Initially, I thought I was the first person to write a review for this film--but then I realized it seems to be listed twice on IMDb! Ze do Caixao is, of course, no longer a secret in the Anglophone world, and a number of his films have had Region 1 DVD releases. Here's one that hasn't yet...and it's pretty darn good. Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures features many of the elements you expect from a Jose Mojica Marins production: portentous philosophical musings, naked or semi-naked women, crude special effects, not much plot (though more than in some other Ze do Caixao features), dissonant music, spiders, and lots of the man himself--Coffin Joe--here in a bowler hat for a change! This time the bearded one is hiring people to work for him as receptionists at his fully-booked Strange Hostel--and you can bet they get much more than a pay cheque and a free continental breakfast for their troubles. When hippies ripe for an orgy and a trio of corrupt businessmen check in, sanity checks out--and (in scenes reminiscent of Finis Hominis) the man with the curly fingernails soon looses his wrath on the amoral louts. Beware the eyes that hypnotize!
