The Curse of La Llorona introduces The Conjuring's newest bogey(wo)man, with no spooky dolls in sight
Director Michael Chaves on bringing true life Mexican folklore to the screen in The Curse Oไf La Llorona

Long ago there was a lady named Maria, the most beautiful woman in all of Mexico. She married a wealthy ranchero and bore him two sons. But when Maria found her husband in the arms of another, she snapped and, in a moment of madness, drowned her children. When she came to her senses she was so grief stricken, she hurled herself into the river – and was cursed to walk the Earth for all eternity, searching for the souls of her children – or any others unfortunate enough to cross her path. That's the legend of the Weeping Woman and the basis of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Curse of La Llorona – the debut feature from directoꦿr Michael Chaves. "There’s a lot of different versions of the tale," says Chaves when asked to explain the myth🌌. "It’s become this ghost story that is often told by abuelas to their grandchildren – 'You'd better behave or La Llorona's going to come and get you…'"
- Check out the best 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming horror movies of 2019
The film takes place in LA in the 1970s and follows Anna (澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avengers: Age Of Ultron's Linda Cardellini), a social worker and mother of two who, after one job, finds her family haunted by the predatory spirit, which is intent on stealing her children.🥃 “Anna will do anything to protect her kids,” says Chaves of the film’s heroine. “We wanted her to be an outsider who comes to this legend not having grown up with iꦦt.”
Mother's Slay
Taking the part of the titular terror is Marisol Ramirez. “She’s just incredible,” says Chaves. “We really wanted someone terrifying, who could plumb the depths of this monster. La Llorona isn’t always very visible throughout the movie – I wanted to take the Jaws approach rather than, say, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Freddy Krueger &ndashꦑ; but I wanted her to have this savagery that Marisol really brings to the p♍art.”
"I pitched it as🔯 having this gritty Seven/Zodiac feel, but it&rsq👍uo;s got so much more of a Poltergeist vibe"
Michael Chaves, director
The ’70s setting, Chaves says, was chosen partly because “the aesthetic is really cool” and practically because it’s pre-mobile phones, making investigating mysteries that bit harder. “It's an era where the characters have to talk to people and really dig. That just felt more tactile and cinematic." The producers looked to several ’70s horror classics for inspiration, not least The Changeling and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Poltergeist. “It’s funny, in my first meeting with New Line, I pitched it as having this gritty Seven/Zodiac feel, but it’s got so much more of 𓂃a Poltergeist vibe.”
Recently confirmed to be part of the Conjuring Universe at the film's⛎ SXSW 💫premiere, Chaves is effusive about collaborating with horror supremo James Wan on this and the upcoming Conjuring threequel. “He’s the best! I was a fan of his for years. He’s an incredible collaborator, he just vibes with you and he has such a great sense for scares.”
The Curse Of La Llorona opens in the UK on 3 May, and in the US on 19 April. This article first appeared in our sister publication . Pick up a copy now or so you never miss an issue.
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Will Salmon is the Str๊eaming Editor for GamesRadar+. He has been writing about film, TV, comics, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he launched the scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for well over a decade. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places too.