"The Haunting of La Llorona" is an example of a 'mockbuster'. If you don't know what a mockbuster is, it's a film with a title almost exactly like a big film that is expected to debut soon. In other words, a small-time film company with very tiny budgets hear about a Disney or Fox film that is coming out in a year or so. And, they quickly create a movie with nearly the same title and posters that look like the big-name film in an attempt to fool suckers into believing their pathetic film is, in fact, the big budgeted Hollywood film. They do this by making and releasing their films QUICKLY....usually just before the A-level film debuts. It's dishonest and essentially hopes to piggyback on the money the big studio spends on publicity. And, most every one of these mockbusters I've seen have been simply god-awful.
"The Haunting of La Llorona" is a film hoping to capitalize on the upcoming picture, "The Curse of La Llorona". In fact, the films are so close I noticed that one review was posted on the wrong IMDB page. I don't blame the reviewer...such a mix-up isn't surprising. After all, the folks who made "The Haunting of La Llorona" were hoping such a mix-up would occur!
The story is supposed to be based on the Mexican folk tale of La Llorona. The story is similar to the Greek story of Medea...very similar. When a woman learns that her husband has been cheating on her, she kills her children and then herself. She's called 'La Llorona' because this woman is cursed to wander the earth....wailing (hence the word 'Llorona'). But in the film, she doesn't cry but instead appears and disappears just to kill people...laughing all the while. Apparently, the writer of the story hadn't bothered to learn about the folk tale...which is both sloppy and disrespectful.
So what does the film have to offer? In other words, is there anything good about this mockbuster? No. Nope. Nada. The acting is amateurish, the camera work very choppy and sloppy, the music is VERY bad (loud, inappropriate and with some abrupt edits), and the script, as I mentioned above, isn't the story of La Llorona at all. The direction is bad....such as when folks reach into the refrigerator and bull out already opened cans of beer! Who keeps can of opened beer in the fridge...multiple cans?! But worst of all is the make-up...which is one of the most important parts of a film because it's a horror movie about ghosts. It just doesn't look professionally done and it appears as if the actors had to apply it themselves...in the dark. A very bad film...even by mockbuster standards!
If you want to watch it, which I'd only recommend you do if you want a good laugh, it's available on Amazon Prime...which I watched on my Roku.
