In THE CURSE OF LA PATASOLA, we follow two struggling couples as they venture into a weekend long camping trip. What starts off as a decent getaway, turns into a series of nightmarish events as the couples are haunted by a dark and beautiful entity known as: La Patasola.
THE CURSE OF LA PATASOLA plays it smart by not showing you what this entity looks like right away. The movie has a terrific opening sequence, followed by one of the best opening credits I've ever seen on an independent film. The title sequence features remarkable hand drawn artwork that sets the mood for what you're about to experience. I also appreciate the fact that LA PATASOLA has its own theme song. It goes without saying that I was sold within the first ten minutes.
If you were to judge this movie based on the poster and title, your immediate reaction would be that it's just some cheap ripoff of LA LLORONA. Reading comments on sites like YouTube and IMDB can be disheartening. Thankfully, that is not the case with LA PATASOLA. It may have a similar urban legend to something like "La Llorona" (as most legends do anyway), but this movie is much more than just a quick cash grab. It doesn't feel like a passion project either, but that doesn't stain the quality of work coming from director AJ Jones.
Where LA PATASOLA excels the most is with its main cast. Each actor puts on a tremendous performance, making it the true highlight of the film. Actors Najah Bradley and Patrick R. Walker play one of the two main couples in the film. Najah brings a level of seriousness to the film that is virtually unmatched. Her character "Naomi" provides level headed responses to all the supernatural happenings in the story. Naomi's love interest is played by Patrick R. Walker. Patrick plays the role of James, who serves as the film's heart and comic relief. His performance shines the brightest here, and his bits of humor work really well.
The married couple (Daniel and Sara) is played by Gillie and AJ Jones. The dynamic between Daniel and Sara feels the most natural; which makes sense considering that Gillie and AJ are a married couple in real life. This affiliation adds to the story and makes the performances feel authentic. It's important to note that AJ Jones is also the film's director (as mentioned earlier) and co-writer. During my second viewing of THE CURSE OF LA PATASOLA, it became evident that AJ and Gillie Jones work well wearing multiple hats.
Unfortunately, the film's story progression feels by the numbers. That aspect hurts it for me. If you're avid horror viewer such as myself, there won't be much here to surprise you. The story of "La Patasola" comes from an old South American urban legend. Variations of this tale can be researched online, however the movie does a terrific job in explaining what "La Patasola" is. This explanation is what leads up to my biggest disappointment of the film. Once you learn the legend, the sequences of events that take place later will come as no surprise.
LA PATASOLA pumps the breaks on scares in order to focus on the main characters. If you're looking for a jump scare every ten minutes, then you will be severely disappointed. There's a large chunk of the movie that's fixed primarily on the relationships between the main cast. Thankfully, this works in the film's favor considering the dire situations these characters experience later in the finale. The entity known as "La Patasola" is portrayed by Luciana Faulhaber. Depicted as a beautiful woman in a white dress, Luciana does a terrific job as the film's antagonist.
I've talked about Luciana Faulhaber before in my review of PATHOSIS. Between that spooky short film and Luciana's more recent directorial efforts, I've become quite a fan of her work. LA PATASOLA feels like the role Luciana was born to play. What I appreciate most about the film is its reliance on practical effects. I'm almost one hundred percent certain that LA PATASOLA was done entirely practical. It's just a guess, because If there was any CGI in this movie, I didn't notice it at all.
I feel like I could ramble on a little more about this movie, but I'm going to stop here and just recommend the film to you (the reader). I'll dig a little deeper into THE CURSE OF LA PATASOLA once I begin recording my video review. For a low budget release, THE CURSE OF LA PATASOLA is a good movie. Watch the trailer for yourself to see if it's something you're interested in. As with every movie, I recommend proceeding with caution. Go in with an open mind, and you will be entertained for the next 84 minutes.
-Gorey Bits.
THE CURSE OF LA PATASOLA plays it smart by not showing you what this entity looks like right away. The movie has a terrific opening sequence, followed by one of the best opening credits I've ever seen on an independent film. The title sequence features remarkable hand drawn artwork that sets the mood for what you're about to experience. I also appreciate the fact that LA PATASOLA has its own theme song. It goes without saying that I was sold within the first ten minutes.
If you were to judge this movie based on the poster and title, your immediate reaction would be that it's just some cheap ripoff of LA LLORONA. Reading comments on sites like YouTube and IMDB can be disheartening. Thankfully, that is not the case with LA PATASOLA. It may have a similar urban legend to something like "La Llorona" (as most legends do anyway), but this movie is much more than just a quick cash grab. It doesn't feel like a passion project either, but that doesn't stain the quality of work coming from director AJ Jones.
Where LA PATASOLA excels the most is with its main cast. Each actor puts on a tremendous performance, making it the true highlight of the film. Actors Najah Bradley and Patrick R. Walker play one of the two main couples in the film. Najah brings a level of seriousness to the film that is virtually unmatched. Her character "Naomi" provides level headed responses to all the supernatural happenings in the story. Naomi's love interest is played by Patrick R. Walker. Patrick plays the role of James, who serves as the film's heart and comic relief. His performance shines the brightest here, and his bits of humor work really well.
The married couple (Daniel and Sara) is played by Gillie and AJ Jones. The dynamic between Daniel and Sara feels the most natural; which makes sense considering that Gillie and AJ are a married couple in real life. This affiliation adds to the story and makes the performances feel authentic. It's important to note that AJ Jones is also the film's director (as mentioned earlier) and co-writer. During my second viewing of THE CURSE OF LA PATASOLA, it became evident that AJ and Gillie Jones work well wearing multiple hats.
Unfortunately, the film's story progression feels by the numbers. That aspect hurts it for me. If you're avid horror viewer such as myself, there won't be much here to surprise you. The story of "La Patasola" comes from an old South American urban legend. Variations of this tale can be researched online, however the movie does a terrific job in explaining what "La Patasola" is. This explanation is what leads up to my biggest disappointment of the film. Once you learn the legend, the sequences of events that take place later will come as no surprise.
LA PATASOLA pumps the breaks on scares in order to focus on the main characters. If you're looking for a jump scare every ten minutes, then you will be severely disappointed. There's a large chunk of the movie that's fixed primarily on the relationships between the main cast. Thankfully, this works in the film's favor considering the dire situations these characters experience later in the finale. The entity known as "La Patasola" is portrayed by Luciana Faulhaber. Depicted as a beautiful woman in a white dress, Luciana does a terrific job as the film's antagonist.
I've talked about Luciana Faulhaber before in my review of PATHOSIS. Between that spooky short film and Luciana's more recent directorial efforts, I've become quite a fan of her work. LA PATASOLA feels like the role Luciana was born to play. What I appreciate most about the film is its reliance on practical effects. I'm almost one hundred percent certain that LA PATASOLA was done entirely practical. It's just a guess, because If there was any CGI in this movie, I didn't notice it at all.
I feel like I could ramble on a little more about this movie, but I'm going to stop here and just recommend the film to you (the reader). I'll dig a little deeper into THE CURSE OF LA PATASOLA once I begin recording my video review. For a low budget release, THE CURSE OF LA PATASOLA is a good movie. Watch the trailer for yourself to see if it's something you're interested in. As with every movie, I recommend proceeding with caution. Go in with an open mind, and you will be entertained for the next 84 minutes.
-Gorey Bits.