If you were not told otherwise, you would easily believe lake mungo to be a genuine. Played almost as a television news special, lake mungo is the most believable entry thus far. A series of clues lead the family to lake mungo where alices secret past emerges. With rosie traynor, david pledger, martin sharpe, talia zucker. A movie that gets it right is 2008s lake mungo, an australian supernatural.
The downplayed, monotone performances of the actors is very effective. I could not help but think that there was a little of twin peaks in this movie, but i know that this is a true story and twin peaks was not, sometimes for the soul to find its resting place it needs to be reassured that its loved ones will be ok, and that it is alright to leave, often when older parents hold on because. Lake mungo succeeds at being not only a chilling ghost story, but a film about grief. I cant get over how completely convincing all the actors were.
In lake mungo spoilers, what double life does she have. Lake mungo will keep you awake at night with its horrifying reality. It employs a mockumentary format using actors in place of interviewees to tell the story of a family trying to come to terms with the drowning death of their daughter and the potentially supernatural. Lake mungo started off as a bit of an experiment devised by the brilliant mind of writer director joel anderson. Lake mungo really is a very simple film, it follows the palmer family as they deal with the loss of alice their daughtersister. Lake mungo is extremely unique in the way that the film is pieced together as a documentary. This quote signifies lake mungo isnt just a conventional ghost story but just as much an enigma around how death can disrupt the natural cycle of life. Its a slowburning ghost story that reminds us that the outback the brightest and sunniest of places casts the darkest shadows. Lake mungo uses a documentary format to tell the story of a young girl named. Australian film lake mungo joel anderson, 2008 is, in terms of generic form. I really thought for a moment there that i was watching a documentary on the earlier film lake mungo that was telling the actual true story of the. For some reason, i thought that alice was already dead or something like that. Lake mungo is a mystery, a thriller and a ghost story told in documentary form that. Jun 07, 20 a movie that was part of the failed and, on my part at least, much missed, after dark horrorfest, lake mungo was a pleasant surprise, one that stuck with me well after the cameras stopped rolling.
Whats the story the story of a teenager whose apparent death sets off a series of paranormal events. A family attempts to come to terms with the tragic. The framing approach echoes that of a documentary, with a film crew supposedly interviewing family members, friends, and other acquaintances of a drowned 16yearold girl. This isnt paranormal activity, despite the vaguely similar premise. Dec 28, 2016 basically lake mungo is a ghost story. They are australias oldest human remains to be found, being 40,000 to 42,000 years old. The movie has a similar premise with paranormal activity 2007, and it also makes effective use of the mockumentary method if not better. Beginning with her death, anderson tracks alices story with documentary. It was not easy to earn the funding for another script due to the larger budget.
It is filmed in a documentary style, in which the familyfriendswork associates are interviewed by an unseen person, with pictures and video footage shown as well. Frightened by what appears to be otherworldly activity, her family discovers secrets about their daughter as well as what lurks beneath lake mungo. The real reason mcdonalds got rid of ronald mcdonald. When it comes to horror, im a real sucker for grainy images of a. It chillingly employs a faux documentary and foundfootage format to tell the story of the palmer family, who are attempting to come to terms with the strange drowning death of. Not only is the dead girl alice palmer laura palmer being the deceased subject of twin peaks but she was a young woman with a double life which was only revealed after her. Lake mungo is a 2008 australian psychological horror film written and directed by joel anderson and starring talia zucker and martin sharpe. A version appeared to play the european festival circuit at 87 minutes. The foreboding atmosphere, combined with some truly unsettling footage, is enough to keep the all the lights in the house on for the remainder of the evening. Jul 29, 2019 the lake mungo iii or lake mungo 3 or willandra lakes hominid 3, wlh3 burial, located 450 meters 1,500 feet from the cremation site, was a fully articulated and intact human skeleton, discovered in 1974. Most of the movie is the interview with the family members. Joel andersons debut film, the suspensefilled fright fest called lake mungo for those unaware of australian geography, it is a real place and holds the key to the films central mystery.
Another lake mungo thread questions, comments, spoilers. Directed and written by joel anderson, lake mungo handles the subject of grief and a familys hope for afterlife very well. Everything you need to know about lake mungo movie. Oct 23, 2019 lake mungo young alice drowns during a family vacation, and the familystricken with griefstart noticing weird things. Considering it was made on a budget of 25,000, this movie is extremely impressive from a technical standpoint.
It employs a mockumentary format using actors in place of interviewees to tell the story of a family trying to come to terms with the drowning death of their daughter and the potentially supernatural events they experience after her death. Mungo man finally returns home history smithsonian magazine. I cant seem to get that image out of my head of her dead self she recorded at lake mungo. After her grieving family bury alice a series of inexplicable, strange and possibly supernatural events lead them to seek the help of a parapsychologist who in turn uncovers alices secret double life. Lake mungo is a feature film about grief and the harrowing 12. The adult male body had been sprinkled with powdered red ochre at the time of the burial. Lake mungo is significant to australia because of its discovery of mungo man and mungo lady. Although the film is accurately based on violence of teenagers these days asked in movie ratings. Wolf creek 2005 few australian films have made such a mark on the worldwide cinematic landscape as greg mcleans grindhouse slasher. Smithsonian researchers forge a new policy for returning human remains to.
