The Conjuring universe is getting quite crowded, but hey … there is always room for more. That is especially true when it comes to horror movies that come from the creative genius that is producer (and often director) James Wan. The latest installment, The Curse of La Llorona, is out now on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download formats and is a solid, entertaining and often frightening addition to conjure some scares.
The film brings the iconic Latin America legend to the big screen in the most original of horror films from first-time helmer Michael Chaves. The Curse of La Llorona stars the only person who can steal scenes from both Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen and Oscar winner Mahershala Ali in Green Book, the one and only Linda Cardellini. She is joined by Raymond Cruz, Patricia Velasquez, Marisol Ramirez, Sean Patrick Thomas and Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen.
The film takes place in 1973 Los Angeles, and major kudos to the production design team because the aesthetics of the sets and locales is top notch and could not feel more reflective of that unique era and city. The story follows Anna Tate-Garcia (Cardellini). She’s a social worker who is keeping a close eye on several cases, one in particular that has had the most unusual and horrorific of outcomes. She is also a widow and as such, a single mom, who is doing her best for her charges, her kids—all while attempting to come to grips with the sudden death of her soulmate.
So, about that mysterious case of hers. Anna finds herself at the home of Patricia Alvarez (Velasquez). Alvarez’s two sons are locked away in their rooms, refusing to come out. The social worker believes that the sons’ refusal to emerge from their rooms is a sign that their mother (or someone in the house) is abusing them. That is not the case, we the audience know better as it is an evil spirit who preys on young children and it is their mother that is in fact, protecting them. Anna is about to unleash the worst possible outcome for the kids when she has the mother removed for a psych evaluation, leaving them vulnerable to that evil spirit of the title.
When the kids’ bodies are removed from the river, Patricia firmly blames Anna. Devastated, the social worker is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, regardless of the cost and who thinks she’s crazy. Helping her is a former priest named Rafael Olvera (Cruz). It if seems like he’s been preparing for this fight his whole life, it is because he has been. She could not have sought help from a better soul (pun intended).
The film is a fun ride, but it doesn’t quite ramp up the scares that previous Conjuring movies. Fans of the franchise will delight in the period piece and many other aspects of the feature, just don’t expect to be as terrified as other installments. For more on the film itself, check out my theatrical The Curse of La Llorona review.
When it comes to bonus features on The Curse of La Llorona, one must start with The Myth of La Llorona. The insightful, albeit too short at just over two minutes, featurette traces back to the original legend of the titular spirit. It spotlights the Mexican folklore legend and gets the cast’s take on it, whether they grew up hearing about it and how it influenced their performances.
Behind the Curse is a solid 10-minute behind-the-scenes true making-of look at how the film was put together. My big takeaway was how the cast felt it was a respectful look at La Llorona legend and Mexican culture and how there are too few of these films being made. One could truly feel the love everyone felt being part of such an important movie for Latino moviegoers and their culture as a whole.
Meanwhile, The Making of a Movie Monster is a six-minute study in how actress Marisol Ramirez was completely morphed into La Llorona. It adds layers to our appreciation of her performance as one can truly get a crystal clear picture at the difficulty it must have been to get into make-up and costume and then have to deliver the thrills on cue for the length of the entire film shoot. Impressive stuff.
There are also some deleted scenes, which are interesting enough in how they give us an insight into the mental thought process of the director in terms of what to include and what to cut. Lastly, the inclusion of the storyboards is awesome. I always adore when a film strips away all the effects, make-up and costumes and allows us to see, first-hand, the artistic vision of the filmmakers long before any of it comes together. I wish more movies included this with their bonus features.
Film Grade: B-
Bonus Features: B