Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

insomniac_rod "La Maldiciòn de la Llorona" is underrated for strange reasons here in Mèxico. As many people know, "the legend of La Llorona" is an urban myth from the XVIII century that to these days is very popular, and if you visit some pueblitos from Mèxico, some people swear that they have had spectral encounters with La Llorona.Thank you CasaNegra! for giving the respect this movie deserves and commercialize it worldwide. You're doing a favor to the Horror community of the world."La Maldiciòn de la Llorona" has little to do with the legend or myth and focuses more on a Gothic story that deals with some sort of witchcraft, a pact with The Death, and the curse of La Llorona.The production values of this movie are simply great and way ahead their time. The Gothic look of the mansion, of the forest, the backyard, and the rooms from the mansion are visually stunning. The art direction and cinematography add a lot for the movie's creepy atmosphere. The ghoulish sounds add a naive touch to the movie but surprisingly fit with the movie's macabre tone. Also, the make-up and effects are fantastic. The make-up of Fernando, Selma (her eyes), Juan, and La LLorona looks great and creepy. And special mention and recognition for the flashback sequences where Selma explains Amelia all the horror of her past. The wolf-man looking in the mirror, the inquisition scene, the devil's appearance, etc. are nightmares material. Excellent scene that makes me wonder if it inspired somehow movies like "The Ring" or music videos like NIN's "hurt". Anyways, the production values are fantastic.Oh and there's room for gore. Minimal, almost non-existent but beautiful gore. The scene where the demonic dogs attack the police men is memorable in the aspect of gore.The ending is probably among the best, even top 10, in Mexican Horror cinema history. The way the bell tolls every time as an indicator that the blade needs to be pulled out from La Llorona is great, creepy but great. The tension, and great f/x in the ending are simply memorable. I wonder if they used a model of the mansion in order to make it look like it was crumbling. Amazing scene for it's time I must say.The acting is at it's finest although it looks cartoonish at some points but it's fine overall and fit with the movie. Rosita Arenas delivers a good performance as the cute but brave Amelia. She was nice to look at. Abel Salazar is a good actor and delivers a good performance but at some points I felt he was a wimp and a man without strong attitude. Carlos Lòpez Moctezuma is simply great as the deformed Juan. But Rita Macedo steals the show with her memorable performance of aunt Selma. She's wicked, evil, but also intriguing, mysterious, beautiful.I urge you fellow IMDb user to watch this fantastic Mexican Horror movie in order to experience a visually stunning Gothic experience and also witness how Mexican horror has it's own gems. This is among the best Horror movies from this country along with Macario, Hasta El Viento Tiene Miedo, and Beso de Ultratumba (among many others).The movie starts with a memorable opening sequence where Aunt Selma (in her ghostly form) and her loyal subdit Juan (a Mexican version of a deformed Quasimodo) attack a large and luxurious carriage. It seems that it was their modus operandi in order to kill people and later offer their blood to La Llorona.Young Amelia returns from Mèxico after a long period where she lived and studied in Europe. She returns with her husband and stays in her aunt Amelia's mansion. Immediately after the couple settles, they start to experience strange events. For example, Amelia while looking in a mirror, suddenly sees her possessed aunt's reflection and then converts in a rotten corpse. Amelia asks Jaime to leave the house and he agrees when suddenly aunt Selma explains to Amelia why it is extremely important for her to stay. She tells her about the curse of La Llorona and her diabolical intentions of resurrection and eternal power. Meanwhile, Jaime discovers a horrible "secret" in the secret room of the typical Mexican "Hacienda" or mansion. Jaime finds out that aunt Selma's husband, Fernando, didn't die as she said; he is hidden and locked in a cell where he is tortured by Juan anytime he tries to escape or anything. Little does aunt Selma knows that Fernando later manages to escape and beat the hell out of Juan in a memorable scene. After a series of events and explanations, Amelia "agrees" to perform the ritual that will bring back La Llorona to life. Will she do it? What will happen when La Llorona returns from the dead? Join Amelia in this fantastic tale that has to do with death, witchcraft, and ambition. The ending will leave you crying in fear, just La Llorona.Also, special mention for the spectacular DVD commentary from CasaNegra's vice president. The comments were very fortunate and gives you more details about this great movie.

