‘When you hear her sing it’s too late to run’
The Curse of La Patasola is an American horror film about two struggling couples on a camping trip that are haunted by a legendary female creature.
Directed by actor AJ Jones (Lovecraft Country; Legends 2: A Halloween Tale; Alien Vengeance) – making his feature directorial debut – from a screenplay co-written with Shaun Mathis.
The Renegade Creative production stars Patrick R. Walker (You Might Be the Killer; Along Came the Devil; Stan Against Evil; Rings), Luciana Faulhaber (Methuselah; Don’t Look), Najah Bradley (Black Box), Gillie Jones, aforementioned AJ Jones and Mark Pettit. Produced by Gillie Jones (as Gillie Fitz).
Plot:
On a weekend camping trip, two struggling couples are haunted by La Patasola, an infamous vampiric female monster from Amazonian folklore, testing their relationships, morality, and their will to survive…
Background:
The Patasola or “one foot” is one of many myths in South American folklore about female monsters from the jungle, appearing to male hunters or loggers in the middle of the wilderness when they think about women.
The Patasola appears in the form of a beautiful and seductive woman, often in the likeness of a loved one, who lures a man away from his companions deep into the jungle. There, Patasola reveals her true, hideous appearance as a one-legged creature with ferocious vampire-like lust for human flesh and blood, attacking and devouring the flesh or sucking the blood of her victims.
Reviews:
“Nothing is ever shown and when it actually is, it is too dark to see anything. By the end, when the film is contradicting its own lore, it does not even matter. The movie will have already lost the audience.” AIPT
“La Patasola served as a cautionary tale for both men and women of the past to think twice before cheating on their spouses. However, by unearthing the legend and setting it in the modern-day, it can be used as a lens to view modern cultural issues […] the effects are passable, though I think there’s more merit in the scenes leading up to the big reveal.” Nightmare on Film Street
“Unfortunately it has next to no scares […] The creature is either kept off-screen or the scenes are too dark to make much out until the last few minutes, at which point you’ll understand why they kept it hidden. Instead, The Curse of La Patasola gives us nearly endless dialogue, mostly related to the couple’s relationship issues.” Voices from the Balcony
Release:
In the US, The Curse of La Patasola was released by Glass House Distribution theatrically in select locations and On-Demand on January 14th 2022.
Cast and characters:
Patrick R. Walker … James
Luciana Faulhaber … The Patasola
Najah Bradley … Naomi
Gillie Jones … Sarah (as Gillie Fitz)
AJ Jones … Daniel
Mark Pettit … Park Ranger
Filming locations:
Lake Louisa State Park, Clermont, Florida
Technical details:
1 hour 24 minutes
Original title:
La Patasola
Trailer:
MOVIES & MANIA says:
The Curse of La Patasola is more of a relationship drama, with lots of tiresome bickering between a foursome than a supernatural horror film. Some of the ‘rules’ relating to the mythical creature are confusingly handled, she takes a long time to appear and when it does the film is so poorly-lit it’s difficult to make out anything that’s happening. A classical chamber piece style score adds gravitas to the proceedings but hardly compensates for the lack of substance on screen.
