In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I've been an avid horror/exploitation fan for nigh on thirty years, and aware of the work of José Mojica Marins for twenty five of those, and yet this is the first of his films that I've actually seen. What the hell was I thinking? If his other stuff is anywhere near as bats**t insane as Embodiment of Evil (and the flashbacks in this film indicate that they might be) then I've been missing out on some seriously messed up movies.The belated third film in Marins' Coffin Joe trilogy (the other two being 'At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul' in 1963 and 'This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse' in 1967), Embodiment of Evil sees the director once again growing his fingernails and donning top hat and black cloak to reprise his role as amoral gravedigger Josefel Zanatas (AKA Coffin Joe) who is released from prison after 40 years to continue his ambition to sire a perfect child. To achieve this goal, Joe enlists the help of a hunchback named Bruno and several other sadistic minions, who help him to abduct a series of potential mates, who he 'tests' for suitability by subjecting them to horrific acts of torture.Marins, a man who clearly hasn't mellowed in his old age, directs and acts with gusto, relishing every nasty moment with sadistic glee, presenting every act in lurid gruesome detail, and throwing in some mind-bending surrealism for good measure. Shocking hellish visions; an endless parade of scared, naked women, broken, humiliated and ravished by Marins' perverse madman; whipping, flaying, branding, gouging, and scalping: the violence on display is depraved and extremely graphic, made all the more unsettling by the very probable use of performers for whom body modification and pain are no strangers; when hooks are inserted into a man's back before he is hoisted into the air, it looks all too real, as does a later scene in which a woman's lips are sewn shut! To be honest, I still can't believe I bought this film on DVD from my local car-boot sale (they looked like such ordinary, decent folk as well...).

Embodiment of Evil is the third in José Mojica Marins' Coffin Joe / Zé do Caixão trilogy. In them all Marins plays the said anti-hero who is an atheist grave-digger who antagonises the folks who live around him. In the first two movies his antics were restricted to a small village but in this latest instalment he his released from prison and immediately starts wreaking havoc in São Paulo. So the scope does seem to be a little bit wider and the budget does seem to be noticeably larger. I am guessing that cinema fashion had finally found Coffin Joe's type of movie in vogue in 2008. In the past ten years or so there has been an increase in horror films that focus on sadism and torture. Well, it has to be said that this was precisely the kind of thing Marins was doing in his Coffin Joe films back in the 60's. So the resurrection of the character forty years later sort of makes sense.The first two films in the trilogy were At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964) and This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967). Both were pretty extreme for their time in terms of sadism but both also were generally pretty weird with elements of surrealism thrown in for good measure. With Embodiment of Evil there is no way on Earth you could say that Marins has mellowed out. In fact, this latest instalment is up there with all the latest sadistic horror films in terms of sheer grotesque depravity and excess. However, what sets it apart from most of those is the demented imagination on display. In amongst the sadism is a twisted imagination and many striking visual moments. It wouldn't be a Marins movie without this. So, in the end, this is a very worthwhile end to the trilogy and one that will certainly be appreciated by Coffin Joe aficionados as well as those who like the more visceral side of the horror genre.

I've read through these comments and it seems that most of them are from viewers who haven't seen Coffin Joe's previous movies or from those who aren't fans of his. I've been a Coffin Joe fan for many years, and this film was exactly what I was hoping it would be. Yes, it's hard to follow, certainly corny, vile and disgusting and not very well acted - but THAT'S what Coffin Joe movies are about. The first two films of this trilogy, "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul" and "This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse" are shown in flashbacks here and help to show new viewers what Coffin Joe is about - evil, depravity and a total lack of remorse for who he is. The first two films of this trilogy were made with a very low budget and I was happy to see that given a larger budget for Embodiment of Evil, Jose Mojica Marrins did not stray far from the crude feel of his previous films. Embodiment of Evil manages to include everything that Coffin Joe movies represent, from a supernatural element, nightmarish scenarios, extreme violence, plenty of crawly critters and long ego maniacal rants from Coffin Joe to cackling witches. To Me, it's perfect. This film is definitely NOT for the faint of heart and not everyone will enjoy it. But for Coffin Joe fans who dig a corny, poorly acted and totally gross film on a rainy Sunday - DEFINITELY SEE IT!!!

I expect to watch a good terror movie. But all I saw was a good Zé do Caixão movie. After all this years, its the last and third movie, the final end.It seems it was just made for fans who love to say "hey, I'm a Coffin Joe's fan!!" Also, was a body piercing studio the main sponsor? Because piercing is not that scary, dear "modified-people"...The dialogs don't make much sense and after all them you'll probably forget about the plot. Well... they make sense... enough for you laugh of the poetry attempt.Much blood, scars, a cool opening video and insects. I didn't get scared, I get bored.