THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN (2019) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN (2019) movie

Genre              |   Horror Thriller

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   93 minutes

Released         |   18 April 2019

cast

Linda Cardellini ... Anna Garcia
Patricia Velasquez
Raymond Cruz
Tony Amendola ... Father Perez
Madeleine McGraw ... April
​Marisol Ramirez ... La Llorona

director

​Michael Chaves

writer

​Mikki Daughtry ... (written by) &
Tobias Iaconis ... (written by)

cinematographer

​Michael Burgess

music

​Joseph Bishara

film editor

Peter Gvozdas

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box office result

Worldwide               $​123,133,739

Australia                 $​1,600,000

North America        $​54,733,739

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movie minutiae

Tony Amendola, who portrayed Father Perez in ANNABELLE (2014), reprises this same role in this film.

​This is the second film in the Conjuring Universe to not feature or reference Ed and Lorraine Warren. It's also the first spin-off in the franchise to feature an antagonist who didn't appear in the main film series.

The film premiered at the South by Southwest film festinval on March 15, 2019.

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related movies

ANNABELLE (2014)

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN (2019) MOVIE IMAGES

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THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN (2019) STORY SYNOPSIS

​In 1970s Los Angeles, the legendary ghost La Llorona is stalking the night -- and the children. Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother, a social worker and her own kids are drawn into a frightening supernatural realm. Their only hope of surviving La Llorona's deadly wrath is a disillusioned priest who practices mysticism to keep evil at bay.

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 18 April 2019

Pop ​Movee Rating

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN continues the trend set by THE CONJURING 2, the ANNABELLE spin-offs and 2018’s THE NUN, with CONJURING Universe supremo James Wan indulging his affection for 1970s and 1980s Horror films such as THE EXORCIST and POLTERGEIST; both of which he has stated have had an undeniable influence upon his filmmaking ...

While Wan only serves as Producer on THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN and the story has no direct connection to the other films in the series, its DNA is certainly derived from the same wellspring as the five previous entries starting with THE CONJURING in 2013.

The film, its actual title THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA, is set in 1973 Los Angeles and is based on the Mexican folktale about a woman named Maria who, abandoned by her husband for a younger woman, takes her children to a nearby river and, consumed by rage, drowns them without realising what she is doing.

Upon coming to her senses, she is consumed by grief.

It is claimed that Maria spent days, possibly weeks, looking for her two boys, but she never found them. She herself was eventually found dead on the bank of the river…

Attempting to enter Heaven, Maria is questioned about the whereabouts of her children. Unable to deny what she has done, she is forced to roam the purgatorial plane in search of them to obtain peace in the Afterlife. Unable to do so, Maria can be heard by on the embankments of rivers and lakes crying “Oh, my children” in her native Mexican language…

Given the existing folktale, THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN is built from a pretty solid story premise.

The film is scripted by writing team Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis, whose only other credit is the recent teen romantic drama FIVE FEET APART (2019). That said, both Wan and Producer Gary Dauberman - the other creative mainstay of the franchise - have their fingerprints all over this story.

It also appears the pair have had a significant influence over the directing effort of the relatively inexperienced Michael Chaves.

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN feels very much like a cross between THE CONJURING 2 (2016) and the first ANNABELLE (2014) film, which, themselves, owe a great deal to the previously mentioned classics THE EXORCIST (1973) and POLTERGEIST (1982).

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN feels especially inspired by POLTERGEIST…

Maternalism is a common theme in many Horror films and it’s interesting that among the most successful films in the genre have this hard-coded into the narrative.

Chaves, under the guiding hand of his more senior production colleagues, makes the most of star Linda Cardellini, playing widower Anna Tate-Garcia who has been left to bring up two young children, Samantha (Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen) & Chris (Roman Christou), after the death of her Policeman husband in the line of duty.

As the spirit of La Llorna (Marisol Ramirez) attaches itself to the Tate-Garcia family, Cardellini’s Anna seems a little too oblivious to what’s going on. As a Social Worker, her failure to recognise that her own children have both unexplained physical and emotional trauma makes a bit of a mockery of her character. Fortunately, Anna is far stronger in the second half of the story and her determination to protect her children sees her confront La Lorna in the same manner that Ellen Burstyn’s Chris MacNeil did in THE EXORCIST and JoBeth Williams’s Diane Freeling in POLTERGEIST.

The comparisons don’t stop with the film’s thematic underpinnings…

In terms of characters, there’s a set of archetypes that help to drive the drama.

In addition to the mother determined to protect her children, there’s the children themselves. Normally, there’s two or three; one of which is the primary “target” of the spectral antagonist. One of the children is also relatively resourceful in spite of their dread at confronting the terror before them.

There’s also always an outside “protector”. Sometimes it’s a Priest (or two, in the case of Max Von Sydow’s Father Merrin & Jason Miller’s Father Karras in THE EXORCIST). Sometimes it’s a “Spirit Guide” or “Ghostbuster”, such as Zelda Rubenstein’s fantastic turn as Tangina in POLTERGEIST.

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN has a bet each way on this one…

Wonderfully talented and versatile character actor Raymond Cruz steals the movie as former Priest-turned-demon-hunter Rafael Olvera.

Cruz is featured as a background character throughout the film;s first half, but comes into his own when Anna is forced to go outside normal Church channels to get help in the face of escalating attacks from La Llorna upon her children and her.

The only connecting element to the broader Conjuring Universe films is the presence of Tony Amendola’s Father Perez, who was last seen in the first ANNABELLE (2014). Given that film is set in 1967 and THE WEEPING WOMAN in 1973, it makes sense for Perez to appear and confirm Anna’s fears that there is indeed a plane of existence beyond the everyday where terrible forces exist…

At 93 minutes, THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN doesn’t out-stay its welcome, but, the biggest criticism is the relative lack of scares the film serves up.

In this respect, it’s much like Tobe Hooper’s POLTERGEIST.

The 1982 film, which many still suspect was actually directed by Steven Spielberg literally standing behind Hooper on the set, is - in reality - not as scary as memory would have most believe.

Sure, it has some good “moments”, but it’s not a terror-a-minute ride where the nerves are jangling on edge in trepidation of the next bout of full-blown frightmare.

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN spends a lot of time “building up” to its next moment of terror; all of which centre around La Llorna’s appearance in the Garcia’s home as she seeks to abduct both Chris and Samantha in her never-ending quest to make amends for the most heinous of crimes she committed against her own children.

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN is not quite as good as either of Wan’s CONJURING films, but it serves to creatively right the franchise after the all-style-and-no-substance approach that squandered the potential of THE NUN in 2018.

Indeed, WEEPING WOMAN Director Michael Chaves is currently in pre-production on the third CONJURING film due out in the second half of 2020. It’s a vote of confidence in Chaves from Wan and Warner Bros that there’s a preparedness for him to take on the marquee brand in the extended franchise.

Based on his WEEPING WOMAN effort, Chave definitely has potential, but he is definitely going to have to lift his work-rate and technical prowess to a whole new level if his work is going to be compared favourably with that of Wan; a filmmaker, who along with only Jason Blum, has helped redefine the commercial boundaries for modern Horror films.

THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN MOVIE (2019) USEFUL LINKS

The Curse of La Llorona - Wikipedia
​The Curse of La Llorona (2019) - IMDb
​The Curse of La Llorona (2019) - Rotten Tomatoes​

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