[Film Review] Lake Mungo (2008)

In 2020, the world of horror was shaken by the release of Shudder original Host. The found footage, zoom-based horror went on to score 100% on Rotten tomatoes with several publications naming it as the best horror film of the year, and one of the most terrifying films of all time.

Like the rest of the world, I thought it was phenomenal, and I was intrigued to discover the inspiration behind the first film since Hereditary that had me sleeping with the light on. After reading, watching and listening to many interviews with the creators, I noticed that one film in particular came up over and over again – the 2008 Australian mockumentary Lake Mungo. 

Curious, I then started to look into Lake Mungo – a film I had never even heard of – and was stunned to find that it wasn’t just them; Horror author Paul Tremblay (A head full of Ghosts, Survivor Song) names it as inspiration for his 2016 novel Disappearance at Devils Rock, in a recent study The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film Matt Glasby picked out Lake Mungo as one of the scariest movies ever, and in September 2019, Screenrant ranked it at number 2 in their list of ‘Scariest movies to never watch alone’. So, last week, I decided to do just that.

Lake Mungo follows the family of Alice Palmer, a 16-year-old girl who tragically drowns whilst out swimming with her brother Matthew. Playing out like a true crime documentary, interviews with her parents and Matthew reveal the events of the weeks following her initial disappearance.

When a body is discovered, her father Russell heartbreakingly identifies the now-ghastly figure as his little girl, but as the family mourn their loss, things begin to take a sinister turn. Matthew, a budding photographer, captures images that appear to show a dark figure resembling Alice. June, her mother, begins to dream that Alice is in her room at night, watching over her. Is Alice really gone? Or was a terrible mistake made? 

There’s not much you can reveal about Lake Mungo without spoiling what makes it such a uniquely memorable film. The actors are not well-recognised, and their dialogue was unscripted – Director and Writer Joel Anderson gave them the outline of the story and asked them to improvise their lines – and as a result, their performances are genuine and convincing. Having not heard anything of Lake Mungo, you could stumble across it and believe you’re just tuning into a long-lost crime documentary.

Fans of poignant, slow-burning horror with heart like The Haunting of Hill House and Hereditary etc will probably enjoy this one as I did, because whilst there are ghostly visuals and a pretty fantastic jump scare, what really hits you here is the overwhelming grief of the Palmers. 

Lake Mungo explores what it is like to be a family destroyed by tragedy and left behind with nothing but questions. As the film continues, we begin to learn more about Alice’s life and the secrets that she kept, all of them deeply upsetting and unexplainable, which only serves as more of a kick to an already down dog.

It’s really no surprise that it’s held in such high regard by some of the best horror creators of recent times. There’s no flashy effects or big budget production here, but the authenticity of the storytelling, coupled with terrifying visuals that will have your eyes darting around the screen for answers, provide the viewer with a constant hum of dread throughout. Add in a few unexpected twists – some more disturbing than others - and a scare that had me jump so hard I physically injured myself, and you have a film that is truly heart-breaking and will leave you reeling long after the credits roll. 

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