News
[R.I.P.] Brazilian Master of Horror José Mojica Marins Has Passed Away
Best known for creating and playing the popular character Coffin Joe, Brazil’s first horror icon, filmmaker/actor José Mojica Marins has sadly passed away at the age of 83.
The Brazilian master of horror introduced Coffin Joe (Zé do Caixão) in 1964’s At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul, an undertaker who prowls the city in search of a female to bear him a son.
The character went on to become a cinema icon in Brazil, subsequently appearing in nine films including “Coffin Joe Trilogy” movies This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse and Embodiment of Evil. In 1974’s The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe, Marins put a meta twist on his own creation, playing both himself and the fictional character with a black top hat and long fingernails.
Coffin Joe has been referred to as “Brazil’s National Boogeyman” and “Brazil’s Freddy Krueger,” which should give you a good idea of how popular the character is in Brazil.
José Mojica Marins also directed the horror films Nightmare (1965), Awakening of the Beast (1970), Hellish Flesh (1977), and the segment “Viral” in The Profane Exhibit (2013).
Movies
McDonald’s No-Clips Out of Reality with Unexpected ‘Backrooms’ Short Movie
The best part about engaging with collaborative genre fiction on the internet is that anyone can get in on the action, with worldwide accessibility often resulting in absurd story beats that wouldn’t be possible if any single person was responsible for the entire narrative. And while Kane Parsons’ Backrooms film is definitely the young filmmaker’s own unique take on the infamous creepypasta, it’s fun to see other creators join the Backrooms sandbox now that the big screen adaptation is getting ready for a record-shattering opening weekend.
As if cleverly timed releases like Puppet Combo’s The Backrooms game weren’t enough (not to mention that Scary Movie poster poking fun at Parsons’ flick), McDonald’s official social media accounts have now released an analog horror video of their own celebrating the liminal terrors of the McRooms – complete with a familiar purple surprise at the end of the footage.
While it’s funny enough to see the world’s most recognizable Fast Food giant engage with internet-borne Found Footage thrills seemingly out of the blue, the video is actually referencing a long-running gag among the Backrooms fandom where creators jokingly talk about there being a fully functional McDonald’s restaurant hidden somewhere in level 0 of the infamous liminal labyrinth.
Now, would it be too much to hope for a moist-carpet-flavored McShake to tie in with the film?
Backrooms is now playing only in theaters from A24.


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