The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures
Encyclopedia
The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures (original title: Estranha Hospedaria dos Prazeres) is a 1976 Brazilian film by Brazilian horror film
director José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego
Zé do Caixão (in English, Coffin Joe). The film features Coffin Joe as the main character, although it is not part of the "Coffin Joe trilogy" (At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
, This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse, and Embodiment of Evil
).
. The coffin opens and a man rises. He appears with a top hat, cape, and long fingernails.
In an isolated inn called "Hospedaria dos Prazeres" (Hostel of Pleasures), the mysterious proprietor advertises for employees to serve his guests while they stay the night of a tempestuous storm. As the storm gathers and night falls, various people begin to show up. The proprietor (Marins) allows some to stay while informing others that there are no vacancies, to their obvious displeasure because of the severity of the storm. A wealthy patron who is turned away vows to get the police. The guest book is already filled with the names of the permitted guests before they arrive; they include a group of drunken and promiscuous bohemian
motorcyclists, an adulterous couple, a suicidal man, an amorous couple, a group of thieves who just finished a robbery, and some gambling businessmen preparing a deal to bankrupt a competitor. The number of guests is twelve.
As the night passes, the guests continue with their assorted activities. In the early morning, they all notice that their watches all display midnight and wonder how time has stopped. When they question the proprietor, they are all presented with gruesome scenes of their dead bodies, revealing that their deaths occurred prior to midnight in the storm. The motorcyclists are shown as dead and mutilated victims of a massive drunk-driving accident. The thieves are shown shot dead by police after the robbery. The corrupt businessmen are charred victims of arson
. The proprietor informs them that the clocks all turning to midnight was part of their eternal torment, as the absence of time is one of the key aspects of their punishment. The proprietor then warns the guest not to anger him, as it would unleash his dark side (the Coffin Joe-esque figure scene at the start of the film).
The scene switches to daytime, and the wealthy man returns to the site of the hostel with the police. Rather than the hostel, there is a cemetery with a funeral in progress. Laughing off the incident as confusion, the man and police leave. The coffin is the same from which the hostel proprietor rises at the beginning of the film. The movie itself ends with the proprietor walking in the graveyard. He ultimately turns to the camera as the image shifts quickly to a skull wearing the same hat as the proprietor. As blood flows from the empty eye sockets, the film ends.
as a favor to the busy Marins, although Marins maintained control over certain scenes. The film was produced on a low budget and is filmed in that style, which at that time in Brazilian cinema was known as Boca do Lixo, or Mouth of Garbage Cinema
. The film features simple yet gruesome visual and audio effects. The audio track consists of bizarre stock sound clips, surreal noises, screams and vocal utterances.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
director José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
Zé do Caixão (in English, Coffin Joe). The film features Coffin Joe as the main character, although it is not part of the "Coffin Joe trilogy" (At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul is a 1963 Brazilian horror film, by filmmaker/actor José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his created alter ego Coffin Joe . It is also Brazil's first horror film, and it marks the first appearance of Marins' character Zé do Caixão...
, This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse, and Embodiment of Evil
Embodiment of Evil
Embodiment of Evil is a 2008 Brazilian horror film by Brazilian film director José Mojica Marins. Marins is also known by his alter ego Zé do Caixão . It is the third installment of his Coffin Joe trilogy...
).
Plot
The film opens with a surreal sequence of dancing women, monkey-like figures fearing lightning, and native Brazilian drummers. An old man begins chanting over a closed coffinCoffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
. The coffin opens and a man rises. He appears with a top hat, cape, and long fingernails.
In an isolated inn called "Hospedaria dos Prazeres" (Hostel of Pleasures), the mysterious proprietor advertises for employees to serve his guests while they stay the night of a tempestuous storm. As the storm gathers and night falls, various people begin to show up. The proprietor (Marins) allows some to stay while informing others that there are no vacancies, to their obvious displeasure because of the severity of the storm. A wealthy patron who is turned away vows to get the police. The guest book is already filled with the names of the permitted guests before they arrive; they include a group of drunken and promiscuous bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
motorcyclists, an adulterous couple, a suicidal man, an amorous couple, a group of thieves who just finished a robbery, and some gambling businessmen preparing a deal to bankrupt a competitor. The number of guests is twelve.
As the night passes, the guests continue with their assorted activities. In the early morning, they all notice that their watches all display midnight and wonder how time has stopped. When they question the proprietor, they are all presented with gruesome scenes of their dead bodies, revealing that their deaths occurred prior to midnight in the storm. The motorcyclists are shown as dead and mutilated victims of a massive drunk-driving accident. The thieves are shown shot dead by police after the robbery. The corrupt businessmen are charred victims of arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
. The proprietor informs them that the clocks all turning to midnight was part of their eternal torment, as the absence of time is one of the key aspects of their punishment. The proprietor then warns the guest not to anger him, as it would unleash his dark side (the Coffin Joe-esque figure scene at the start of the film).
The scene switches to daytime, and the wealthy man returns to the site of the hostel with the police. Rather than the hostel, there is a cemetery with a funeral in progress. Laughing off the incident as confusion, the man and police leave. The coffin is the same from which the hostel proprietor rises at the beginning of the film. The movie itself ends with the proprietor walking in the graveyard. He ultimately turns to the camera as the image shifts quickly to a skull wearing the same hat as the proprietor. As blood flows from the empty eye sockets, the film ends.
Cast
- Jose Mojica Marins
- Rosalvo Hunter
- Marizeth Baumgartem
- Luzia Zaracausca
- Alfredo de Almeida
- Enirciley Nunes
- David Hungarian
- Jorge Peres
- Giulio Aurichio
- Maria Helena
Production
The film was written by Marins and the bulk of the film directed by Marcelo MottaMarcelo Ramos Motta
Marcelo Ramos Motta was a Thelemic writer from Brazil, and member of A∴A∴.Early life=Motta was born at the city of Rio de Janeiro . Very little is known about his childhood, only that he was born into a family with Swiss-German ancestry and received a very strict education, amplified by his...
as a favor to the busy Marins, although Marins maintained control over certain scenes. The film was produced on a low budget and is filmed in that style, which at that time in Brazilian cinema was known as Boca do Lixo, or Mouth of Garbage Cinema
Mouth of Garbage Cinema
Garbage Mouth film is the collective name for a film genre associated with the Boca do Lixo area of São Paulo, Brazil. On par with Italian giallo and American slasher films, films of this genre are exploitational and often considered B movies...
. The film features simple yet gruesome visual and audio effects. The audio track consists of bizarre stock sound clips, surreal noises, screams and vocal utterances.