Continuing in the Conjuring Universe, although loosely I may add, The Curse of La Llorona is another of the movies in the series and this one is based on a timeless Hispanic legend that has been brought to life in the new movie. I checked it out last night at Cineworld in Broughton.
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 curandero, 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.
The Curse of La Llorona Fitting into the Conjuring Universe
The connection to the Conjuring Universe may not be obvious at first when the movie starts in the 17th century as we are given a quick look at the start of the La Llorona legend and the curse, jumping forward to 1973 a couple of years after the first Conjuring movie was set, we get to meet Anna (Linda Cardellini) a widow looking after her two children after her police officer husband was killed, life is a little hectic and her job doesn’t help.
After being called to the house of a woman (Patricia Velásquez) who seems to be in some distress, Anna discovers the children locked away and tries to help, which in turn unleashes La Llorona in Anna’s direction.
Anna meets Father Perez (Tony Amendola) and this is where the connection to the Conjuring Universe is made, we last saw him in Annabelle (2014), Father Perez tries to help and tells her about Rafael Olvera (Raymond Cruz), a faith healer that is the only one that can help her.
What we have with The Curse of La Llorona is a movie that use a lot of the horror techniques that we see so many times in movies these days that they have become a little tiresome, there are lots of moments with the loud bangs, creepy noises in the upstairs room etc.
The use of the jump scares is also something we see so much of and in this movie they are used several times, it’s not to say you won’t jump, well you may or may not depending on how much of a jumpy person you are, for me I never flinched once, maybe I’ve just got used to these types of movies now.
But there are some good uses of the dark shadow moments and putting you off guard moments, where you think something is there and it isn’t, the surround sound is also used to good effect for those obligatory bumps and bangs with all the speakers bouncing the sound around to good effect.
But what about the story? Well, to be honest, it’s pretty basic, spirit wants souls of the children to replace her own children that she killed in a fit of jealousy and won’t stop no matter how many she takes and that’s about it really.
The Curse of La Llorona is a change from the other movies in the Conjuring Universe and taking us away from the Warren’s but still keeping a character in there to keep it connected, probably not the best in the serious, but much better than 2014’s Annabelle.
Not the weakest in the Conjuring Universe!
Movie title: The Cure of La Llorona
Movie description: 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.
Date published: May 7, 2019
Director(s): Michael Chaves
Actor(s): Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, Patricia Velasquez
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
