Today I was sifting through one of my DVD/Blu Ray 'to watch' pile and pulled out Lake Mungo, a film recommended to me a while back and one I had never got around to watching, probably because of its generic name but also I tend to skip over films with "8 films to die for!' slapped right on the cover. Lake Mungo is the film debut of Australian director Joel Anderson, and it is filmed in a mockumentary/found footage style. Before everyone groans and skips this right off the bat, let me say that it was actually a rather good mockumentary that certainly deserves a bit of your time. Lake Mungo is different from many other horror films that I've seen over the years. The dark, angst-y vibe that pulses through this film sucks you right into the story of this family who is struggling to cope after the sudden death of their young daughter. Most importantly, it is the atmosphere that will keep you enthralled and not some cheap demon/CGI scary face nonsense that most other found footage films hang onto like a crutch.
Lake Mungo tells the story of a family who lost their daughter, Alice, tragically when she drowned at a family outing. The film explores this concept of grief and expertly weaves us through the lives of this family in a way that would almost make you think you were watching an actual documentary had it not been for the acting credits displayed at the end. While there is a supernatural element to this film, it is subtle and executed effectively. The brother of the deceased girl, Mathew, has a passion for photography and begins setting up cameras around the house and photographing the yard. Lo and behold, the image of Alice starts popping up in some of these photos and it leads the family to question whether the bloated body pulled from the river was really Alice or not.
It turns out that Mathew had been photoshopping these images and faking video taped appearances of Alice because deep in his heart, he really wanted the family to exhume the body and do a DNA test just for his own comfort that his sister was indeed dead. His scheme works, but the exhumed body does in fact turn out to be the body of his dearly departed sister. Disappointed, the family turns to some sort of psychologist/psychic named Ray to help work through their grief and perhaps communicate with their dead daughter. Ray decides to film their sessions, and when looking through his own footage, the image of Alice continues to appear without Mathew's film doctoring. This leads the mother to go back over all of her sons recordings and photos with a fine tooth comb. What she finds are some very subtle clues that lead the family on a mysterious goose hunt to unlock the secrets of their daughters secret life and her own inner anguish which ultimately leads to her demise.
Some flaws in this film were that it moves a bit slow at times and failed to capitalize on some moments that, in my opinion, could have really added more dimension to the film. There are certain parts of the film that I don't want to spoil too much, but to me they were very vague. Perhaps the film was shot this way intentionally, but a part of me really wanted to know more about what had happened to Alice prior to her death. I'm sure those of you who have seen the film know the scene I'm talking about. Overall though, the film is pretty solid. The scenes with Alice in the photographs were dreadfully eerie, and she did not even have to have some stupid demonic face to make it so. I think that's the biggest thing I will really applaud the filmmakers for. They took a horror movie format that is overused, and turned it into something rather fresh and free of some of the biggest genre cliches. I was a little disheartened to learn that apparently there is already an American remake in the works, despite the fact that this movie is only from 2008. Talk about hot off the press. I can't even imagine why Paramount would want to pick Lake Mungo up for a remake, but I recommend you check out the original. Oh, and stick around after the credits.
RATING:
**** out of *****
Lake Mungo tells the story of a family who lost their daughter, Alice, tragically when she drowned at a family outing. The film explores this concept of grief and expertly weaves us through the lives of this family in a way that would almost make you think you were watching an actual documentary had it not been for the acting credits displayed at the end. While there is a supernatural element to this film, it is subtle and executed effectively. The brother of the deceased girl, Mathew, has a passion for photography and begins setting up cameras around the house and photographing the yard. Lo and behold, the image of Alice starts popping up in some of these photos and it leads the family to question whether the bloated body pulled from the river was really Alice or not.
It turns out that Mathew had been photoshopping these images and faking video taped appearances of Alice because deep in his heart, he really wanted the family to exhume the body and do a DNA test just for his own comfort that his sister was indeed dead. His scheme works, but the exhumed body does in fact turn out to be the body of his dearly departed sister. Disappointed, the family turns to some sort of psychologist/psychic named Ray to help work through their grief and perhaps communicate with their dead daughter. Ray decides to film their sessions, and when looking through his own footage, the image of Alice continues to appear without Mathew's film doctoring. This leads the mother to go back over all of her sons recordings and photos with a fine tooth comb. What she finds are some very subtle clues that lead the family on a mysterious goose hunt to unlock the secrets of their daughters secret life and her own inner anguish which ultimately leads to her demise.
Some flaws in this film were that it moves a bit slow at times and failed to capitalize on some moments that, in my opinion, could have really added more dimension to the film. There are certain parts of the film that I don't want to spoil too much, but to me they were very vague. Perhaps the film was shot this way intentionally, but a part of me really wanted to know more about what had happened to Alice prior to her death. I'm sure those of you who have seen the film know the scene I'm talking about. Overall though, the film is pretty solid. The scenes with Alice in the photographs were dreadfully eerie, and she did not even have to have some stupid demonic face to make it so. I think that's the biggest thing I will really applaud the filmmakers for. They took a horror movie format that is overused, and turned it into something rather fresh and free of some of the biggest genre cliches. I was a little disheartened to learn that apparently there is already an American remake in the works, despite the fact that this movie is only from 2008. Talk about hot off the press. I can't even imagine why Paramount would want to pick Lake Mungo up for a remake, but I recommend you check out the original. Oh, and stick around after the credits.
RATING:
**** out of *****