The Awakening of the Beast
- Year: 1970
- Country of origin: Brazil
- Genre: Drama, Horror
- Director: José Mojica Marins
- Length: 93 min
Film Synopsis
A self-styled psychiatrist assembles a panel of doctors to present supposed LSD-fueled experiments, using real drug addicts as volunteers in a pseudo-documentary setup. As the film shifts from black-and-white into vivid, hallucinatory color, each subject recounts surreal visions of sex, violence, and perversion under the looming presence of Coffin Joe. The twist reveals no drugs were administered—the horrors were a product of suggestion—turning the critique of drug hysteria into a surreal exploration of mass delusion.
The Awakening of the Beast Blu-ray & DVD editions
See which disc extras are included across selected editions.
| Disc Extras | Arrow BD-ALL/US 2024 | Fantoma DVD-1/US/OOP 2001 | Mondo Macabro DVD-2 PAL/UK/OOP 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audio Commentary by Actor/Director/Writer José Mojica Marins, Paulo Duarte and Carlos Primati | |||
| A Woman for Joe: The Gender Politics of Coffin Joe - Video Essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas | |||
| The Making of “Awakening of the Beast” - Interview with Actor/Director/Writer José Mojica Marins | |||
| The Strange Mind of Coffin Joe - Interview with Guy Adams | |||
| Alternate Brazilian Opening Title Sequence | |||
| Mondo Macabro: “The Nightmares of Coffin Joe” | |||
| Biography: Actor/Director/Writer José Mojica Marins | |||
| Theatrical Trailer |
Edition and Packaging Notes
- Arrow’s Blu-ray is included the “Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe” box set with At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (1964), This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse (1967), The Strange World of Coffin Joe (1968), The End of Man (1971), When the Gods Fall Asleep (1972), The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures (1976), Hellish Flesh (1977), Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind (1978) and Embodiment of Evil (2008). It includes a booklet with writing by Kyle Anderson, Tim Lucas, Carlos Primati, Jerome Reuter, Paula Sacramento, and Amy Voorhees Searles; a double-sided fold-out poster; and 12 art cards.
- Fantoma’s DVD includes a 4-page booklet with writing by André Barcinski and a 36-page comic book (“Magia Negra”). It is also available in the “Coffin Joe Trilogy” box set with At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (1964) and This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse (1967).
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