The Curse of La Llorona Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 1.75/5

The Curse of La Llorona is the latest entry into “The Conjuring Universe”, though this one is thinly connected compared to the others like Annabelle and The Nun, both were introduced prior. I’m not overly familiar with the Mexican-inspired tale but it seems like it could be creepy. Unfortunately the movie is just one long jump scare, filled with horror cliché after horror cliché, characters making stupid decisions and an entity with an inconsistent set of rule.

The story involves someone known only as “The Weeping Woman” who, centuries earlier, had murdered her children and now apparently roams the area looking for two children to replace her own. The movie is set in 1973, which I found odd but discover later why (it’s connected with the Annabelle spin-off), where we meet caseworker Anna Tate-Garcia (LINDA CARDELLINI) investigating the apparent abuse of two children, found locked inside a closet by their demented mother.

When the children are placed into protective custody, the Weeping Woman comes a-calling and later they are found dead, having been drowned. For some odd reason, this caseworker is called to the scene in the middle of the night and, of course, she brings her son and daughter. Why? Because… plot. Of course, the boy gets out to check it out, having a fascination for police like his deceased father, and then encounters the Weeping Woman who jump scars him and leaves a welting mark on his arm, I guess her signature, or something.

You can probably guess what happens from here. Now that her son is marked, and soon later her daughter as well, Anna seeks help first from a Catholic father (TONY AMENDOLA) who serves to dish out some exposition on the Weeping Woman, but can’t help further without running afoul of the Church, but points her to the way of Rafael Olvera (RAYMOND CRUZ), an ex-priest now working in the paranormal realm. Now the Weeping Woman is bound to get Anna’s children the only things stopping her are… doors. Sometimes. And to be honest, not really sure why she haunts and scares them so much, not as if she’s attempting to weaken their spirit to take possession…

The Curse of La Llorona is a frustrating film. It’s a lazy supernatural-horror movie that doesn’t break any sort of new ground in the genre, but worse, it’s not all that interesting of a movie and serves only to add another pointless chapter into the Conjuring Universe, and a poor one alongside The Nun and Annabelle (I did find Annabelle: Creation to be okay, but also heavily relied on the jump scare).

Performance wise, the acting was fine. It’s nice to see both Linda Cardellini and Raymond Cruz in leading roles and even the child actors weren’t terrible, never coming across overly precocious, a trait that’s one of my pet peeves. I’ll also briefly mention Marisol Ramirez, the actress playing the Weeping Woman, when you’re caked underneath layers of make-up, not hard to scare the easily frightened, but in her interviews, kind of wish she gets more future opportunities.

The Curse of La Llorona was directed by Michael Chaves, marking his debut (not off to a great start) and also got tapped to also direct The Conjuring 3, I can only hope he tones down the jump scares, but unfortunately that seems to be the go-to for many young filmmakers in the supernatural-horror realm, gone are the days of the slow build creepiness (a la The Exorcist or even a film I wasn’t a complete fan of, The Witch, but can appreciate its leisure pacing.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5

This release comes with a slip cover and a Digital HD redemption code.

The Myth of La Llorona (2:29) goes into the history behind the legend. Contains sound bites with Raymond Cruz, Tony Amendola, Patricia Velasquez and Marisol Ramirez.

Behind the Curse (9:43) is a behind-the-scenes featurette with on-set footage and interviews with the cast and crew.

The Making of a Movie Monster (5:53) is on the development and make-up of the La Llorona character and the actress, Marisol Ramirez, portraying her.

Deleted Scenes (11:10) – Six scenes either were cut or trimmed down for one reason or another, though likely due to pacing issues as none added to either the story or characters.

Last up are some Storyboards Comparisons (17:32).

VIDEO – 4.5/5

AUDIO – 4.75/5

OVERALL – 2.5/5

I suppose it’s a good thing that I went into watching The Curse of La Llorona with zero expectations and even then, the movie couldn’t even measure up to that low standard where the biggest problem really isn’t the acting or even the story, which at its core is interesting, but instead some clichéd and lazy filmmaking where the filmmakers relied too heavily on the jump-scares, kind of makes me nervous for The Conjuring 3… This Blu-ray release offers up great video and audio transfers with a so-so collection of bonus material.