The Curse of the Crying Woman – Casanegra Entertainment (DVD)

Theatrical Release Date: Mexico, 1963
Director: Rafael Baledón
Writers: Fernando Galiana, Rafael Baledón
Cast: Rosita Arenas, Abel Salazar, Rita Macedo, Carlos López Moctezuma, Enrique Lucero, Mario Sevilla, Beatriz Bustamante

Release Date: June 27th, 2006
Approximate Running Time: 80 Minutes 3 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono Spanish, Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region 1 NTSC
Retail Price: OOP

"After a phantom figure attacks her horse-drawn carriage in the woods, young Amelia (Rosa Arenas) flees to the gothic mansion of her Aunt Selma (Rita Macedo). Soon thereafter, Amelia uncovers dark family secrets, including rumors of torture, murder and witchcraft! Each sinister revelation exposes a more diabolical mystery. Whose charred corpse lay buried in the family crypt? Why does Aunt Selma cast no reflection? And finally: What terrors will be unleashed by The Curse of the Crying Woman?” – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information given about the transfer, "Completely re-mastered picture & sound from newly restored 35 mm vault elements."

The Curse of the Crying Woman comes of a single layer DVD.

Disc Size: 4.21 GB

The source used for this transfer looks great, and any source-related debris is very minor. Image clarity, contrast, and black levels are strong; there are no issues with edge enhancement; and any compression-related issues are minor.

Audio: 4/5 (Dolby Digital Mono Spanish), 3.5/5 (Dolby Digital Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a Dolby Digital mono mix in Spanish and a Dolby Digital mono mix in English. The Spanish language track sounds cleaner and more robust than the English language track. Included with this release are removable English subtitles for the Spanish language track.

Extras:

The extras for this release include a poster and still gallery (14 images), text biographies for actresses Rosita Arenas and Rita Macedo, actors Carlos López Moctezuma and Abel Salazar, a text essay titled Legendary Actor, Filmmaker Rafael Baledón written by David Wilt, an audio commentary with Mexican cinema expert Michael Liuzza in English with removable English subtitles, reversible bilingual cover art (English on one side and Spanish on the other side), Casanegra Loteria game cards, and a booklet with an essay titled Drowned in Tears: The Legend of Llorona from Folklore to Film written by Peter Landau. The booklet is bilingual with the essay in English and Spanish.

Also, the menus are bilingual (English or Spanish).

Summary:

The Curse of the Crying Woman opens with the iconic image of a woman dressed in black holding three menacing dogs. Director Rafael Baledón, a fan of Mario Bava, is clearly paying homage to Mario Bava’s Black Sunday, which has a similar scene. Rafael Baledón’s direction sets the mood right from the start. There are a few stylized set pieces like the finale that give The Curse of the Crying Woman a more polished look. The pacing is well timed, and a few well-placed scares add to the building tension. The lighting and framing of compositions is nearly flawless.

Gore hounds beware: most of the violence is implied or bloodless. Like all gothic horror films, Aunt Selma has a deformed sidekick. Later in the narrative, we are also introduced to another deformed member of the family. One minor complaint is that early on in the narrative, there are victims who are murdered in the first scene who have had blood drained from their bodies. The reason for this is never fully explained. Outside of a few minor moments when things tend to drag, the rest of the narrative moves along quickly.

The acting actually exceeded my expectations, with everyone of the leads giving well-rounded performances. Actress Rosita Arenas, who plays Amelia in The Curse of the Crying Woman, also stars as Deborah in The Witch’s Mirror. Rita Macedo’s character, Aunt Selma, looks like she was patterned after Italian horror queen Barbara Steele. Her black, soulless eyes solidify the connection between the two. Abel Salazar, who is cast in the role of Amelia's husband, is the most well-known of these actors outside of Mexico. His performance is solid despite his limited screen time. Ultimately, despite its lack of budget, The Curse of the Crying Woman is filled with strong visuals and several great performances.

Though they were only around for less than two years, Casanegra firmly established themselves as a premier boutique label whose releases of classic Mexican cinema are some of the best English-friendly releases of these types of films. That said, Casanegra’s untimely demise was a huge blow to fans of classic Mexican cinema.

The Curse of the Crying Woman gets a definitive release from Casanegra, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer