morrison-dylan-fan Originally planning to watch the last of Anchor Bay's Coffin Joe DVD boxset for the 2013 Horror Challenge on the IMDb Horror board,I found myself having to quickly change plans,due to having misplaced the boxset in the run up to the event! With having finally found the 'safe place' that I had put the set in,I decided to kick things off by taking a look at the most un- Horror Coffin Joe Horror film.The plot:Walking out of the ocean completely naked,a strange man called Finis Hominis reveals to the local population that he is a messiah who has come to heal them all.Initially being rather sceptical,the locals start to believe Hominis when he begins helping people to walk again,and also bringing some family members back from the dead.Paying close attention to the growing cult around this messiah,the government begin making plans on how to end Hominis's miracles once and for all.View on the film:Made as a response to the Brazilian government's demands that no Horror titles could be made at the time,co-writer/ (along with Rubens Francissco Luchetti)director and lead actor Jose Mojica Marins cunningly makes sure that the film contains a Horror atmosphere by giving the movie an incredibly harsh soundtrack,which despite making the dialogue a bit tough to hear,does give the movie a grinding, warped sense of reality.Toning down the Horror elements,writers Marins and Luchetti take a darkly comedic,cynical route for the film,thanks to Marins showing the groups of locals,hippies and government officials to be easily manipulated fools,who will believe anything that anyone says.With having gradually revealed their cynical nature in the titles running time,the writers knock the film out with a hilariously sharp final twist,as Joe puts his comedic nail into the coffin.

Red-Barracuda The End of Man is one of the strangest of José Mojica Marins movies. Unlike his usual offerings, this one isn't a horror flick. It's hard to know exactly how to classify it to be perfectly honest. It starts with an enigmatic man called Finis Hominis emerging naked from the ocean. He then travels around interacting with various people. He saves the vulnerable and powerless against corrupt authority and the amoral. He exposes widespread hypocrisy. Before long he is considered a messiah figure.Despite not really being a horror film, The End of Man is typical enough for a Marins picture. It's extremely cheap with the very low production values we have come to associate with the director; while it's as strange and surreal as his other films too. Again, the Brazilian origins ensure that it feels completely different to other films from the time. Overall, it's utterly weird and it sure isn't for everyone. It's even less accessible than Marins other films, so enter at your peril...

Claudio Carvalho A naked man comes out from the sea of Santos and wanders, affecting the locals. A crippled woman runs from her wheelchair; an abducted girl and her mother that is near to be raped are saved by him. In return, she gives a red Indian clothing and turban to him. When a policeman asks his name, he entitles himself as Finis Hominis (The End of the Man, in Latin). The press promotes him as the new Messiah and he saves a girl covered in blood in a hospital, forcing the doctors to submit her to a surgery. He rescues an adulteress from her husband; he meets a group of hippies that show greed, instead of peace and love. Then he saves an impotent cuckold that has catatonia and will be buried alive. The police department invites Finis Hominis to give a show to help them to raise money for their hospital. When Finis Hominis tells that he will leave the city, a crowd of worshippers follow him to hear his last speech. "Finis Hominis" is another original and one of the weirdest film by José Mojica Marins introducing the character Finis Hominis, who is the opposite of Zé do Caixão. The story is a sharp critic to the hypocrisy of the society and to the false prophets, with references to the Bible (walking on water; the crippled woman that walks; the raise of the dead; the episode of the adulteress). The conclusion is a great surprise, when Finis Hominis returns home. In the end, the real miracle is the existence of mankind. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Finis Hominis"

Infofreak Jose Mojica Marins has long between in a legend in his native Brazil but his reputation has taken some time to slowly filter down to horror and exploitation fans worldwide. He's best known as his evil alter ego Coffin Joe (Ze do Caixao) via a series of movies beginning with 'At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul' in the 60s, as well as TV and comics. In 'The End Of Man' Marins doesn't play Coffin Joe, instead he's Finis Hominis a mysterious figure who emerges naked from the ocean, then wanders around the streets becoming involved in the lives of various people. He is arrested, escapes, becomes a media sensation and eventually for many a kind of messiah. I watched the movie on a Brazilian DVD with laughably inept subtitles which added another surreal layer to an already out there movie. My favourite bits are where Finis Hominis encounters a group of very irritating hippies who exclaim things like "Finis Hominis, you're the man!", "The birds lives and the children are dressed with the best fabric!", and (my favourite) "Freedom, freedom, and hurrah to free love!". If you've seen any of the Coffin Joe movies you know that Marins is capable of very strange movies on minuscule budgets. 'The End Of Man' is even stranger! I wouldn't say it's the best Marins movie I've seen but it's definitely the oddest. It's even odder than 'Awakening Of The Beast', and that's saying a lot! It's probably not the best place to start if you haven't seen any Coffin Joe before. On the other hand it isn't strictly a Coffin Joe movie so if you like weird and wonderful films that aren't necessarily horror and you get the chance to watch it do so. The more Marins movies I see, the more I am amazed. Coffin Joe deserves to be spoken of in the same breathe as Russ Meyer and Jess Franco, those other two masters of b-grade surrealism. His movies are like Jodorowsky on a Herschell Gordon Lewis budget!