U.S. DVD Release
I love old black and white Gothic horror films. There’s not much that tops grabbing a giant bowl of homemade, stove top popped, popcorn, (lightly buttered and salted) a couple of ice cold brews, and then sitting down to a night of old school horror. If there’s a creepy old mansion or looming Gothic castle involved you can be sure I won’t be far away. When I first caught wind of the new film house CasaNegra I went taut with anticipation. No really, I’m not kidding. I went taut, almost to the point of pre-mature rigor mortis, but in a good way. You must understand that the entrance to my home is decorated with postcards of film posters from classic Mexican cinema, so the news of this division to Panik House Entertainment was indeed cause for celebration.
The Curse of the Crying Woman opens on a diabolical note. A sinister woman, dressed in all black, holding to her a pack of menacing dogs, brings a stagecoach to a halt. Her lumbering assistant swiftly kills the driver with a smartly thrown dagger, and the dogs are let loose on the passengers. Truly there is no rest for the wicked!
As we get through the opening credits and into the story we are taken to a most haunting hacienda. A stagecoach arrives carrying Amelia (Rosita Arenas) and her new husband Jamie (Abel Salazar). The driver adamantly will not help them. The castle is cursed and he won’t stay any longer than necessary! A scarred and deformed servant Juan (Carlos López Moctezuma), who you’ll recognize from the opening scene, greets the guests and shows them to their rooms. Amelia is the niece of Selma (Rita Macedo), who has been invited to stay with her Aunt after a long spell of being put off. However, Selma isn’t around to greet her guests, and during their interlude Amelia and Jaime have time to contemplate the warnings, and experience a few hair-raising events of their own before Selma appears.
To be expected, things go from suspicious to creepy to outright supernatural and haunting. Amelia learns of her family’s curse, and Selma begins to unabashedly show her sinister side. With an evil so deeply rooted, will Amelia be consumed, or will the curse somehow be broken?
Bell towers, dingy dungeons, trap-doors, hidden passages, haunted by-ways and back roads, this film has them all. You can easily see the influences of classic “Universal” Hollywood bleeding through. Yet, “influence” is the only word you can use to describe the commonalities as this film is uniquely stylized with its own individual flavor. The costumes, make-up, and the effects are top-notch for the period, and Selma’s dark eyes are creepy by any standards. While CG has since taken modern horror to new heights, it’s a blast of fresh air to watch a film where CG wasn’t even a futuristic concept.
When it comes to the performances, the acting in the film is solid all around. Each of the lead actors are clearly trained stage actors, and while that sort of training doesn’t always translate well to the screen it is typical for films of this generation. In the end it only serves to strengthen the overall quality of the film.
While the story itself isn’t highly original to what Hollywood and Italy had been churning out, it was done very well. So well done that you should have your face slapped to ever call it a rip-off or second-rate film. The direction and production are equally tight. The film runs a steady pace, and doesn’t lose its sense of internal rhythm. Many older films tend to get lost in themselves during the body of the work, but not so here. The story progression is right on, and you don’t have time to find yourself bored.
A great story is only half the battle in cinema though. A lot rides on presentation. To say that this film is absolutely gorgeous is easily one of the biggest understatements I’ve made this year. The transfer and restoration was near spotless. It’s highly apparent that CasaNegra went to no ends to provide us with a stunning looking film. The film was so incredibly crisp and clear that I almost was tricked into thinking I was watching DV. One short scene seemed to suffer from some washout, and scratches, however overall this was so incredibly beautiful that any minor defects were easily forgotten. Truly, this is what watching black and white film is all about!
The film is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, so it’s strictly full screen here. In regards to subtitling, I would highly recommend watching this with English subtitles turned on. The English dubbing holds no water to the original Spanish Dolby 1.0 track, and the subtitles don’t get in the way of your viewing.
The film is also packaged as nicely as it was presented. The commentary track is by CasaNegra’s Michael Liuzza, which is worth taking the time to listen to if you’re a fan of Mexican cinema. You can also view a trailer, and still gallery, as well as read through a fairly informative essay on director Rafael Baledón. If that’s not enough there’s some cast bios to check out. Inside the case you’ll find a CasaNegra Loteria Game Card, and a booklet, which speaks to the legend of la Llorona.
Rich in atmosphere and classic horror elements, The Curse of the Crying Woman is an immensely enjoyable piece of Mexican cinema. We can be thankful that CasaNegra pulled this film from the archives and restored it to a previous glory that hasn’t been seen in decades.
