". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062690/. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
[edit] External links
- Official film site (Portuguese)
- Awakening of the Beast at the Internet Movie Database
- O Despertar da Besta - O Ritual dos Sádicos on Portal Heco de Cinema (Portuguese)
- Film essay at Tropical Gothic (English)
