Interesteg What makes it different from others?

ChikPapa Very disappointed :(

Spoonixel Amateur movie with Big budget

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

E. Catalan I had no idea what I was going to get when I rented LA LLORONA or THE WAILER in English. It deals with a Mexican legend that I've heard very little of, about a woman who drowns her two children in order to have the love of the man she wants. After being rejected by this man, she kills herself. Fast forward in the movie and we have an assortment of horror movie clichés that would be worth mentioning to a film class in order to avoid them! You have the sexy teens looking for a good time, going to a lonely cabin in the woods of Jalisco, in the middle of nowhere, the mandatory bad acting, the explicit (albeit, cheap looking) gore and your mandatory tit scene. In all honesty, the premise of this so called "film" holds promise. It could've been a decent horror movie in the hands of a more skilled director, but this is strictly "amateur" hour. Rent (DON'T BUY!) only in interested in seeing classic horror movie clichés ALL in one movie!

fifibeattie In the spirit of Halloween, I rented "The Wailer" and "The Wailer 2" this weekend. I was surprised to see how different the films were compared to each other, both in content and in execution. I had high hopes that "The Wailer" would scare the pants off of me as the DVD artwork was very, very creepy. Sadly, the movie was only mildly scary. The film is based on an old Mexican legend of a woman, La Llorona, who's dead spirit haunts the rivers and lakes as she hunts for her dead children. She also kills people.The drowning of the kids was good and La Llorona's death is sufficiently tragic. But after this initial bit of horror and action, the movie fell flat on it's face. All there is is mindless talking. Some characters you just wish would be killed immediately. But it takes around 45 minutes till the next death! It seems to take forever. Making it worse is some bad acting and some dismal production design.When the deaths start coming during the last 30 minutes of the films, the pace picks up and there are moments of tension. In particular, a scene with Nicole Daniels was scary and gruesome. But there are also scenes and situations that make absolutely no sense what so ever. At one point, everything disappears outside the windows of the house the characters are staying in. All there is is blackness. Why? Did the house enter a different dimension? Or was the evil so thick it envelopes the house? This is never explained.To the film maker's credit, some of the makeup effects were pretty gruesome. The La Llorona character was kinda cool, although I never did understand why she had long, weird claws instead of hands. On the other hand, the sets looked cheap and contrived and the pacing of the film left little to be desired.The ending of the film was okay, although I have to admit that it took "The Wailer 2" to explain to me exactly what happened in the end of "The Wailer". There were some good ideas in "The Wailer" and some inspired moments. It's just a shame that the film couldn't have been more balanced and the characters more likable.

