La llorona

The Hispanic-American legend of 'la llorona', the vengeful, wailing ghost of a woman who commits suicide after losing her child, has been fairly popular as of late, featuring in a spate of horror films such as The Legend of La Llorona (2011), The Haunting of La Llorona (2019), The La Llorona Curse (2019), La llorona (2019) , The Curse of La Llorona (2020), and La Llorona (2022).

This 1933 Mexican movie was the first time the ghost was featured on film. It sees a family under a terrible centuries old curse, their children doomed to be stabbed to death when they reach the age of four. The curse relates to the legend of La Llorona (The Crying Woman), and in two flashbacks, we are shown the origins of two 'Lloronas', the first a woman rejected by her lover, who kills her son and herself, and the second an Indian woman whose son is taken by the conquistadors, driving her to take her own life.

Unfortunately, the majority of the movie consists of dull melodrama, with very little in the way of style or supernatural happenings, making it a disappointing effort overall. Things pick up a touch towards the end of the film, as a sinister figure in a hooded robe kidnaps four-year-old Juanito, taking him into a secret room with the intention of killing him, thus fulfilling a vow sworn by their ancestor, but it doesn't make up for all of the dreary, slow-moving scenes that come before.

3.5/10 rounded up to 4 for IMDb.