The Latino folklore haunt comes to the big screen in the latest from Newline Horror.
The legend of La Llorona, the weeping woman, is something of a Mexican banshee tale. La Llorona is a ghost of a woman cursed to weep for her children who she drowned in a fit of jealous rage. Those who witness La Llorona are cursed to bad luck, and if you’re kids… look out, for she may just try and drown you like she did to her own. James Wan is dipping into producing Latino lore now, with his latest production of The Curse of La Llorona, which rather quietly slipped through the festival circuit. It made a decent splash at San Diego Comicon, the movie is beginning to garner some notice.
This movie is spinning the story of a social service worker (Linda Cardellini) and her two children who are unfortunate enough to have stumbled across the ghost at a site of a traffic accident. What caused the accident, why, none other than our titular ghost! Kids really shouldn’t be so curious, should they? When mom says “Stay in the car!”, she means it! The build-up of suspense and dread in this trailer was incredibly well crafted, and the car scene is pure panic attack material. The two kids, Roman Christou and Jaynee Lynne-Kinchen really sell the scene.
I’m hoping that Wan is back in form, and what we get is more The Conjuring and less The Nun. Is it jump scare dependent? Yes. Do the jump scares seem appropriate to the material? Yes.
I’m glad to see a Latino director getting into the horror genre, and if Michael Chaves managed to make a movie that lives up to the trailer this could be a treat. The Curse of La Llorona is due for an April 19 release, and does not yet have a rating.
So, Scariest Crew… is it worth seeing?
ERIC:
The trailer is fantastic, and the material seems fresh and new. I’m wondering whether they’ll go the full Rated R for this picture, as children are such a key focus of the tale. I’d prefer an R-rated horror film, but something about this says that this is going to be a little more mainstream than indie. It’s Newline, so it will look fantastic but might be a bit thin. I’m cautiously optimistic about this one but want to know a little more before I invest in a theatrical visit. If it succeeds, it’s Candyman. If it fails, it’s The Forest.
MIKE:
¡Guauu! ¡Plátanos sagrados esto da miedo! Cuando un susto de salto en realidad me asusta y me hace saltar, estoy vendido. ¿Me parece interesante que esto también parece ser una pieza de época? 1960 tal vez. También estoy intrigado por el casting de Linda Cardellini, también conocida como Velma de la fama de Scooby Doo. Por último, también me pregunto si este es el recuento de una película de 1933, La mujer que llora – La Llorona. Compraré un boleto!
ROBERT:
Legends from other cultures are fascinating and this one’s no different. The first movie I could find based on this legend is the 1960 La Llorona, which tells the whole legend as it began in the 16th century so this lady’s been crying for some time now. Looks like the “mockbuster” cruë has already gotten its claws in this one so I’ll be skipping the 2018 Danny Trejo vehicle, La Llorona — not that I don’t love cuddly ol’ Danny. My eyeballs will be glued to the screen for Chaves’ The Curse of La Llorona, though. Seguro!