Some grandmothers bake cookies, some tell ghost stories – ScareDiego focuses on the latter.
Although La Llorona is essentially a staple in Latin American and Hispanic households, to catch everyone else up to speed (Please note this is the version I grew up with, I know there are several in circulation, let us know if the comments if you know of a different one!)
There was once a beautiful woman named Maria who fell in love with a ranch hand who worked for her father. Although her family objected, the couple was young and very in love so they eloped. They lived happily together for several years and had two sons. However, after the boys were born things changed between Maria and her husband. He started coming home later and became more and more volatile. One day in an attempt to save their marriage, Maria put on a gorgeous white dress (resembling a wedding dress) and took her boys and a picnic lunch to surprise her husband at work. To her horror, she discovered her husband in the arms of another woman. Blinded by rage and despair she turned on her children whose births brought the end of her love and drowns them in the river. After she realized what she’d done, she’s overcome by grief and spends every day weeping and walking along the banks of the river searching for her dead children. Refusing to eat or sleep, Maria eventually passed out during her search and drowned in the same river that claimed her sons. But now her spirit, consumed by guilt and grief cannot rest until she’s reunited with her children transforming her into La Llorona (The Weeping Woman). Still weeping, La Llorona targets the children of families surrounded by discord, stealing them from their homes and drowning them so they can stay with her forever.
Besides a sure fire way to get kids to behave, La Llorona is also a legend begging to be turned into a film which Atomic Monster finally has. Directed by Michael Chaves, ‘The Curse of La Llorona’ takes us back to the 1970’s and focuses on a social worker (Linda Cardellini) who is investigating a mother (Patricia Velasquez) for child endangerment when she stumbles into this living legend. Now she must try to unravel the mystery of La Llorona and save her own children in the process.
ScareDiego hosted Chaves, along with producer and ‘The Conjuring’ mastermind James Wan, and actors Linda Cardellini, Patricia Velasquez, and Raymond Cruz to give audiences a taste of terror.
Growing up with the legend of La Llorona gave both Cruz and Velasquez a special appreciation and a certain amount of fear for the film.
“We were scared sh*tless of La Llorona,” joked Cruz. “Now we can share that with you.”
Valasquez, who grew up in Mexico had to agree with her costar.
“La Llorona lives and breathes in our culture,” she explained, “Personally, I’m a believer in La Llorona. Even though it’s a story that we tell our children so they behave, if you ask one Latin person at 60, 70 years old if they have stopped believing in La Llorona, they will say no.”
Although Cardellini didn’t grow up with the specific legend, she said that it definitely translates across cultures.
“I didn’t know La Llorona at all, but seeing her you recognize the imagery somehow,” Cardellini said, “…but the first time I read it, weeping or not weeping aside, she takes children which is terrifying and I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s brutal.”
“It’s a very timely film,” piped up Cruz, “It takes place in the ’70s, but La Llorona predates Trump by 200 years in separating Mexican children from their parents.”
Mark your calendars for ‘The Curse of La Llorona’ hitting theaters April 19, 2019.