Review of The Curse of La Llorona (2019) by Davrosdaleks1 — 19 Apr 2019

La Llorona, based on the Mexican folktale about a ghost who drowns children, is about a seventies case worker (played by Linda Cardellini) trying to protect her children (played by Roman Christou and Jaynee-Lynn Kinchen) from the titular ghost (played by Marisol Ramirez). Though it picks up in the last act, this movie is rather dull.

Beginning exhibition is stilted. Most of the characters aren't interesting, including Cardellini's character and I usually like her work. This is a Conjuring-verse movie. The franchise has done a wonderful job with child characters and actors. Until now. When the horrible stuff starts happening, the kids are just so frustratingly unresponsive to the events around them for a good portion of the film. Only Tony Amendola as a priest has a lively performance and it's a bit part.

Movie isn't really scary. Frights are predictable and often uninteresting. La llorona is a very basic ghost character and there isn't much visually interesting about her. I do give credit to whoever worked on her dress. It shifts from white to dirty black really nicely. This is how much I was bored, I was noticing color gradients.

There are a few nice shots, but on a whole the cinematography is uninteresting, not to mention the lighting. This is director Michael Chaves' first feature film and it shows. It's not so much a case of being a bad director than an inexperienced one.

The reason I'm not giving this a lower rating is that the final act and confrontation with La Llorona is directed a little better and a little fun at times. Raymond Cruz shows up as a healer and he has the only funny lines in the film. His methods to deal with the ghost are kind of interesting including a fun scene involving eggs. There is a transition shot that stands out because it's the best in the film.

Overall in the Conjure-verse rankings, I'd put this above Annabelle and below the rest. If you're a franchise completionist, knock yourself out. I wouldn't say there is anything strong enough to deter you. As for everyone else, there are stronger horror films out there.