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The Curse Of The Crying Woman
[Casa Negra]
1961; b&w
Directed by Rafael Baledon
Starring: Rosita Arenas, Abel Salazar, Rita Macedo, Carlos Lopez Moctezuma, Enrique Lucer, Mario Sevilla, Julissa, & Roy Fletcher
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The opening sequence of this film aptly sets the tone for what's to become it's main storyline, albeit in a slightly kitschy manner. (Particularly when you watch the dubbed version.) Not that there's anything particularly "kitsch" about a horse driven carriage containing a trio of travelers going who knows where, talking about who knows what. However, add a slow moving, black robed, eyeless woman holding back a trio of leashed and bloodthirsty Great Danes and a limping, knife wielding, facially marred Mexican peasant into the mix and it certainly does help Ed Wood up the festivities. (If you will.) PS: I love how they keep showing the same f'in shot of the woman and the peasant dude over and over as the dogs attack the one guy who was smart / stupid enough to run when they were ambushed. Classic! After the credits, the real plot starts to reveal itself - except during the parts that seem like they're going somewhere and end up going nowhere - revealing that essentially The Curse Of The Crying Woman is a take on the oft-visited Mexican tale of the same, or similar, name. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Soon enough, we meet a lovely young woman about to celebrate her birthday, along with her husband and her long-lost aunt, in a somewhat dilapidated and dusty ancestral castle. This is no ordinary honorarium, of course. This particular birthday comes complete with a family curse that affects all of the aforementioned people (the ones who are still alive anyway) and a whole hell of a lot of slow paced atmospheric scenes of people maneuvering around said dilapidated and dusty ancestral castle. To say much more would be to spoil the fun so I will refrain. Overall, I would have to rank this as amongst the best Mexican-made horror films I've seen yet; judging by the criteria most film lovers judge movies by, as well as the criteria I judge films by. I would also rank this amongst the best film versions of the La Llorona lore, although in all honesty I've only seen one other one that I can remember - La Venganza De La Llorona starring Santo and Cuban boxer Mantequilla Napoles. (Oddly enough, one of the few Santo movies we have not reviewed on the BMB. Perhaps we'll take care of that soon.) This DVD also comes with a cool booklet featuring and essay by Peter Landau that sheds some light on the cinematic history of the crying woman, "Drowned In Tears: The Legend Of La Llorona From Folklore To Film" (the booklet has some great art too); an audio commentary by Michael Liuzza (a Mexican cinema expert, according to the sleeve); and some of the more "prerequisite" extras like an essay on the director, cast biographies and a poster / still gallery.
—Bunny
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