Not just another haunting cautionary tale to scare children into staying clear of strangers, the specific horror and tragedy of La Llorona continues to fascinate audiences worldwide. A mother who murders children is considered across modern society to be the most terrible of monsters. She has been the subject of many films and songs, but, more than anything, she lurks our collective nightmares. Perhaps stretching so far back as to claim Aztec origins, the infamous “weeping woman” has become a classic horror story for kids and adults alike. The one produced by James Wan, out in April 2019, will be the first modern production about the topic.Trigger warning: Filicide is extremely upsetting, both in real life and in fiction, so please proceed with caution.įans of ghost stories are no stranger to the legend of La Llorona.
Several films have been made about the popular legend of La Llorona, starting from the first, Mexican production of 1961. And if she sees children, she kidnaps them and tries to drown them as well, like she did with her real children. Since then, according to folklore, La Llorona wanders on Earth crying, and whoever hears her cries is destined to great misfortune and death.
Legend has it that, at the gates of Heaven, she was challenged about her children and she was forbidden to enter until she would find them, expiating her guilt. Only after seeing their dead bodies floating on the water, she realized what she did and and, taken from the despair, she jumped into the same river. Distraught, in the rage of the moment, instinctively she took the two children and threw them into the river, drowning them. Years later, while Maria was walking along a river with her children, she saw her (ex) husband together with a young woman, on a carriage that was passing by at that moment. One day her husband left and never came back. When returning from his trips, he gave attentions only to the children, and Mary soon realized that he was no longer in love with her. The husband was often away for work, and soon he became more and more distant. The woman gave birth to two twins, a boy and a girl. The father of him didn’t approve the wedding and for this reason, after getting married, they went in a house that the husband built for her in the village. The two fell in love and he asked for her hand, something that made her whole family happy, finally seeing the entrance of a wealthy person as the daughter’s husband. His name was Maria and one day he met a wealthy man who passed by the village. According to the Mexican folk legend, she was a woman who lived in a country village. La Llorona in Spanish means “the crying woman”. Not a true story, but a popular legend in Mexico, a kind of horror version of the boogieman that helps parents to prevent children from staying out in late evening. Also behind The Curse of La Llorona there is something already known. And the peculiarity is that, somehow, real stories exist behind most of these films: The Nun is inspired by a demon who really existed, You can visit Annabelle’s doll in real life and the whole Conjuring saga is based on the real life of the Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Curse of La Llorona is the last horror film produced by James Wan, who in the last decades has been able to offer us stories of fear that will be remembered as the most frightening visions of these years: Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring, Lights Out, Annabelle and The Nun are just a few of the productions he triggered from 2000 to date.