Lake Mungo

LAKE MUNGO is an exceptionally well-made "mockumentary" about family, loss, grief, and difficult secrets revealed. It also happens to be a fantastic ghost story / supernatural mystery.

The character of 16 year-old Alice Palmer (Talia Zucker), who apparently died in a swimming accident, is haunting and ominous. Even when unseen. So deeply has she affected her family, that they are compelled to -finally- see her for who / what she truly was.

Alice is more than a mere specter. She's a living memory, driving the Palmers to uncover the truth at all costs. The revelation of which is quite shocking, even by today's jaded standards.

If you prefer movies that creep over you gradually rather than jumps and jolts every ten seconds, then this should deliver what you need...

An extremely low budget and low key Australian horror done in the faux-documentary style that has now well and truly worn out its welcome, Lake Mungo is impressive in what it does with limited resources and its ambition is to be commended but a big problem with this now cult film is that it's sadly not very scary.

Whilst suitably creepy at times as Lake Mungo wears on towards it's slight 80 minute run time the films initial chilling set-up slowly descends into something that becomes unfortunately tiresome even though the film's final credits scenes provide some unnerving finishing moments.

While criticisms can be easily made of Lake Mungo's inability to capitalize on its promising cornerstones director Joel Anderson certainly must be commended for sticking to his low-budget guns and delivering a mock-doc that to the uninitiated may absolutely seem like a legitimate documentary! Using grainy phone footage, good use of talking heads and fake news reports, Anderson crafts a tale that actually feels real even if the story its telling becomes a little far-fetched and lacking. Telling the story of the sad demise of young Alice Palmer in this way allows Anderson to hide the films limitations in ways that don't take away from the films central premise and only some clunky delivery of dialogue really gives Lake Mungo's sleight of hand away.

One of the more impressive Australian horrors of recent times (although that's not entirely an amazing feat) and perhaps the best locally made example of a faux documentary yet produced (again not exactly tough competition), Lake Mungo has clearly in the years since its release found an appreciative audience that it failed to find upon initial runs these now many moons ago and you could do a lot worse than making Lake Mungo your horror fix over the slowly dying Paranormal Activity franchise or any other such higher profile wannabe.

3 buried cell phones out of 5

As a fan of psychological horror films, I'm so glad to have stumbled across this little gem in my local rental store. The movie pulls you in, to the point where I did a google search to double check that it wasn't a real documentary. It helps a great deal that there are no big name actors, or over-the-top special effects. Alice's family and friends really come across as people who are not only struggling to get past their loss, but aren't sure how, or even if it's okay to. The flat affect of her parents, particularly,reminded me of real people I've encountered while working in a hospital, who are, in a lot of ways, still in shock long after the loss itself. If you like your horror exclusively blood and gore, or need big Hollywood special effects to enjoy a movie, you will undoubtedly be disappointed, but for anyone who appreciates films that slowly get under your skin, and stay with you long after the end credits, Lake Mungo is a must-see.

"Lake Mungo" is an Australian film that is part horror and part mystery...with a stronger emphasis on the mystery aspect to the story. It begins with the Palmer family on an outing and their daughter, Alice, drowning in the reservoir. What follows is the family trying to make sense of this death and as they go through Alice's things, they begin to realize that there's far more to the story than simply her dying. She certainly was NOT a normal teen and I'll leave it to you to see how and why.

If you are looking to be scared, I doubt if this film will do it for you. But instead of cheap scares, the film manages to be both creepy and unique. Using a fake documentary look and style, it certainly is unique and keeps your attention.

So I am:

Totally kicking myself for watching this right before bed. I'm so scared, but it was absolutely worth watching. I am normally a boss when it comes to scary movies, however this particular movie has some twists and turns that make you think about it for hours after. It starts out slow and steady letting you in on the back story of the family and what has happened. The whole film is shot documentary style with interviews etc.(and let me just say, that if I didn't know this movie was a "mock" horror or whatever you call it, I would have been pet-ri-fied) haha.

I was a little iffy:

After the first major twist (if you will), but I promise, keep watching because the end is worth the wait. I feel like I want to tell people all about this underrated movie and how it made me feel right now, but it's late so I'll wait and just tell all you movie people who read reviews to just go watch it, in the dark. Don't be a pansy.

Overall:

One of the best I've seen recently...it's hard to come by good horror especially ghost stories, but this one was actually pretty good. I like when I come across something unexpected. 8.5/10 Stars.

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