Lake Mungo (2008)

"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.

Fmovies: There is something about this movie that stuck with me long after I watched it. I watch a lot of horror movies and I rarely find them to actually be scary, just entertaining. But they don't typically linger. Lake Mungo lingered. And not in a fun, happily ever after way. It lingered in the back of my mind and when I tried going to bed that night, I found I was still thinking about the movie and I was actually scared. I couldn't remember the last time a movie made me feel scared.

There's nothing overtly terrifying about this movie. I haven't seen the trailer but I can imagine it being quite dull. There aren't any jump scares, no cgi, no shaky cam. But as the movie progresses, do does the dread and uneasiness. There are twists and turns. At times the film is morose as it delves deep into a grieving family.

It's best to watch this movie without any knowledge of the plot. And don't be surprised if you lose some sleep.

I really enjoyed "Lake Mungo". It's a basic ghost story structured like a mockumentary. An Australian teenager named Alice drowns while swimming in a lake. After her death, her family (mom, dad, and younger brother) try to cope with her loss. Dad hides in his work, mom suffers from nightmares and guilt that she wasn't emotionally there for Alice while she was alive, and younger brother focuses on his photography hobby.

Strange things start to happen around the house and the family begins to hear sounds at night. They decide to call in a psychic researcher for help. I won't reveal any more but I will say the film is basically one long, creepy slow-burn up to one heck of scary moment. Seriously. I watch a lot of horror films (and I do mean A LOT) and I honestly cannot remember the last time a horror film actually scared me. It's probably been at least ten years. Well, this film did. I think that's recommendation enough.

I give "Lake Mungo" a 9 instead of a 10 because I think the story has one glaring problem. I'm not giving away anything by saying this but I think the writer/director tried to fit much extraneous story into too little time. There is one entire section of the film that probably should have been tossed. But that's just my personal opinion.

Lake Mungo fmovies. LAKE MUNGO might sound like a teen flick or some camping murder spree so let me tell you clearly that this clever film is not another one of those. LAKE MUNGO is a tiny budget ghost thriller with about 4 major sequences I personally found terrifying. Actually frightening. Yes. The premise is this: a nice ordinary family in a rural town are heartbroken when their 15 year old daughter drowns at a family picnic. About a month later they realize her spirit is in her room at home and as a ghost she wanders through the house at night. The film is actually about the mind bending emotions the family experience in missing their beloved daughter but not wanting her as a ghost. And then the genuinely scary stuff starts. It is not a violent movie, nor is it a Blair Witch wannabee, it is a melancholy ghost movie with a terrific emotional dilemma and absolutely hair raising fright scenes. They film is made to resemble a 60 Minutes investigation... and uses home movies, call phone camera scenes and séances mixed with psychological settings and tape-recording confessions. I had no idea what was going to happen next and the revelations both visually and in the plot twists are astonishing. LAKE MUNGO has already been bought for a US remake but this little indie original from Australia is the real deal: a genuinely scary ghost film like THE SIXTH SENSE or the 1961 film THE INNOCENTS. I actually yelped several times in fright. And yelping is not my regular reaction. LAKE MUNGO in its present version might turn up in a horror fest near you and if you see it mis-labeled you will find it is the surprise of the event. EEK ! Remember the original 1980 film THE CHANGELING with George C Scott? Well it is as spooky as that.

Well the movie itself has some flaws. It has some parts that is really unnecessary. But the allover story is really interesting.

It is one of the slowest horror/mystery movies I've seen, but i think that it benefits from it. The scares are mostly...not really scares, but they will get you goosebumps for sure. But you really have to stay the entire movie to get the entire thing. The end is what made it for me. People are comparing it to paranormal activity, and I get that, but the matter a fact is that these two movies are not very similar, the only thing really is that they use some home movie style footage.

Anyway, its a good movie if you like slow movies, and good scares. But its no movie theater material.

I was really surprised by this Aussie movie... I expected a straight forward ghost movie and at first you kind of get what you expect.... except for that the movie is entirely shot in the style of a TV documentary featuring mostly interviews with eyewitnesses, some old family video footage etc. mixed to a typical TV collage style. Funny thing is... this works damn good and is even more thrilling than your average ghost movie. The atmosphere is really dense and even though you barely see anything than blurry photos I was pretty creeped out in the first half of the movie.

The basic plot is about a family who loses their daughter on a swimming trip. Some time later the dead body is found but especially the mother finds no closure and soon strange things happen in their house. Its all the typical restless ghost haunting a house story but damn is it effective... and even better, half way into the movie the ghost thing gets dropped when some rather earthly explanations start to surface and the family looks deeper into the last weeks of her daughters life. Its all driving serpentine and when you think this is just a psychological movie it takes another turn back to the ghost story. The finale really gets you and leaves a lot of gaps for your mind to fill but thats what I really liked about the movie. Its a damn creepy ghost movie that makes you think and it throws you curve balls right until the credits roll. Forget all that Asian rip-off ghost stuff and give Lake Mungo a try... I doubt you will be disappointed.