THE CRY...La Llorona

A Halloween La Llorona Treat

Here is a Halloween treat about The Cry and La Llorona, published by Anita Marie at Owl Creek Bridge: 

http://anita64.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/the-cry/

Enjoy and happy Halloween!

Karla's Experience with La Llorona

Here is a story from Karla:

The stories I have heard have a lot in common with the stories that I read on your website.  I have studied her since I first heard about her from my grandmother through college and even some now.  At first, I thought that she just "made up" La LLorona just to keep us quiet, but it turns out that my grandma has had an "encounter" of some kind with the woman in white.  She said that they were on a hill in Mexico when they heard a wailing, at first they thought it to be the wind but it got closer.  Naturally, my grandma and her sisters had snuck out to hang out, so she says that she thinks that La LLorona was there as a sign to straighten up or she would come back for them.  She actually said that when the wailing got closer, that she looks towards the direction of the sound and saw a figure in white "floating" in the pasture.  So they ran home and prayed.  She said that she hasn't seen anything or heard anything since that night.  But I cant' wait for your movie...to be honest, neither can my students...ever since I told them the story and saw your website, they have been doing research.  We actually are doing a project to see the different versions of her sightings and when she comes etc.  Thank you once again and good luck with your movie.  I hope that it is a great success for you.

Word of La Llorona & The Cry Spreads Through the Schools

Over the years many junior high, high school, and college instructors have contacted me about La Llorona, saying that they use the information that I've collected about her (and posted on my website www.LaLlorona.com) as a teaching tool.  I've always been extremely excited about this, since this is a great way of keeping La Llorona alive, as well as sharing her with kids who are not Hispanic.  I'm looking foward to the release of "The Cry" so even more people can learn about her.  Meanwhile, I just received this email from Karla from Texas:

------ I like most, grew up with the tale of la llorona.  A part of me still believes that she is real, and another that doesn't want to believe that it is real!  I came across your website and your movie looks to be fantastic.  I have been obsessed with your film ever since I saw your website.  I teach Spanish, and I told my students this famous or infamous tale of a woman who is searching for her children, and they too became interested.  I would really love to see your movie, and so would my kids.

Poem From Genaro Zamora, Inspired by The Cry

Genaro Zamora recently contacted me about his experiences with La Llorona.  After seeing the teaser for The Cry, he was inspired to write this poem.

"LLORONA"

Cry,

The lady formed.

Brutally scorned.

Many centuries ago

the legend was born.

A woman of beauty

dressed in white.

Fell prey to a man

who had her in sight.

Convinced her of marriage

and to treat her right.

Showed only true love

on the wedding night.

Throughout the marriage

he had a mistress.

Left his wife,

blamed their child of stress.

She drowned her baby

in a watery mess.

In hopes of their love

and all the best.

As she walked away

her tears were formed.

She felt a loss

her heart was torn.

She rushed to the river

loving her child even more.

But never found him

and began to mourn.

Uncertain of what happened

or what came next.

It¢s said she cried

till her death.

Has haunted the river

of her child¢s last breath,

and weeps and searches,

till not a river is left.

Llorona's ghost,

has been seen.

Throughout centuries,

under nightly gleam.

We've been warned

before goodnight dreams.

Beware of La Llorona,

and the horror she brings!

La Llorona Speaks

I met someone last night at a theater fundraiser I attended who is a big fan of horror films.   He told me of a strange/supernatural experience he had that reminded me of something that happened to me while I was making The Cry.

In my film, I am the voice and cries of La Llorona.  I remember a couple of months ago when we were in the studio recording La Llorona's voice, something very strange happened.  First of all, it took me quite some time to decide what La Llorona would say.  I had to dig deep into the 5 years I spent searching for her across the U.S. and Latin America to figure this out.  (Sort of like looking at someone you've known well for many years and thinking about what they would say or do in certain circumstances.)

In any case, when we were recording the lines, I suddenly felt as though something else took control of my body and was speaking through me.   It was really weird, and everyone in the studio was freaked.

Now that The Cry is finished, when I watch the film and La Llorona's voice comes up, I can't believe that it's actually me speaking.  I'm not really sure what happened, but what I do know is that the film is far scarier as a result.

Could it have been La Llorona speaking through me?  This is something I will always wonder.

La Llorona's Power

I had an experience recently that reminded me of the spark that caused La Llorona to become the tormented, vengeful spirit that she is.

Women have an incredible amount of power inside them--a power that sometimes even we don't understand.  In any case, it seems that the spark that lead to La Llorona's demise started with her choosing to give her power away to a man.  This left her naked...with nothing to protect her, nothing to guide her, and nothing to give her strength.  I think that if she had chosen to keep her power, she never would have killed her children. 

Now she's caught in an eternal battle to gain back her power, doing this by trying to bring back the lives of her children.

La Llorona Has No Feet

Carlos Solano sent this to me:

A few years ago my my mother, grandmother, sister, and a few cousins went to visit my grandmother's town in Mexico. I didn't go because I had school or something. It was early dawn and after a night of drinking and misbehaving, my sister and cousins were driving home, after my grandmother told them not to stay out late.

Well, they noticed a weird sound as they turned at the end of our block and saw a lady at our corner.  Thinking it was my grandmother looking for them, they turned back around the corner because they were afraid of getting into trouble.  But then they realized the lady was wearing an old style dress.  They walked closer to her.  The lady turned around and held her arms out to reach for them. At this time they saw that  she didn't have any feet and that she seemed to be floating.  They ran home scared, went into the house and woke everyone up. 

My grandmother said it was La Llorona, and that's what they got for being bad and not listening.

Everyone in my family still talks about this story.

Nicaragua & La Llorona

I met Carlos from Nicaragua the other day at a marketing conference.  I told him about The Cry and his immediate question was,  "How are you going to market the film to Latinos in the U.S., since only people in Nicaragua know about her?" 

Of course, I had to laugh, knowing that everyone seems to think La Llorona is from their own town or country.  I explained to him how La Llorona has travelled across the Americas, scaring the daylights out of most everyone she comes across.   He was completely amazed. 

If anyone has a version of La Llorona from Nicaragua, I'd love to hear it!