While I cannot blame Warner Bros. for wanting to cash in on the "cinematic universe" craze that's going on thanks to Marvel, I think they are reaching pretty far when it comes to 'The Conjuring' series of films. The original released back in 2013 and was a surprise hit and both critics and audiences loved it. Then a spin off series involving the creepy real-life Annabelle doll came a few years later. It was a movie of much lesser quality than what came before, but serviceable nonetheless. At this point is when the series began the building blocks of what is now called the 'Conjuring Universe' with a sequel to 'Conjuring', a prequel to 'Annabelle' which in itself was a prequel, then came 'The Nun' and now not only do we get 'La Llorona' but yet another 'Annabelle' prequel later this year. If this all sounds like a mess, that's because it really is with some great modern classics of the horror genre becoming sort of lost within some pretty mediocre films. Sadly, I think 'The Curse of La Llorona' is in the latter.
For those unaware, the story of the film is based upon an Mexican folk tale about a young woman who drowned her children and was then consumed by her sorrow and killed herself. Now the spirit, known as La Llorona walks the Earth taking children to replace her own. The film's story revolves around a social worker named Anna, who has recently become a widower and her current case brings the cursed spirit to her home in an attempt to take her two children. The story is pretty simple and straightforward, much like the movie itself. I would say that story-wise this is the weakest of this franchise and a lot of it consists of scenes done in the previous 'Conjuring' films. This is becoming the series' biggest issue and why it shouldn't have been set up as a Marvel-esque cinematic universe. The scenarios begin the same and usually end the same, only swapping out the monster, the time period, or what tools are required to defeat said monster. The film contains a scene in which a child is watching 'Scooby-Doo' on television and I feel that's a great summary of the 'Conjuring' films up to this point: episodic stories that all seem too familiar for their own good.
I do think the acting in the film is superior to some of the other films and the child characters are written well enough and don't come off as annoying, although one scene in which the little girl risks her life for a doll is not only cliche but seems so stupid especially when she's just seen that the demonic entity after her life will likely get her if she goes for it. The film does throw in a bit of humor that works and is used sparingly to ease some tension. This worked well for the first two 'Conjuring' films as well so it's nice to see it back though very briefly here. I think the biggest issue with 'The Curse of La Llorona' ultimately is that its just not scary. If you've seen the trailer of television spots then you'll know each and every scare that's coming and I didn't jump once the whole time. It just lacks the tension some of the previous films had and once the film was over I felt nothing sadly. It also seems to be in quite a hurry despite not containing any setups or post-credit sequences and because of this you feel like you're just getting a quick sugar high before crashing hard before you know it.
Overall, 'The Curse of La Llorona' is right next to 'The Nun' as the worst this series has to offer. It's boring, lacks tension or scares and its frantic pace gives the audience no chance to be truly invested. It is saved somewhat thanks to the good acting performances along with some humor and at least attempts to be scary without resorting to jump scares. However, I just can't really recommend the film for now but rather I'd suggest a rental at best.
4/10
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