La Llorona (1933 Film)

''La Llorona'' () is a 1933 Mexican supernatural horror film directed by Ramón Peón and starring Ramón Pereda, Virginia Zurí, Adriana Lamar and Carlos Orellana. It was the first Mexican horror film with sound.

Cast

Cast adapted from the liner notes of the Indicator home video release of ''La Llorona''.

Production

In the 1930s, a cycle of horror films began. In Mexico, the first sound film was released in 1932. ''La Llorona'' was one of the 21 sound films created in Mexico in 1933. The film's story is based on that of La llorona, a crying woman from Hispanic folklore who mourns her dead child. According to the newspaper '' El Universal'', the filmmakers found difficulty in finding a voice for the ghost that would be convincing and not encourage laughter from the audience. Journalists of the newspaper noted that great expense was made to recreate the sets in the film to represent New Spain.

Release and reception

Prior to the film's release, Emily Masincup of the Northwestern University stated that the film was highly anticipated due to the number of laudatory articles found and large banner ads found in Mexico prior to its release. ''La Llorona'' was released in Mexico on 25 May 1933.

From contemporary reviews, the Mexican newspaper ''Excélsior'' who commented that both horror and mystery films were put out to great difficulty noting the special effects involved, but that ''La Llorona'' was more impressive as it had to do that and recreate the period film sets. The film was declared the most serious work put out by Mexico's film industry yet. The liner notes of Indicator's blu-ray release stated that the ''Excélsior'' review was a typical response to the film as Mexican press found the film technological achievements was met with a sense of national pride. Among the few desenting critics, Chano Urueta of ''Mundo cinematográfico'' found that the film trivialized Mexican history to create a Hollywood-like story. Harry T. Smith who reviewed the film in 1935 when it showed at Harlem's Teatro Compoamor, who found the film had "Excellent acting by all the principals" and that "some fine scenes of the Mexico of long ago all make the picture well worth seeing."

Legacy

Following the release of ''La Llorona'', Guillermo Calles was selected to direct the short feature ''La Chillona'', a parody of ''La Llorona''. The Llorona figure has appeared in several films since the 1933 feature, including dramatic films such as ''La herencia de la Llorona'' (1947), the Western '' The Living Coffin'' (1958), the ''luchador'' film ''La Venganza de La Llorana'' (1974) as well as gothic horror films such as ''La Llorona'' (1960) and ''The Curse of the Crying Woman'' (1961). The character vanished from Mexican cinema for decades only to be resurrected in the new millennium with ''Kilometer 31'' (2006), ''J-ok'el'' (2007), and '' La leyenda de la Llorona'' (2011).

''La Llorona'' was believed to be lost for nearly half a century. It was uploaded to YouTube from what Emily Masincup of the Northwestern University described as a "poor quality television broadcast". While most films from the Calderón family studio survived from film negatives, ''La Llorona'' existed only as a 16 mm print. Peter Conheim of the Cinema Preservation Alliance stated this print was at least three generation removed from the primary source.

References

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External links

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1933 films
Mexican black-and-white films
1930s Spanish-language films
1933 horror films
Mexican supernatural horror films
Films directed by Ramón Peón
1930s ghost films
Mexican ghost films
La Llorona
1930s Mexican films

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