The Curse of La Llorona appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. As expected, the movie presented appealing visuals.
Across the board, definition seemed good. Only a few hints of softness appeared, so the film usually appeared accurate and concise.
Jagged edges and moiré effects didn’t mar the presentation, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to appear.
In terms of palette, Curse went with a standard orange and teal orientation – one that emphasized the blue side of things. Within stylistic choices, the hues seemed well-depicted.
Blacks were dark and dense, and shadows gave us good clarity most of the time. However, some low-light situations – of which the film featured many – could be a bit on the thick side. Even with those, though, I felt pleased with this transfer.
As for the Dolby Atmos audio, it offered a mostly typical horror movie soundscape. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, this meant a fair amount of creepy atmosphere and occasional “jolt moments”.
Along with good stereo music, the soundfield was able to open things up in a satisfying manner that embellished the story. We got a good sense of elements along with a useful sense of the spooky material, with some that worked really well.
In particular, panning satisfied. A few scenes features components that moved around the channels, and these did so in a smooth, convincing manner.
Audio quality was always good. Music appeared full and rich, while effects demonstrated nice clarity and accuracy. Low-end appeared deep and rich.
Speech was natural and distinctive throughout the film. The mix used the speakers well and created a fine sense of the material.
A smattering of extras pop up here, and we begin with The Myth of La Llorona. In this two-minute, 29-second featurette, we hear from actors Tony Amendola, Raymond Cruz, Marisol Ramirez, and Patricia Velasquez.
As implied by the title, “Myth” discusses the folklore behind the film. It’s too short to tell us much.
With Behind the Curse, we get a nine-minute, 43-second reel that features Amendola, Cruz, Velasquez, director Michael Chaves, producer Gary Dauberman, production designer Melanie Jones, and actor Linda Cardellini.
“Behind” looks at story, characters and themes, Chaves’s work on the shoot, sets and locations. It’s a mediocre overview of the production.
The Making of a Movie Monster runs five minutes, 53 seconds and provides notes from Dauberman, Cruz, Chaves, Ramirez, producer Emile Gladstone, special effects makeup artist Gage Munster, costume designer Megan Spatz, and actors Roman Christou and Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen.
Here we learn how the filmmakers brought the title character to life. This winds up as a fairly informative piece.
Six Deleted Scenes fill a total of 11 minutes, 10 seconds. Most of these expand existing segments or add some minor character beats.
Under Storyboards, we see a running program that spans 17 minutes, 32 seconds. It shows the art on the left side of the screen and the final film on the right.
I think the traditional “art on top, movie on bottom” works better, as this format crams the material too tightly. Still, it’s a decent array of footage.
The disc opens with ads for It Chapter Two, Annabelle Comes Home and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. No trailer for Curse appears here.
A second disc gives us a DVD copy of Curse. It includes “Making of a Movie Monster” but lacks the other extras.
Despite a premise based in folklore, The Curse of La Llorona feels just like every other 2010s horror movie. Predictable and tedious, it does nothing to invigorate the genre. The Blu-ray brings solid picture and audio along with a handful of bonus materials. Audiences seem to like these films but I think Curse becomes a dull drag.
