The lake is the main feature of mungo national park. 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 a 2008 australian psychological horror film written and directed by joel anderson and starring talia zucker and martin sharpe. If you only like horror with jumpscares and shocks then this probably isnt one for you, but if you like understated, subtly creepy ideas and images then lake mungo will be right up your street. Everything you need to know about lake mungo movie. The sites are located near lake mungo, in new south wales, australia, in the world heritagelisted willandra lakes region. Watch lake mungo 2008 full movie free online streaming. Lake mungo 2008 alice drowns while swimming and her family begins experiencing inexplicable events in their home. The lake is the central feature of mungo national park, and is one of seventeen lakes in the world heritage listed willandra lakes region.
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. 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. Alices boyfriend appears revealing further shocking details from a school trip that was taken to lake mungo leading the family back to the location of the. One of the scariest ghost movies ive personally ever seen. While the month of october brings chilling horror movies and jump scares, lake mungo brings psychological horrors to life. For obvious reasons, the film will be hard for most to digest, due in part to the pictures history channel aesthetic. Lake mungo is an exceptionally wellacted and cleverly made horror film with a quietly unsettling undercurrent to it.
Horror films deal with death, torment and pain but rarely explicitly with grief. The movie has a similar premise with paranormal activity 2007, and it also makes effective use of the mockumentary method if not better. It is about 760 km due west of sydney and 90 km northeast of mildura. Ray discovers that alice led a secret, double life.
The movie relies on the building atmosphere to create genuine scares and ensures that viewers remain either on the edge of their seats or hiding behind a pillow. Movies like lake mungo if you like lake mungo you are looking for psychological, tense and suspenseful movies about with supernatural, ghost, investigation, uncover truth, teenage life, mystery and family life themes of drama, horror and mystery genre shot in australia. This movie is a tribute to the b movies of the 50s, but what those movies lacked was gore, and the deadly spawn is fucking drenched. Played almost as a television news special, lake mungo is the most believable entry thus far. Instead, the filmmakers offer a quiet, contemplative movie about the love of a family and the tragedy of a life cut short. 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. Lake mungo remains simple english wikipedia, the free. Lake mungo is a 2008 low budget australian psychological horror film directed by joel anderson and starring talia zucker. Lake mungo is an australian film and was released on dvd earlier in that country at 84 minutes.
Lake mungo is a mystery, a thriller and a ghost story. A movie that gets it right is 2008s lake mungo, an australian supernatural horror film directed by joel anderson. When her body is recovered and a verdict of accidental death returned, her grieving family buries her. When the family says alices ghost has moved on, they were actually wrong.
Sixteenyearold alice palmer drowns while swimming in. 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. Lake mungo is a dry lake in the southwestern part of new south wales, australia. Lake mungo follows the palmer family as they deal with the loss of their daughter alice. You can get a creepier vibe from something dealing with a supernatural force than you can with something real, like a. They are lake mungo 1 lm1, or mungo lady, lake mungo 2 lm2, and lake mungo 3 lm3, or mungo man. As the plot develops it is claimed by matthew that the sightings were only an elaborate hoax, orchestrated by matthew to help his mother move on and accept the death of her daughter. Lake mungo looks like one of those tv episodes about reallife ghost stories, only slightly betteracted, with better production and an overcomplicated. Lake mungo 2008 traumatic horror movies horrorrated. Lake mungo simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Plot and symbolism fact vs fiction behind the scenes movie music. May 04, 2020 lake mungo 2008 is joel andersons debut film, which is surprising because it is a wellcrafted horror gem. Strange things start happening after a girl is found drowned in a lake. Grief often has to do with the death of someone close to us. He was clearly important enough for his passing to be marked with a ritual ceremony. Sixteenyearold alice palmer drowns while swimming in the local dam. Lake mungo is a 2008 australian psychological horror film written and directed by joel. After 16yearold alice palmer drowns in a local dam, her family experiences a series of strange, inexplicable events centred in and around their home. It accomplishes much more than this years other big effort, paranormal activity, which, i found rather tame at best. Considering it was made on a budget of 25,000, this movie is extremely impressive from a technical standpoint.
The adult male body had been sprinkled with powdered red ochre at the time of the burial. If you are unwilling to think and feel, if you cannot empathize with those suffering loss, if you need plots spelled out for you, you will get little from lake mungo. Sixteenyearold alice palmer drowns while swimming with her family at a dam in ararat, australia. The family have agreed to be filmed for a documentary due to the strange occurrences that took place about a month after alices passing. 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. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. May 19, 2014 directed and written by joel anderson, lake mungo handles the subject of grief and a familys hope for afterlife very well. Munich is a 2005 historical action thriller movie, produced and directed by steven spielberg and written by tony kushner and eric roth. It is based on the 1984 book vengeance by george jonas, an account of operation wrath of god, the israeli governments secret retaliation against the palestine liberation organization after the munich massacre at the 1972 summer olympics.
