'The Curse of La Llorona' is Horror Beyond Borders

Ellen Burstyn in The Exorcist, Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby, Toni Collette in Sixth Sense and Hereditary, and recently Lupita Nyong'o in Us--Linda Cardellini continues the barrage of matriarchs kicking ass in horror films in this terror beyond borders, The Curse of La Llorona.

Warner Bros. Pictures

And it's not only 'La Llorona', an iconic Latin American folklore about a weeping woman slash children killer that hops from one continent to another, this film itself expands the quickly growing universe of 'The Conjuring' which started in 2013.

This newest demon lures in 1973 Los Angeles, when Anna (Cardellini), a widowed social worker helps the mysterious home of a certain Mrs. Alvarez (Patricia Velasquez) where she finds her two kids locked in a closet filled with hand drawn black figures. In her willingness to help, she places Patricia in a psychiatric hold and takes the kids into protective custody. Little did she know, the family is actually haunted by 'La Llorona' and her own family faces the scary consequence.

By scary, I'm talking about constant jump scares, dark places, more jump scares, evil, and then some. The Curse of La Llorona offers a lot of them that it pretty much fills every horror fan's appetite for terror. Director Michael Chaves boasts great horror choreography (horreography!) that is both original and unpredictable even in its limited setting from Anna's household to the psych ward.

It's a bit formulaic in its plot, however, following the same blueprint of other 'Conjuring' movies where a new demon is introduced, the lead encounters it, they find a solution, then a new character emerges to help them conjure the ghost. The good thing is that La Llorona finds new ways to shock even in its few twists especially in its climax where all characters involved are put into one game changing situation.

Apart from the narrative formula, the horror and the comedy also match its universe where often times the laughs create a good catharsis in its erratic jump scares albeit it gets a little too goofy at times. But anything non-scary is welcomed in a terrifying movie like this.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Thanks to this film's 'Elise', Rafael Olvera, a former priest turned curandero who knows everything about the ghost of 'La Llorona', for making it more entertaining than it is the moment he enters the picture. He provides the laughs in the most unexpected moments that it's only going to be looked at as either cheesy or hilarious. Same can be said to Linda Cardellini and Patricia Velasquez who are both gripping to watch as two mothers who only want the safety of their kids.

Overall, The Curse of La Llorona gets the job done when it comes to its genre. A thrilling and entertaining movie that would stand out among its sibling spinoffs. It's a film to enjoy without nothing much to digest.