The Wailer (2006)

hyped garbage

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

I rented this through the red box machines and thankfully it was a free rental..I haven't watched something this bad since Murder Set Pieces... To begin, the lighting and sounded was horrible. In and out, up and down..slow through the whole beginning, the horror didn't start until way later and when it did, it was very amateur. I hate mentioning people's acting abilities because I know its hard, but this was just not good..overly dramatic, poor dialogue and script..bad makeup for the attacks/deaths...cheesy blacked out windows that no one could escape through..that looked like they had black sheets on the outside of the windows... If your going to make a movie even low budget, it can look way better than this visually..and in every other imaginable way...don't bother with this one if you enjoy good quality horror flicks.

Despite the beautiful locations and the inarguable intensity of the first scene, despite the great make-up effects and the right approach on the monster, I found myself waiting (hoping) for the movie to end (or to begin) for most of the lenght of the film. I don't know if it is me, but I found the music really really annoying and unfit, thus making me really uncomfortable in the moments where the movie was supposed to be comfortable... I could almost guarantee absolute boredom for about most of half the film. First half is just... plain uninteresting, and when things finally happen to happen, it gets pretty better but in absolutely no way makes up for the indifference it creates... you're already bored of the characters, and you just don't care for them... (In fact, I found Michelle the only likable character, but maybe cause she gets not much screen in the first half and the pretty good acting). As I stated in the summary, it could have been good but the movie suffers from ,not many, but really bad choices.

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.

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.