“The Curse of La Llorona” Movie Review

    I really enjoy horror films based on actual events like “The Amityville Horror” and “The Conjuring”.  To me, regardless of how accurate they really are, even the hint of truth makes those horror films that much more terrifying.  To me, “The Conjuring” remains one of the best horror films of recent memory because it was based on the real case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren.  Seeing as the film was based on real life investigations of the Warrens, the possibility of a franchise based around their cases seemed very promising.  Flash forward six years later and two spin-offs have been released this year alone.  I recently watched one of those spin-offs, “The Curse of La Llorona” and will now share my thoughts on the film.

    The film focuses on case worker Anna Tate-Garcia as she is checking in on her client Patricia Alvarez who’s children have disappeared.  During the welfare check on her children, Patricia attacks Anna as she finds her children locked behind a door.  Patricia begs Anna not to open the door but Anna does so anyway as Patricia is arrested and her children are sent to a children’s shelter.  Anna’s actions have dangerous consequences however as ‘the weeping woman’ drowns Patricia’s children and then marks Anna’s kids as her next victims.  Now, Anna quickly learns that the paranormal is real and must enlist the help of former priest Rafael Olvera to protect her children from La Llorona.

    “The Curse of La Llorona” is based on a piece of Latin American folklore.  The story centers around a beautiful young woman who gets married and has children but despite her beauty, her husband cheats on her sending her into a rage in which she drowns her children.  Due to her horrific actions, she is forced to wander for eternity until she can find the bodies of her children.  The weeping woman in folklore drowns children in hopes that their bodies will end her suffering since she cannot find her children’s bodies.  Unlike “The Conjuring” and “Annabelle”, this movie is based solely on folklore.

    This film’s marketing was odd in the sense that it wasn’t officially marketed as a ‘Conjuring Universe’ film although the film was very clearly set within the franchise.  Tony Amendola reprises his role of Father Perez from “Annabelle” and the Annabelle doll herself makes a cameo appearance in this film.  Perhaps they were afraid this film would be received negatively which is odd considering the film was about on par with “The Nun”.

    Now you might be wondering why I haven’t already given you a sense of what a thought of the movie and there is a good reason for that.  Honestly, I felt the movie was rather bland.  The scares were few and far between and the story wasn’t quite engaging enough to make up for that.  Also knowing it is based on a folklore instead of (reputed) actual events takes a little something away from the film.

    This film suffers from much of the same pitfalls that befell “The Nun”.  Both films lack character development and the cinematography for both films is too darkly life.  Darkness does not, in itself, indicate spooky things, it just makes things hard to see for the audience.

    Ultimately the film isn’t terrible but falls very short of greatness.  It is the kind of film you will watch once and might enjoy but you probably won’t ever revisit.  The film had promise, but ‘the Conjuring Universe’ needs to do some course correcting sooner than later.

Grade: D+

“Annabelle Comes Home” Movie Review

    The latest film in “The Conjuring” universe, “Annabelle Comes Home” recently hit theaters and having seen almost all the other films set in that horror universe, I knew I would have to end up watching this at some point or another so in the theaters was as good of time as any.  This movie comes on the heels of the sad news of Lorraine Warren’s passing.

    The latest story of the doll Annabelle takes places after the first film and it’s prequel as Ed and Lorraine Warren retrieve the doll and take it back to their house to contain the demonic presence that resides in Annabelle.  Once Annabelle is secure, Ed and Lorraine Warren take off to research another case so they leave their daughter with a babysitter until they get back in a few days.  When the babysitter invites a friend over who sneaks into the room Annabelle is being held and lets the doll out, all Hell literally breaks out and it’s up to the girls to contain Annabelle before they become her latest victims.

    I enjoyed “Annabelle Comes Home” but it had a bit of a ‘more of the same’ feel to it.  The film offers some scares and it is entertaining but also doesn’t add much to make the franchise feel fresh either.  For a franchise that is known for it’s scares, it sure plays it safe with it’s sequels. Perhaps this may be part of the reason one of the most popular tags for this film aside from ‘creepy’ is ‘boring’.  Most of the scares in this film were obvious jump scares and there wasn’t really enough of them scattered throughout for most horror fans.

    The film was a little frustrating to me because of it’s bait and switch marketing.  The film’s trailers showcased Ed and Lorraine Warren a great deal and it was advertised as a sort of Conjuring and Annabelle crossover.  As it turns out, it was not.  The Warrens basically served as bookends to the main story which makes sense since they are seemingly saving the Warrens for a proper “The Conjuring 3”.

    The film started Mckenna Grace as Judy Warren.  Grace did a very good job and her star is set to shine even more with a starring role in “Ghostbusters 2020”.  Madison Iseman plays Judy’s babysitter Mary and does a good job expressing terror as well.  As stated before, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson return as Lorraine and Ed Warren and are among the highlights of the film.  To me though, the breakout star was Michael Cimino as Bob.  Cimino’s character nicknamed ‘Bobs got balls’ provided a great deal of the levity throughout the film.

