Hollywood’s Latest Version of La Llorona with Danny Trejo Will Surprise You

Spooky or fun?  The Latino culture’s past has given rise to the appearance of multiple horror legends with which many children grow up listening. The latest tale to be taken to Hollywood is La Llorona, starring Antonio Cupo, Danny Trejo, Autumn Reeser and Zamia Fandiño. 

The Legend of La Llorona is Hollywood’s latest version of the Latin American folk tale about the dangerous, water-dwelling spirit of a cursed mother who snatches children and torments families. The original myth is about a mother who drowned her children and later finding herself condemned to roam the earth in search of her children in purgatory. The new installment from Saban Films seeks to confront the legend with a classic horror style.

But viewers and Trejo’s fans are in for a ride this time, as this is a pivotal moment for the Mexican-American star who’s debuting in a horror film using a shotgun to shoot ghosts. It may not seem too much out of character for Danny, but some critics are calling it “cheesy.”

The Legend of La Llorona is now playing in a theater near you.

Watch the trailer!

Learn more about La Llorona and other Latino scary tales you should know about.

It is said that La Llorona is a woman who wanders the streets of Mexico City in search of her children, whom she murdered, maddened, during one night. They say that she appears in places where once passed a river. It is also said that she is a woman dressed in white. Others mention that people can only see her silhouette, which floats. The only thing they agree on is that whenever she lets herself be seen she hears a long and terrifying cry: “Oh, my children!”

There are several versions of the origin of this legend: one is the colonial one, which is based on the chronicles of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who participated in the conquest of the Mexica Empire. It is said that a woman of indigenous origin was the lover of a Spanish man and, when she asked him to formalize the relationship, he refused because he belonged to high society. This fact unleashed the tragedy for which her soul would wander in grief.

They say that that night the woman woke up her little children –a boy and a girl–, she took a dagger and took them to the river, which was very close to her house. She being there, she blinds with courage, she stabbed them several times until she left them lifeless.

El Chupacabras

In the 1990s, unexplained cattle deaths began to occur in Mexico, the southwestern United States, and China. The ranchers reported that they had found dead sheep that appeared to have holes through which they had emptied of blood.

Many owners began to stand guard to prevent their animals from suffering attacks, and then they began to report sightings of a being that looked like an animal but did not behave as such. Many described it as a creature between 1.20 and 1.50 in height, bipedal, with large eyes and with very sharp claws, as well as spikes on the back.

His aggressiveness, and his intimidating appearance, despite being somewhat shorter than humans, made them not face him, scared to death by such a creature. That’s when the Chupacabra legend began to make sense, scaring people even more.

El Coco

The Coco is a creature made of shadows and nightmares that lurks in the corners of children’s rooms. Sometimes he hides under the bed, other times he crouches in the closet. No matter what kind of hiding place you choose, he is always there to check that all the children are getting to sleep early.

This creature stalks all the disobedient children who do not go to bed in time. This story came to scare children into going to bed early and getting their sleep because their parents care that they are well rested to start a new day.

La Lechuza

For the peasants, the owl is a feared and ominous bird. Its presence causes great fear, it is said that the eyes of this bird, which are seen at night like lights, that burn in the shadows of the graves: that with the claws of the legs it squeezes the souls of the deceased and takes them away. His wings are black with coal dust because he has witches as companions and with these birds, they do the evil eye from afar.

The song of the owl in the early morning is intimidating. They say that when he sings three times in a row it means that in a short time someone dies. That is why they are afraid of them.

As you have already seen, Latin culture and, specifically, Mexico has some creepy legends that have lived among its inhabitants for many years and that all parents tell their children. We hope you liked them and that you found them curious!