I was initially excited to see The Curse of La Llorona. The last time I saw a horror flick that revolved around Mexican folklore was Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, and that was surprisingly good. I enjoy when genre movies take folklore and urban legends and try and translate that to film. Most of the time it ends up being trash though, and there are very few that actually succeed in adapting the story to make a watchable movie. Krampus for instance is one of the few in recent memory that was made well. Unfortunately, La Llorona should’ve stayed in the text medium, because this flick was downright disappointing.
The tale of La Llorona revolves around a mother who was blinded by revenge. She realized her husband was going to leave her for a younger woman and decided to take what was most precious to him— his two sons. Upon realizing what she had done, she fell into a pit of despair and eventually drowned herself. Now this woman, dubbed La Llorona, or Weeping Woman, is set to forever walk the land of the living looking for her children, who usually end up being not her children but someone else’s.
This movie was a letdown. I wasn’t expecting The Conjuring, but with an R-rating I had some type of hope that I would be watching something interesting. Boy, was I wrong. The only reason this movie is rated R is because of the death of some children. In horror when children are involved in the body count, everyone at the ratings board gets all nervous and immediately stamps an R on the film. This was not an R movie. This movie felt PG-13 at best. If you’re already offing little kids, just go all the way and give the audience some crazy shit they can’t unsee. The filmmakers didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to kick it up a notch and that’s the downfall of this movie. It’s a shame because the acting was decent enough that it would’ve been able to support some crazy plot twists or a deeper, more intense story.
This movie was a letdown. I wasn’t expecting The Conjuring, but with an R-rating I had some type of hope that I would be watching something interesting. Boy, was I wrong. The only reason this movie is rated R is because of the death of some children. In horror when children are involved in the body count, everyone at the ratings board gets all nervous and immediately stamps an R on the film. This was not an R movie. This movie felt PG-13 at best. If you’re already offing little kids, just go all the way and give the audience some crazy shit they can’t unsee. The filmmakers didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to kick it up a notch and that’s the downfall of this movie. It’s a shame because the acting was decent enough that it would’ve been able to support some crazy plot twists or a deeper, more intense story.
The only upside to this movie was the antagonist’s makeup design. She had an awesome creep factor that carried the entire movie. The filmmakers made a point to showcase the face of La Llorona—and honestly, it was all they had going for them. Aside from the villain’s face, the film primarily depended on jump scares and a couple of broken mirrors to convey terror. Welcome to amateur hour.
This flick was not good. I wouldn’t even bother watching this at home for free. They had opportunities to get the ship on the right course, but instead they put down the anchors and decided to let themselves float in the vast nothingness until the credits rolled. It’s unfortunate this movie is part of The Conjuring universe. No other movie in this “universe” has been able to live up to the initial big bang, The Conjuring, and I doubt any will come close. //Arturo Padilla
This flick was not good. I wouldn’t even bother watching this at home for free. They had opportunities to get the ship on the right course, but instead they put down the anchors and decided to let themselves float in the vast nothingness until the credits rolled. It’s unfortunate this movie is part of The Conjuring universe. No other movie in this “universe” has been able to live up to the initial big bang, The Conjuring, and I doubt any will come close. //Arturo Padilla
