In the spirit of Halloween, I rented "The Wailer" and "The Wailer 2" over the weekend.
I watched "The Wailer" first and found it had some inspired moments but overall it was boring, the production value was cheap, and some of the acting was not too great.
So I wasn't expecting much more from the sequel, "The Wailer 2". I was pleasantly surprised.
"The Wailer 2" picks up a few month after "The Wailer". A professor travels down to Mexico to free his daughter, who he believes is possessed by an evil spirit, La Llorona. Though searching for her dead children, La Llorona kills any man who see her.
The opening scene is cool and sufficiently gory. We meet the Professor, who is having visions of his daughter Julie killing unsuspecting men. What follows is an adventure of sorts with the Professor and a newly made friend, Chava, pursuing La Llorona.
"The Wailer 2" has a high production value. Filmed in Mexico, everything appears authentic and appropriately creepy. The lead actors and actresses are competent, and the makeup effects are very good. While I can't say I was scared out of my seat, I did find the scenes with La Llorona suspenseful. The scene with a cowboy and a gun was particularly nerve wracking.
On the downside, some of the acting of the secondary roles are mediocre and two characters, a cop and a detective, were almost incomprehensible, due to their broken English. Also, there was a lot of focus made on a symbol in the film. Much dialog was focused on the symbol but I never really understood it, nor did I feel it was necessary.
The climax of the film was exciting with a great location, good effects, and believable acting. The film ends a bit like the original "Wailer", kind of ambiguously suggesting the story is not over.
All in all, I thought this film was good and surprisingly better than the original. To be fair, it is a different film, with less scare and more suspense, but good none the less.
I watched "The Wailer" first and found it had some inspired moments but overall it was boring, the production value was cheap, and some of the acting was not too great.
So I wasn't expecting much more from the sequel, "The Wailer 2". I was pleasantly surprised.
"The Wailer 2" picks up a few month after "The Wailer". A professor travels down to Mexico to free his daughter, who he believes is possessed by an evil spirit, La Llorona. Though searching for her dead children, La Llorona kills any man who see her.
The opening scene is cool and sufficiently gory. We meet the Professor, who is having visions of his daughter Julie killing unsuspecting men. What follows is an adventure of sorts with the Professor and a newly made friend, Chava, pursuing La Llorona.
"The Wailer 2" has a high production value. Filmed in Mexico, everything appears authentic and appropriately creepy. The lead actors and actresses are competent, and the makeup effects are very good. While I can't say I was scared out of my seat, I did find the scenes with La Llorona suspenseful. The scene with a cowboy and a gun was particularly nerve wracking.
On the downside, some of the acting of the secondary roles are mediocre and two characters, a cop and a detective, were almost incomprehensible, due to their broken English. Also, there was a lot of focus made on a symbol in the film. Much dialog was focused on the symbol but I never really understood it, nor did I feel it was necessary.
The climax of the film was exciting with a great location, good effects, and believable acting. The film ends a bit like the original "Wailer", kind of ambiguously suggesting the story is not over.
All in all, I thought this film was good and surprisingly better than the original. To be fair, it is a different film, with less scare and more suspense, but good none the less.
