A Quinta Dimensão do Sexo

José Mojica Marins is not the first master of horror to descend (or rather, ascend) into the underbelly of the pornographic world. Just like Joe D'Amato, Marins has created masterpieces and among them, there is smut. A Quinta Dimensão do Sexo (Fifth Dimension of Sex) is a bold new direction for the beloved director of films that exist on a plane of existence beyond genres.


Fifth Dimension of Sex involves two chemistry students (who i will dub Gomez and Pedro.) These two students are having trouble with women. Using the gifts of science and research, they create a serum that causes them to become crazed rapists. This plot seems very close to El Violador Infernal; a film that concerns a sleazy Mexican as he rapes men & women alike to please Satan.

If the Fifth Dimension of Sex had to be recognized for one thing, it would be an appearance by Zé do Caixão. Coffin Joe is the world's foremost Boogeyman. I cannot think of any single man, creature, or entity as sinister and intelligent as the Joe of the Coffin. This is the first hardcore sex film Marins has filmed. The following grotesque sexual horrors he filmed are 24 Hours of Explicit Sex and 48 Hours of Hallucinatory Sex.

The very fact that this film is a pornographic video is enough to drive anyone either away or draw them in. Mostly, drawing them into this film in search of something "hot." This will never be the case. Marins captures the very lustful aura around sex on camera. The rarity of this happening can be compared to capturing a specter on film. The very ways he captures the eyes and expressions in mid-coitus is something of an animalistic majesty.


The fact that this is a very dated and obscure piece of smut doesn't make it easy to come by. Marins shouldn't hide from his XXX background and embrace it. If he were still making material like this, he could grab perverts and arthouse fans at the same time. Tapping in different markets could be very profitable and lead to more Zé do Caixão films. When Awakening of the Beast was made, the Military Regime had it banned for nearly 20 years. Something like that makes me wonder about their reaction to his adult films.

This film doesn't have the normal uncompromising positions of it's time period. Instead, we have urination and penetration with a giant artificial penis which in turn rips her open. Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of this film, even more bizarre than the idea of a Coffin Joe porn, is its subversive homosexual undertones. As soon as these raving sex fiends begin to cool off, they reveal a slight queer side to them, leading to the first homosexual kiss on Brazilian cinema. The same goes the first inter-species erotica scene in 24 Hours of Explicit Sex.

José Mojica Marins invented horror. No timeline or piece of cinema literature will convince me otherwise. He invented the abstract homo-surrealism. Nobody may have seen it, but it lies within his mind. Coffin Joe is a brand you can trust.

-mAQ