bensonmum2 Just when you get all smug and begin thinking there are no really good Gothic horrors left to be seen, someone comes along and releases a film on DVD that challenges your mistaken notions of having seen it all. That's the case with Casa Negra's recent release of The Curse of the Crying Woman. It's got everything a fan of Gothic horror could ask for – a slow-burn story that allows for atmosphere, women in black flowing dresses, a crazed madman caged in the attic, a dead witch in the cellar, a deformed and brutish henchman, a creepy old castle, and wonderfully beautiful black & white photography. As a fan of films like Mario Bava's Black Sunday, I'm overjoyed to have discovered The Curse of the Crying Woman. The films share more than their central plot points of bringing a long dead witch back to life, director Rafael Baledon seems to have used parts of The Curse of the Crying Woman to pay homage to Bava. The similarities between the first image of the black-haired Selma standing with her Great Danes is so similar to Barbara Steele's introduction in Black Sunday that it cannot be mere coincidence. Although obviously hampered by budget constraints (again, similar to Bava), Baledon nevertheless was able to craft an effective, creepy tale. It's not the jump scare kind of horror – it's much more subtle than that. It's the kind of movie that, if you allow it to, will get under your skin. It's very well done and new favorite of mine.And I thought all Mexican horror movies featured masked wrestlers battling werewolves and vampires. I can't wait to see what Casa Negra comes out with next.

FloatingOpera7 La Maldicion De La Llorona (The Curse Of The Crying Woman) 1963: Starring Rita Macedo, Rosa "Rosita" Arenas, Abel Salazar, Carlo Lopez Moctezuma, Enrique Lucero, Mario Sevilla, Roy Fletcher, Arturo Corona, Armando Acosta, Victoria Blanco, Beatriz Bustamante....Director Rafael Baledon...Screenplay Fernando Galiana....Of particular interest to both foreign horror film fans and to Hispanics who are familiar with the old folk legend of "Crying Woman", this film released in 1963 by Mexican director Rafael Baledon is a suspenseful and eerie Gothic tale based on the old legend. "Crying Woman" is the Mexican equivalent of the Irish "banshee" - the ghost or spirit of a howling and mournful woman who in her life had lost a husband and children, and had been driven to kill her own children. Spanish actress Rita Macedo plays Selma, the wealthy widow and landowner in a remote Mexican location. She lives in a grand old mansion covered in mist with a grotesque old butler Juan (Carlos Lopez-Moctezuma). After her husband died, she moves into the creepy mansion without any servants except for the creepy hunchback Juan, and strange things begin to occur. Nearby villagers report the eerie sounds of a howling woman in the night and several mysterious and brutal mutilations and murders begin to occur. It's not long before Amelia (Rosa Arenas) a pretty and sensitive heiress, newly married to the handsome and wealthy Jaime (Abel Salazar) visit Selma. To Amelia, her aunt Selma has changed significantly since her husband's death. She's withdrawn and cold toward others. It's not long before Amelia discovers the secret of the curse/possession that has taken over Selma. Will Amelia and Jaime defeat Selma and break free of the curse ? While straying far from the original Mexican horror-folk tale, this is a well-made and genuinely haunting piece of modern horror to come from this period. This said, one must consider that there are some faults which we must chalk up to the old-fashioned cinematography. For example, the somewhat lengthy opening scene in which Selma (in her possessed form) makes her nightly visitation to the basement where she has the cadaver of her dead ancestor whom she attempts to revive through victim's flesh, is used twice in the film! The power of the film is not only in the dramatic story of an old family curse but in the visual effects, costumes, make-up and overall "look". Everything has a surreal Gothic feel to it. Rita Macedo, who was in fact a beautiful actress, is completely transformed through heavy make-up and costume in the film to look vampiric and downright devilish. Her eyes are completely black- black slits. The chemistry between the two lead actresses- Rita Macedo and Rosa Arenas- is quite strong, in fact some have even noted a subtle lesbian undercurrent with their characters. I do not see this in the least but it's open to interpretation. The film is old and very predictable but genuinely entertaining and well-made.

N. Eades-2 Great atmospheric Mexican horror film! Some special effects are sloppy, but the music and sets are true to the genre. The appearances of the crying woman (la llorana) herself are truly some of the most extremely unnerving moments in a horror film. Worth seeing just for that. The film is best seen in its original Spanish version.