Lake Mungo

This movie explores and portrays the horrific side of depression, loss, confusion and desperation. Following a family trying to understand their daughter while piecing their life together after just loosing her. [spoiler] the way in which I read this movie is that Alice killed herself, after hiding her depression from the ones closest to her, and in the end even hiding it from the world (at lake mungo). The movie follows her family in their attempt to understand why she died, slowly piecing together the remenants of the life she kept secret from them. All the while still seeing her in the house, pushing them to look Draper. When they eventually find the last piece of evidence (the phone) which contains Alices interaction with her deepest fear and want which is to end her life. Her family are able to let go and Alice with them. The performances and b-roll where increadible. [/spoiler] the whole movie felt very real. An amazing depiction of how ghosts are a manifestation of people’s pain. 10/10

Horrifying and chilling. Treasure in the overwhelming pile of todays horror movies.

Lake Mungo is the combination of perfect writing, great direction, suspenseful background music and sound editing, but most importantly so great and natural acting, which in addition with documentary style makes it so real and chilling. The absence of any modern jumpscares we see in todays horror and just pure tension build-up makes the whole experience even scarier.

The last scenes and final encounter at Lake Mungo is one of the most terrifying and bone-chilling moments I can remember in my whole horror history. I literally felt shiver coming down my spine, even a few days later just by replaying the scene in my head.

Lake Mungo will stay with me for a very very long time and I am so glad for that. So underrated...

One of the most unique horror movies I have seen in awhile. Lake Mungo is structured as if it were a crime documentary and it successfully portrays the events occurring in this film as almost undeniably true, though it does achieve this through sacrificing quite a few things you would see in a normal film. Just like all crime documentaries there isn't a big payoff and often there are more questions created than answered. This movie understands that the most terrifying things are the ones left unknown to us and uses an impressive amount of restraint to achieve a sense of unknown dread that takes a hold of you and never lets go even after the film is finished.

In short do not go into this movie expecting any type of conventional horror film. Here is a quick test for you to whether or not you'll enjoy Lake Mungo: Do you find documentaries boring? If the answer is yes than you most likely will find Lake Mungo uneventful and boring also. But if the answer is no it is most definitely worth the watch.

Lake Mungo features one of the best and most effective jump scares I have seen in a horror movie. Thinking about the scene itself sends me a feeling of terror and chills. It isn't just a cheap thrill, as it leaves you guessing. The slow build-up to it and you as the viewer, at first, not knowing what you are looking at, but when the realization kicks in, so does the terror.

It's right up there with the best scares like The Exorcist III, Insidious, Rec, The Conjuring, Sinister, and It Follows.

The rest of the movie is equally solid and unnerving. It has this sense of sadness and eerie, almost like a classic ghost story. It's very unique in that aspect.

I loved it! This was a very cool mockumentary. I think it was well done, but it’s definitely a very slow movie, that is meant for a niche audience. If you enjoy paranormal shows, and documentaries, or enjoy ghost hunting shows, and the type of shows with a person telling a story, with reenactment actors, than you’ll love this movie.

It's a slow and methodical movie about loss and how people interact with it. It is slow paced and not about big scares all the time. It's pretty heart-wrenching, actually. If you want something akin to Paranormal activity, this isn't it.

Ryan Hollinger has made a video on it. Maybe he can say it better than I.

It's clear that the film explores themes of grief and sadness, and how people cope with these emotions after a loved one's death. It did a great job at that, but I couldn't help but feel like it was slow at times. The back-and-forth between realism and the supernatural also felt a bit excessive and unnecessary. However, that one scene made the entire movie worthwhile, it was so chilling that it actually scared me which is honestly rare. The end credits was also a nice touch.

I went into Lake Mungo not knowing what it was about, all I knew that it was a mockumentary, and damn it is a good one!

The slow pace, the acting, the way they slowly reveal what really was going on in the life of Alice Palmer, those images, it all is very creepy. Not in a like very scary way but it is just so unsettling. Especially when you watch it in the middle of the night.

The director/writer Joel Anderson did a really good job with this one, his one and only film. He has you on your those during the whole film and yet never makes you scared with like a jump scare. It is all psychological. No gore, no loud noises, just some still images.

The only thing I can tell, go in as blind as possible. Don't read anything about this one and just sit back and watch Lake Mungo.

There are a lot of recommendations about this movie being very scary. It has it's moments, mostly generated by its grainy video clips showing the apparent ghost of a recently deceased family member. Personally, I'd compare this to "The Blair Witch Project". It's all about seeing what might be there and not actually having the threat in your face.

This has a number of twists and turns and the documentary style works to set an eerie mood. But I was surprised by how much this emphasized the trauma of losing a loved one and coming to terms with it. On that level, it was effective. As an actual Horror movie though, I guess it all depends on your definition of horror. There is no gore and maybe one semi-jump scare, so if those are your benchmarks for what a Horror movie should be, your going to be disappointed in this. However, if a creepy mood and a fear of the unknown is your measuring stick, enjoy. This will have you peering down hallways and glaring into darkened rooms.

Like sleeping with a cold can of cola in your bed, you're going to get chills when you're least ready for it.

An efficient, atmospheric and often chilling Australian low budget found footage film that will linger with you like a ghost long after you turn it off...