Director
Joel Anderson
Cast
Talia Zucker - Alice Palmer
Martin Sharpe - Mathew Palmer
Rosie Traynor - June Palmer
David Pledger - Russell Palmer
Steve Jodrell - Ray Kemeny
Back in 2006, advertisements for the "After Dark Horrorfest" (an annual horror film festival which featured eight independent horror movies) started airing.
Also referred to as "8 Films to Die For," the ads I saw made these titles seem like they were the most horrific of horror films made.
Of course I was completely captivated, and managed to catch a few of these films such Gravedancers, Wicked Little Things, and Penny Dreadful. And they were alright at best.
In 2011, the "Horrorfest" was replaced with "After Dark Originals" which I believe still distributes independent horror movies.
Even Snoop Dogg got in on the action with an anthology movie called Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror which stars Danny Trejo, Billy Dee Williams, and Ernie Hudson. This was the "popular?" ninth film amidst the eight films at the 2006 festival.
I haven't seen it but being from the Bay Area, I can't imagine a hood more freaky than East Oakland.
Occasionally, I find some of these movies mixed in with other horror titles. I still come across movies under the label "8 Films to Die For" from time to time. Normally they're pre-owned copies.
Even so, I've paid little attention to them until now. That's because someone recommended one of these movies to me under the promise I wouldn't be disappointed.
Lake Mungo is an independent horror movie from Australia, released in 2008 and is part of the the Horrorfest list of movies.
It's a "mockumentary" film mixed with the found-footage style of horror movie making. I didn't know that going in, so when I found the movie on Amazon Prime and started watching, I thought I selected the wrong film.
Lake Mungo centers on the drowning of a teenage girl named Alice Palmer (Talia Zucker) while she and her family are on a trip to a dam near Ararat, Australia.
After days and days of searching, rescue teams find a body at the bottom of the lake. They believe it's Alice though her face is deformed having been submerged for so long.
Following the funeral, the Palmer family begin witnessing strange activity around their home.
Alice's brother, Mathew (Martin Sharpe) who has a keen interest in photography, sets up cameras around the house and inadvertently captures several images of Alice in various parts of the home. 
Alice's dad, Russell (David Pledger) even claims he witnessed his daughter walk into her bedroom while he was sitting on her bed reminiscing.
These sightings push her parents to exhume the body from the gravesite to ensure without any doubts that the body found at Lake Mungo was truly their daughter. And it is.
Her mother, June Palmer (Rosie Traynor) consults a physic, Ray Kemeny (Steve Jodrell) who tries to help the family, but fails to mention an important piece of information.
They soon learn a dark secret Alice kept from everyone - a secret no one expected.
I'll leave the synopsis at that though there's still much more to the story. It's a movie I really don't want to spoil.
The movie succeeds impressively in making a documentary style production that's both frightening and intriguing.
Fear isn't just found in the movie's paranormal elements and realism. It's in the mystery that seems to slowly envelope the audience as the movie progresses. What dark secrets do our loved ones hide? And how will we react when the truth finally inserts itself into our lives?
There is little grotesqueries, but plenty of engrossing points and foreboding dread throughout.
Lake Mungo also lures you into watching it again as the movie ends showing you what you probably missed the first time.
This is truly a modern ghost story told through modern means, and it's depicted beautifully.
Sometimes found footage films lose sight of the fact they're precisely that- found footage. They begin to tell a chronological story that diminishes the realism, and gives the movie makers away.
Lake Mungo keeps the documentary style going, and maintains the realism from beginning to end while throwing the audience some unexpected twists.
Some of the line delivery felt like unscripted dialogue just as you'd see in a real documentary. Other times, it leans a little too close to sounding as though the actors are delivering lines they rehearsed rather than giving statements on the spot as they're interviewed in front of a camera.
Nevertheless, it's a well constructed movie that explores death and familial relationships.
I read one review from The Hollywood Reporter that called the build-up "slow." I disagree.
I was brought into the story almost immediately. I was curious from the beginning where this was going to go.
Many comments I came across online call Lake Mungo a "hidden gem" of a horror film. Now that I agree with. It's very much an underrated movie in the genre, and one I recommend.
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