'The Curse of La Llorona' scares up weekend box office win in its debut

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The story of La Llorona, "The Weeping Woman", is a centuries-old Latin American legend. And now, it's also an R-rated horror film! As the legend goes, the spirit of a weeping woman wanders the earth hunting children as her prey. Why? In the 1600s, she drowned her own kids to punish her cheating husband.

Now La Llorona is Los Angeles... intrigued by the children of a social worker, played by Linda Cardellini.

"It brings somebody to the screen that a lot of people are really familiar with and it introduces it to a whole other group of people who don't know who she is," said Cardellini. "And I think once you meet her, you won't forget her."

Cardellini's character thought she was doing the right thing when she took away a mother's two children. Now, it's payback time.

"You will get those chills," said co-star Patricia Velasquez. "But it's also a great story for women and strength and motherhood."

"Buy a ticket and get on and enjoy the ride," said Cardellini. "It's a fun movie."

Co-star Raymond Cruz laughed about what it would take to get through this edge of your seat thriller.

"You need holy water, a cross, sage crystals. You need to get blessed by a priest and you need to be cleansed by a curandero," joked Cruz. "And then you might be okay."

"The Curse of La Llorona" is in theaters now.