Horror Movie Showdown Day 31: US vs The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

The Halloween season is here and in the run up to the big day I decided to
examine what is considered “scary” in the world of horror movies.

Going with Rotten Tomatoes list of the 31 scariest movies, I decided to
compare each film with another horror film from the same year to determine which one I found scarier.

For the final day of the showdown, Rotten Tomatoes chose Jordan Peele’s follow up to Get Out as the number one scariest film on their list so I want to compare it to another film from that year. A film that goes the more traditional route when it comes to horror. So let’s see if US is scarier than The Curse of La Llorona.

Accompanied by her husband, son and daughter, Adelaide Wilson returns to the beachfront home where she grew up as a child. Haunted by a traumatic experience from the past, Adelaide grows increasingly concerned that something bad is going to happen. Her worst fears soon become a reality when four masked strangers descend upon the house, forcing the Wilsons into a fight for survival. When the masks come off, the family is horrified to learn that each attacker takes the appearance of one of them.

The movie is filmed partially at Santa Cruz beach and The Lost Boys (which was filmed on Santa Cruz beach) is referenced as currently filming during the flashback.

Pros

An truly original idea.

Brilliant cinematography.

Disturbing imagery and jump scares.

The cast is fantastic. Well acted on both sides of the spectrum.

Cons

The motivations of the Tethered are great, but their final reveal left too many unanswered questions.

The Curse of La Llorona

In 1970s Los Angeles, the legendary ghost La Llorona is stalking the night — and the children. Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother, a social worker and her own kids are drawn into a frightening supernatural realm. Their only hope of surviving La Llorona’s deadly wrath is a disillusioned priest who practices mysticism to keep evil at bay.

The film takes place in the same universe as The Conjuring, its sequel and its spinoffs including Annabelle.

Pros

Some great imagery.

The actors take the material seriously and don’t phone in their performances.

The potential for a really interesting and emotional horror story.

Some well done jump scares.

Cons

The story is too formulaic.

There are no surprises in the plot and every beat was predictable.

The characters are flat and so is La Llorona.

I would like to say that there was a long deliberation process in finding the winner of this showdown, but I can’t. Only one of these two films actually tried to do something different in the genre of horror. Only one presented a fresh and unique story that was unpredictable in its plot and execution and that was…..