The Curse of La Llorona

The legend of La Llorona, the weeping woman whose wailing heralds child abduction and death, gets a decent if formulaic telling courtesy of the folks responsible for the Conjuring extended film franchise. When two young boys are found drowned, child protection officer and single mother Linda Cardellini understandably pooh-poohs the possibility that a spooky spectre is responsible. But then this creepy crier, the grieving ghost of a murderous 17th-century mum, starts targeting Cardellini's own kids. Enter the predictably disillusioned ex-priest who claims he can help save them from La Llorona's clammy clutches. Scare-wise, the film treads no new territory, relying rather too much on creaking, banging and assorted other things that go jump in the night. A meatier script and more fleshed-out characters would also have helped raise the fright bar, but The Curse of La Llorona is still solidly watchable and succeeds in leaving a lingering impression.