Luis Garcia First of all let me just say that I'm glad to be writing only the second critique of this film, so I know that it'll be read somehow. I have to agree with a lot of the things the first viewer that posted thought of this movie. I've been a huge fan of this old Mexican legend and always thought it was creepy and hair raising. I live in Laredo, which is a border town to Mexico, and in between is the Rio Grande, so I've heard plenty of stories about La Llorona. There's plenty of versions about her legend but this one nails the more commonly heard version. I'm gonna give you the positives and negatives of this film so here goes:The BadThis film drags for the first 45 minutes. And I mean it drags. The introduction of the film is solid and explains the origins to a minimal extent but it covers what you need to know about La Llorona's origin. After that the movie is slow paced. Here's the story. You have two out three horny couples go to Mexico to have a good time on their vacation. While they're eating they are attended to at their table by a Mexican guy,who informs them that all the hotel rooms are booked but he has this one private cabin that is nice but is out in the middle of nowhere. So they stupidly listen. Believe me, this guy would never be able to sell me a used car but he convinces these three couples to go to the cabin anyway. You're not gonna feel sorry for these people cause of they way they so foolishly accepted this poor guy's offer. The production quality of La Llorona is like one of those late night Cinemax erotica Shannon Tweed movies. It's low budget, and has that trashy b movie feel to it. The acting is lousy, but c'mon this is horror. Horror movies weren't intended to win Oscars for best picture or best acting unless it's an intelligent film like Rosemary's Baby. There's nothing new here in the acting that you haven't seen already. The main protagonist makes you like her cause she's the good girl of the film and so is her couple. That's were the clichés start. Remember it's horror so there's clichés in every horror movie. There's the black cat that pops out to give you the cheap scare. The sudden music. The idiot black guy who just won't shut up and manages to cram and utter every slang word imaginable. There's the horny couple and the overly horny couple. I found most of those characters to be annoying and you sure don't feel sorry for them. At the beginning there's the mysterious drunk old man who warns people of the legend. Pretty much like that old guy in the Friday the 13th movies. The clichés are all there. Absolutely nothing happens within the first 40 minutes after the intro. There's isn't much of a soundtrack to this movie and I thought the movie suffered because of this. It deserved to have a creepy Carpenter like soundtrack. Anything with a creepy piano tone would've done the trick. That's the bad about this film.The GoodThe three females in this movie are downright gorgeous, I have to say that. When the title character makes her presence is an awesome terrifying experience. What I loved about this movie is that you rarely see her. In the shots that you do, there's just quick momentary shots. You see her for seconds and never longer than a minute. I loved that about this film. I don't like to see my killers over exposed. That's why the Freddy and Jason sequels were terrible. You don't want to see Freddy crack jokes before he kills someone in the Nightmare sequels. What made the first movie great is that he was just quiet and killed. Same here. There is no overexposure from La Llorona. What I had said about the production quality of this film isn't just bad but it helps when the movie picks up. I love the low budget feel to a horror movie. I hate the clean new film of the Scream type movies of the new generation. I always preferred the old feel of the Halloween movies and that's what La Llorona has going for it when the movie is clicking on all it's horror cylinders. She is scary as hell and the murder scenes aren't too creative but effective and gruesome. The effects and make up are well done for a low budget film. This movie is a mixed bag. I have to rate this a 6. It's not a bad horror movie but you have to really withstand the first 40 minutes of this film. If you make it after the first 40, I assure you that you will be rewarded. Like the other person said, view this with a good quality sound system, or just turn the volume up. I suggest viewing this at night with the volume up to get the best pop out of it. It'll supply a good scare and you'll enjoy this movie a lot more. It's atmospheric just like the Evil Dead movies were with people trapped in a cabin. I may have given this movie a 6 but believe me, it's a very solid 6. I would love to see this movie edited and add some creepy music to it.

countessbaker2 Worth the video rental, I'm giving this one an 8. However, if the over dramatic screams were on purpose (copying the style of the Jason era films), then it would go up to a 9. It is low-budget, so I'm giving it grace. Besides, I've seen some awful big-budget and awful low-budget films. Think I've been in a few ;-)Costs were obviously minimized, but but why?...SPEND, when they weren't necessary. The story was told, the graphics looked real, except for Brenda's breasts, lol, etc. They stuck to budget and pulled it off.Casting: Would love to see Nicole Danielle in more films. If she can tap into what she did in the aftermath, she can shine and upstage many in more roles.Monique Barajas and Nicole Danielle (Michelle), along with Rocael Leiva (Juan) had the most believable acting. Vanessa Rice, was the typical girl next door style, and when everything became messy, I didn't feel for her. Nicole's character had little dimension in the beginning, at the downfall of her boyfriend, she came alive on screen even in her death scene she was believable. The rest, even Nicole (drunk, drugs, horny scenes) were bad acting. If the screams weren't purposely overdone, then well, no different than most films that are out on the big screen or video.Opening scene of the movie, I was worried it was going to be in sub-titles. It was poetic, like a great Poe piece all the way, until her death. Then, she was just frightening.The thing, I, of course, enjoyed was the special make-up fx. VERY WELL DONE!!!!!! Except, the final scene on Vanessa (Julie)'s boyfriend, looked like cut black tape. Wish Hostel would have came up with some better eye work.As hard as it is these days to actually scare someone in a low-budget or major, I did in this. On the big screen, I think it would have got a few more out of me. But, certainly better than wasting time on seeing Silent Hill at the theater.If it was on purpose, are the campy screams back in fashion? If they are, it could bring many shelved films, back to life. Amazing what you can find on the shelf at the video store. If it would have cost $ to release it in theaters. So, I recommend a big screen t.v. for this one, if available.