There are also several nods to david lynchs 1990 cult series twin peaks in lake mungos plot developments, most obviously in the mystery surrounding the life of a dead girl named palmer. Unsettled, the palmers seek the help of psychic and parapsychologist, who discovers that alice led a secret, double life. Most of the movie is the interview with the family members. The australian documentarystyle movie tells the story of the palmer family and the unexpected death of their 16yearold daughter, alice.
There are two or three moments in the movie that couldve been built up and expressed more but they were dropped to the sidelines once mentioned. Lake mungo is a dry lake located in new south wales, australia. We do see some familys home video and still photos and they are pretty creepy. Pieces of skeletons have been found in this region. With rosie traynor, david pledger, martin sharpe, talia zucker.
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. Most horror fans arent going to enjoy writerdirector joel andersons creepy 2008 pseudodocumentary lake mungo. It had me physically shaking and watching through my fingers and doing long deep exhales just to try and stay centered. The creeping feeling of dread throughout the story is compelling viewing at its finest and the performance of the cast members holds this together brilliantly while keeping the flow of. The adult male body had been sprinkled with powdered red. Be aware that the movie is mockumntary, so there is no jump scares and anything like that. Lake mungo 2008 is joel andersons debut film, which is surprising because it is a wellcrafted horror gem. In lake mungo spoilers, what double life does she have. This movie is a tribute to the bmovies of the 50s, but what those movies lacked was gore, and the deadly spawn is fucking drenched. The lake mungo remains are three sets of human fossils.
A series of clues lead the family to lake mungo where alices secret past emerges. Lake mungo 2008 that one scene spoiler alert i have been watching horror movies for a long time, im addicted to them just like everyone here, although i miss that feeling of being truly scared, i havent felt that exact feeling of being so scared that i cant even move since i was about 12 years old. The family hires a parapsychologist whose investigation unveils alices secret. Malicious official trailer 2018 horror movie hd duration. The family then experiences a series of strange and inexplicable events centered. Lake mungo shook me in a way only one or two other films ever have. The downplayed, monotone performances of the actors is very effective. 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. In particular, a subplot involving alices sex life that turns mourning into a character assassination after death and couldve been completely discarted without hurting the overall plot. 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.
Jul 29, 2009 there are also several nods to david lynchs 1990 cult series twin peaks in lake mungos plot developments, most obviously in the mystery surrounding the life of a dead girl named palmer. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing lake mungo near you. Creepy would be something like lake mungo, the ring, or even this movie. Jan 05, 2019 lake mungo slowly builds an unsettling sense of atmosphere and dread of the unnatural and unknown, along with an unexpected but welcome mystery elements. Whats the story the story of a teenager whose apparent death sets off a series of paranormal events. Lake mungo is a mystery, a thriller and a ghost story told in documentary form that. Lake mungo will keep you awake at night with its horrifying reality. Upon discovering her secret double life, a series of clues lead them to lake mungo. Frightened by what appears to be otherworldly activity, her family discovers secrets about their daughter as well as what lurks beneath lake mungo. The family then experiences a series of strange and inexplicable events centered around their home. Aside from a few minor quibbles which i cant really go into without spoiling the film, this is a supremely well crafted flick. Few films convey this grieving process better than 2008 psychological horror lake mungo, a modern indie classic that somehow failed to get. A family mourns the death of its 16yearold daughter, alice. Well lets take a look at the 2008 independent horror film, lake mungo.
It was easy for me to believe that these people had. If someone were to cleverly incorporate this movie onto pbs program schedule, theres a very strong possibility that some. Lake mungo slowly builds an unsettling sense of atmosphere and dread of the unnatural and unknown, along with an unexpected but welcome mystery elements. It seems a lot of people who watched joel andersons mockumentarystyle horror film lake mungo missed the terrifying truth that subtly underpins its apparent plot. Oct 29, 2018 while the month of october brings chilling horror movies and jump scares, lake mungo brings psychological horrors to life.
Apr 09, 2018 well lets take a look at the 2008 independent horror film, lake mungo. For this reason lake mungo is quite a interesting and intelligent movie that knows how to keep its audience glued to the activities and facts presented. Profoundly unsettled, the palmers seek the help of psychic and parapsychologist, ray kemeny. Writing on quickflix, simon miraudo evaluated the movie to be a mournful. Released 2008, lake mungo stars talia zucker, rosie traynor, david pledger, martin sharpe the r movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 29 min, and received a score of out of 100 on metacritic. These pieces have been attributed to over forty human skeletons. 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. It starts off with alice and her brother matthew swimming at a local dam when she. The actors are listed as talia zucker alice palmer rosie traynor june palmer david pledger russell palmer martin sharpe mathew palmer steve jodrell ray kemeny tamara.
Directed and written by joel anderson, lake mungo handles the subject of grief and a familys hope for afterlife very well. 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. 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. Why lake mungo is the best ghost film youve never seen. Sixteenyearold alice palmer drowns while swimming with her. Lake mungo synopsis favorite theater button overview. 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. At its heart, lake mungo is also a quite sad movie. A 65minute slow burn to one impactful scare, pic brims with ideas along the way. The plot goes a lot of places that might not be expected. Dec 28, 2016 basically lake mungo is a ghost story.