    Horror screenwriter Gary Dauberman makes his directorial debut with this film.  Dauberman awkwardly framed some of his shots to foreshadow events in the film.  I also felt like the film was more worried about setting up otherworldly ghouls not to world build within the movie but to set up possible spinoffs.

    “Annabelle Comes Home” is a familiar horror film that checks off all the formulaic checkboxes and delivers an entertaining yet mostly forgettable film.  It’s become clear the Annabelle franchise needs to rest in peace or find a new direction.

Grade: B-

“The Entity” Movie Review

    Every Halloween season, I like to catch the occasional horror film to get me in the spirit of the season even though I am not the biggest horror fan of all time.  While I enjoy the genre, I tend to favor horror films “inspired by true stories” over the usual slasher flick.  When I was growing up, I tended to look for films that were inspired by true events.  Now, I know the phrase can be used very loosely, but the extra layer of not knowing what part could be real or made up can enhance the film from meh to leaving goosebumps down your spine.

    One of the first non mainstream horror films I remember checking out as a teenager was a film called “The Entity”.  Now, before I go on, if anyone is interested in checking out this film after this review, please be warned.  The film contains a graphic subject matter and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

    “The Entity” is based on a book which itself was based on the real life haunting of Doris Bither.  While the character in the film was renamed to Carla Moran, most of the film and book lifted elements directly from Bither’s case.  In the film, Moran starts off as a normal young mother who seems perfectly normal.  Moran is, however, haunted by either a ghost or demonic presence that frequently attacks and rapes her.  Naturally, many people are skeptical of her story believing almost anything else was the cause of her apparent abuse.  She agrees to be observed by individuals interested in her story (just as the real Doris Bither had) and they also witness the supernatural events she described.

    The film, directed by Sidney J. Furie, does a fine job depicting the events as if they might really happen.  The film doesn’t try to scare it’s audience with jump scares, instead letting the violent attacks alone convey the horror Moran was going through.

    I think it would be impossible to discuss this movie without giving high praise to it’s lead actress, Barbara Hershey.  As Carla Moran, Hershey manages to convey both terror and a sense of strength while living through these horrific events.  If this film wasn’t a horror film and wasn’t so graphic, I honestly think Hershey would have been nominated for an Oscar for this role.  She is that great.

    This film remains one of my favorite horror films partly due to it’s simplicity and the fact it was based on a true story.  I am not the only one who thinks so either, as Martin Scorsese has stated that “The Entity” is also one of his favorite horror films.  Without this film, you might not have a film like “The Conjuring” today.

Grade: B+

"The Nun" Movie Review

    I really enjoyed "The Conjuring" when I finally got around to seeing it.  Regardless if you believe in what Ed and Lorraine Warren were investigating and how accurate their stories are, the film was based on real people and their experiences.  So, considering how successful "The Conjuring" has been on building it's cinematic universe with the "Annabelle" films, I was intrigued to learn that the franchise was expanding yet again with the release of "The Nun" based on the character who appeared in "The Conjuring 2".

    One important thing to note right out of the gate is that this film is based on an original story and is in no way based on actual events.  This is something that takes a little of the fright away from me.  I prefer horror movies which at least might be based on actual events.  It makes the horror elements seem that much more real.  Still, a movie can certainly be enjoyable and scary even if it is completely make believe.

    The film begins and ends with bookmarks which connect it to the original Conjuring film.  I thought that was cleaver and an easy way to remind the audience what universe the film is set in.  The film has a fairly simple story in which a demonic entity torments a church in Romania.  I enjoyed the fact that they actually filmed much of the film in Romania which gave it an organic and realistic feel.  (Plus being a fourth Romanian, it brought me joy to see most of the film was actually shot there.)

    The cast was decent and did their jobs but there were no real standouts to me.  It is interesting to note that the lead character of Sister Irene was played by Taissa Farmiga, real life sister of Vera Fermiga who played Lorraine Warren in "The Conjuring" films.  I guess it's good to have family connections!  Although to be fair to the actors, you could hardly see them throughout most of the film.  The cinematography and lighting was so dark at times that it looked like the projectionist left the lid on the projector.  I get that it was a dark church but it is hard to be scared when you literally can't see what is coming.  The darkness did, at times, help lend itself to it's spooky environment.

    The film relied a lot on jump scares in it's final act which I thought worked well for this film.  I know some critics disliked them, but I thought they were used effectively and sparingly enough throughout the film.
    I want to lastly point out how this movie succeeds in creating an expanding Conjuring universe.  Producer James Wan has really done a fantastic job where many other studios have failed.  While the likes of powerful name brands like Star Wars and DC are still struggling to find their footing (although I wouldn’t count either franchise out yet) and Universal’s Dark Universe has been dead on arrival (not once, but twice), the Conjuring universe just keeps going strong.  Wan was also instrumental in turning the Fast and Furious franchise into the monster franchise it has become and will soon be attempting to help turn DC around with his next film, “Aquaman”.
    Over all I thought this movie succeeded more in creating a spooky environment with some fun scares than in telling an original or complex story.  Audiences certainly will get entertained by the film but the film doesn’t have any qualities that stick with you.

Grade: C+