‘She wants your children’
The Curse of La Llorona is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Michael Chaves (The Maiden short) from a screenplay by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis (Sleep Tight). It was co-produced by James Wan (The Nun; The Conjuring; Insidious; Saw; et al), Gary Dauberman and Emile Gladstone.
The title refers to La Llorona, the “Crying Woman” from Mexican folklore.
The Atomic Monster/New Line Cinema production stars Linda Cardellini, Patricia Velasquez, Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, Roman Christou, and Sean Patrick Thomas.
Plot:
“La Llorona. The Weeping Woman. A horrifying apparition, caught between Heaven and Hell, trapped in a terrible fate sealed by her own hand. The mere mention of her name has struck terror around the world for generations.
In life, she drowned her children in a jealous rage, throwing herself in the churning river after them as she wept in pain. Now her tears are eternal. They are lethal, and those who hear her death call in the night are doomed. La Llorona creeps in the shadows and preys on the children, desperate to replace her own. As the centuries have passed, her desire has grown more voracious…and her methods more terrifying.
In 1970s Los Angeles, La Llorona is stalking the night—and the children. Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother suspected of child endangerment, a social worker and her own small kids are soon drawn into a frightening supernatural realm. Their only hope to survive La Llorona’s deadly wrath may be a disillusioned priest and the mysticism he practices to keep evil at bay, on the fringes where fear and faith collide.
Beware of her chilling wail… she will stop at nothing to lure you into the gloom. Because there is no peace for her anguish. There is no mercy for her soul. And there is no escape from the curse of La Llorona.”
Reviews:
“It feels more like a dry run for Chaves before taking on The Conjuring 3 than a fully realized film, with him playing around with tracking shots and long takes in an effort to give it some style. Even still, this is barely passable horror entertainment at best, with it a fairly bland outing that’s only for younger audiences.” Arrow in the Head
“The Curse of La Llorona excels at being an intimate, spooky haunted house tale. With a slightly different aesthetic, it still feels right at home in the Conjuring universe. For those completely unfamiliar with La Llorona, Chaves delivers a basic crash course that gives a tease of just how scary the tales of her have been over generations.” Bloody Disgusting
“La Llorona has slightly more substance to her origin than Valak at least, even though both are hollow vessels for facilitating textbook frights. I’m not sure what sense it makes for a paranormal ghost to be bound by laws of physics when it comes to opening doors, but that’s the level of logic you get in a movie like this.” Culture Crypt
” …it hits more than a few familiar beats for those of us who eat, sleep, and breathe horror. But there is a moment when screenwriters Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis push their narrative into a very surprising direction […] I also must tip my hat to cinematographer Michael Burgess, whose camerawork is absolutely incredible…” Daily Dead
“The Curse of La Llorona initially struggles at distinguishing itself from its peers in the Conjuring stable, with its familiar veiled phantom, but there’s enough of a hook to keep you invested. Linda Cardellini is characteristically excellent value and the finale is a rollercoaster so jump scares be damned, The Curse of La Llorona just about works.” Den of Geek!
” …once the script (by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis) moves viewers into 1970s LA the film grows decidedly less scary and endlessly predictable. Jump scares are frequent and repeatedly telegraphed well in advance through the script’s setup and the director’s staging.” Film School Rejects
” …the ghost — a yellow-eyed creep weeping icky black tears and wearing a wedding dress — does start haunting Sam and Chris, moving through their nighttime environs in a series of cheap jump-scares. The pic relies so heavily on these “boo!” moments that, midway through, the viewer protected by shamanistic magic stopped even experiencing a reflexive twitch when they occurred.” The Hollywood Reporter
” …even though it basically copied some of the classic horror movies like Poltergeist, it forgot to copy the most important aspects of those movies: their characters. In theory, The Curse of La Llorona could have been a fantastic horror movie if it included characters that we could have connected to. Unfortunately, the only real characteristic that existed for the movie’s protagonist Anna (Linda Cardellini)…” Movie Web
” …it’s the same old creeping through dark rooms without turning the lights on, creaking doors (this movie could be retitled The House of Unoiled Hinges), objects moving on their own, stock dialogue and La Llorona suddenly appearing in odd portions of the frame—a gambit done far better in the Conjuring duo.” Rue Morgue
“In everything it does, The Curse of La Llorona is predictable as hell, every gag is telegraphed well in advance, and if you think the ghost is gonna do a thing, you can bet your ass she’s gonna do that thing, and exactly when you think she will. It is lazy filmmaking, it is disrespectful of the culture […] and it’s an unnecessarily wasted opportunity to bring a real new flavor to the screen.” Screen Anarchy
” …everything’s just so half-baked and lazy here, the direction and especially the storytelling. It seems as if The Curse of La Llorona was broken from its very inception, because instead of starting with “Wouldn’t it be cool if we told a story about La Llorona,” the producers asked, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we sneaked another movie into the Conjuring universe?” /Film
“First-time feature director Michael Chaves is a great deal short of subtle while, as regularly as clockwork, he utilizes La Llorona […] to provide the jarring pay-off for slow-build scenes featuring sudden gusts of wind, slamming doors and windows, and portentous shots of dripping faucets, unwinding car-window handles, and a backyard swimming pool that appears roughly the size of Rhode Island.” Variety
Release:
The Curse of La Llorona was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 19, 2019.
The Curse of La Llorona was released by Warner Bros. on July 16, 2019 in high definition and standard definition from select digital retailers including Amazon, FandangoNOW, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others.
On August 6th, The Curse of La Llorona was made available digitally on Video On Demand (VOD) services from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.
Also on August 6th, there is a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital combo disc release on August 6th. Special features:
The Myth of La Llorona
Behind the Curse
The Making of a Movie Monster
Deleted Scenes
Storyboards
Box office:
The Curse of La Llorona took $121,586,724 worldwide on a reported budget of $9 million.
Production:
Principal photography wrapped in November 2017.
Film Facts:
The movie was formerly known as The Children.