We do see some familys home video and still photos and they are pretty creepy. Apologies to samson and delilah, mary and max and balibo. Mar 20, 2010 the twists in the second half of the film, though motivated and logical, were too redolent of twin peaks for me, so much that it detracted from my experience of lake mungo. Its primarily about the story of a family who has lost a loved one and cant let her go. Cinema is filled with ghost stories, some horrifying, some tragic. Recalled mainly through interviews, camera shots, and cell phone footage lake mungo tells the tragic story of sixteenyearold alice palmer, played by talia zucker, who drowned while swimming in the towns local dam. The true beauty of lake mungo is andersons refusal to employ cheap theatrics or tired genre conventions to elicit his scares. Lake mungo is a feature film about grief and the harrowing 12 months that follow the accidental death of 16 year old alice palmer. Watch lake mungo 2008 full movie free online streaming tubi. Absolutely did not expect this movie to give me the heebies, much less the jeebies. Following the accidental drowning of 16yearold alice palmer, the grieving family become convinced that she might be haunting them. This quote signifies lake mungo isnt just a conventional ghost story but just as much an enigma around how death can disrupt the natural.
Written in naturalistic sequences of interviews and real time footage, the film. Anderson decided to create a script of lake mungo, which could be filmed using a low budget. The documentary is about a 15yearold girl named alice palmer who tragically drowns at a dam in ararat, australia during a day trip with her mother june, father. Jul 06, 2018 fifty years ago, at lake mungo, the true scale of aboriginal australians epic story was revealed. Lake mungos remoteness is central to its appeal to travelers. Lake mungo is a mockumentary, kin to, but not the same as, the recent spate of found footage films that have graced the big screen for the last. The documentary style feels authentic, and strangely even though the film is interspersed with a lot of footage that breaks the documentary style, i didnt. David lynch is, perhaps, not the chief person you would think of to inspire an aussie ghost story, but there it is clear as day right there on the screen. Lake mungo is an excellent documentarystyle ghost story from australia. Sixteenyearold alice palmer drowns while swimming in. Presented as a documentary about alices family, lake mungo is a chilling. This is much closer to a paranormal trillersupernatural drama than a horror movie. We see a professional news piece on screen, from one on one interviews with family members and friends to in depth discussions with police and even news footage from the drowning.
Is the movie lake mungo based on a true story answers. To my surprise, lake mungo turned out to be a faux documentary, complete with interviews, allegedly paranormal raw footage, and hypnotic, unsettling broll of the palmer house. Strange things start happening after a girl is found drowned in a lake. This movie had zero cheesy jump scares and not a drop of blood and still got. Lake mungo is a dry lake located in new south wales, australia. Lake mungo is a mystery, a thriller and a ghost story told in documentary form that illustrates how the dead can forever haunt the living. It accomplishes much more than this years other big effort, paranormal activity, which, i found rather tame at best. May 19, 2014 directed and written by joel anderson, lake mungo handles the subject of grief and a familys hope for afterlife very well. Few films convey this grieving process better than 2008 psychological horror lake mungo, a modern indie classic that somehow failed to get uk distribution upon release. Upon discovering her secret double life, a series of clues lead them to lake mungo. Jan 22, 2020 lake mungo 2009 ending explained duration. Be aware that the movie is mockumntary, so there is no jump scares and anything like that. What seems like an open and shut case of accidental death, is turned upside down with the start of strange events within her family home.
Based on the true story of the snowtown murders also known as the bodiesinbarrels murders, this film has a lot of crime and drama elements involved. May 04, 2020 lake mungo 2008 is joel andersons debut film, which is surprising because it is a wellcrafted horror gem. I will say that im still baffled by how authentic the documentary style was. Fifty years ago, at lake mungo, the true scale of aboriginal.
The film received critical acclaim during its limited release. Starring talia zucker, rosie traynor, david pledger, martin sharpe and steve jodrell. Its understated, expertly crafted, and surprisingly deep. The family later find alices mobile phone, which she mysteriously buried during a camping trip with friends. Most summaries of the movie will tell you the film is about a girl named alice who drowned and after her death her family begins experiencing strange going ons, like unexplained. The lake is the central feature of mungo national park, and is one of seventeen lakes in the world heritage listed willandra lakes region. Sounds pretty cheesy i know but trust me on this one. The movie, while it is highly unsettling, leaves me with a certain sadness.
The 20 best outback gothic films taste of cinema movie. The style of filming and the subtle and extremely convincing performance that the actors gave was enough to have me checking imdb to make sure i was watching the correct movie. I watched lake mungo for the 2nd time this week last night, and came away with the feeling cemented that i really love this movie. Lake mungo is a mystery, a thriller and a ghost story. It is about 760 km due west of sydney and 90 km northeast of mildura. No, eden lake is not based on a true story, it is based on a screenplay by james watkins. Jul 05, 2018 on the golden jubilee of the discovery of mungo ladys 40,000yearold remains, we can reflect on aboriginal australias vast history, which predates the arrival of homo sapiens in both europe and. Lake mungo is an australian film and was released on dvd earlier in that country at 84 minutes. Lake mungo is a unique and heartwrenching ghost story. Yet lake mungo is a quiet, understated little ghost story that packs one heck of a creepy wallop. Apr 01, 2011 lake mungo is a supernatural mystery and ghost story told as a documentary that explores just how the dead can forever haunt the living. A family mourns the death of its 16yearold daughter, alice. The tricky thing about dealing with grief in film is that grief is loss. Why lake mungo is the best ghost film youve never seen.
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