Title – The Curse of the Weeping Woman (2019)

Director – Michael Chaves (feature debut)

Cast – Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, Patricia Velasquez, Sean Patrick Thomas

Plot – Set in the Conjuring universe, Social worker and mother Anna (Cardellini) finds herself and her children drawn into a dangerous supernatural world that is inhabited by the terrifying and bloodthirsty La Llorona demon.

“She wants your children”

Review by Eddie on 20/04/2019

The Curse of the Weeping Woman (aka The Curse of La Llorona) is exactly the type of horror movie you expect it be from the press and trailers, only the worst version of it.

Another “Conjuring” universe spin-off that uses the good will and work of its much better relative to hide the fact that this is nothing but a cheap and nasty low-budget offering with nothing new to bring to the genre table, Weeping Woman is so tiresome, cliche and uninventive, that you begin to wonder if the real horror to be found here is the fact something like this was funded in the first place.

It’s never a good sign for a film of this ilk when the scariest and most unique element to be found is some haunted exploding eggs but that’s a fine showcase for why Michael Chaves film is a dire attempt at creating mood, atmosphere and scares as he looks to bring a fabled Mexican folk tale to life.

There’s zero heart, care or imagination on display here as Chaves 70s set horror, taking place in a perpetually raining and grey soaked Los Angeles, follows Linda (surely must be embarrassed?) Cardellini’s widowed mother Anna fighting off an angry demon who wants nothing more than to take Anna’s children over a drawn out runtime, that feels like it could’ve been more effective as a 10 minute short.

Across this dull and scare-less plot-line, that relies solely on loud sound design and predictable jump scares as its only source of potential frights, Weeping Woman offers viewers nothing they haven’t seen before in an exercise that should never have been allowed access to the big screen.

Chaves film is but further proof mainstream horror is in a delicate place where such trite films as The Nun or Annabelle pass as “big event” offerings and with so many of these cheap, nasty and thoughtless offerings being churned out by Hollywood, the only way to stop this terrifying onslaught is to answer with your wallets, starting by not paying for a ticket to this pointless and hollow excuse of a film.

Final say –

Another example of Hollywood horror done wrong, The Curse of the Weeping Woman never even slightly threatens to be bothered with hearty scares or interesting filmmaking and is another atrocious addition to the extended Conjuring universe that is quickly becoming one of the most lifeless series around.

1/2 a haunted egg out of 5