Not quite up to par with Noroi, Okaruto, or Blair Wtich Project, as far as found footage horror is concerned, but it's more tolerable than the majority of similar films that are flooding the market. While the story unravels, there might be some question as to whether or not the whole thing is a hoax or there is some degree of supernatural legitimacy. In some sense it seems almost pertinent to refer to the film as a mockumentary, because of the somewhat saccharine and glossy presence of the interview footage, in contrast to the much grainier, low-quality, and distorted footage, which is meant to be the "scary/creepy footage." Admittedly, despite often mediocre or even downright bad framing, some of the color footage is quite a rich film stock, but the quality meanders regularly. Probably the only interesting interaction among the many talking heads would be the mother's grief and how the son chooses to address it, but everyone else is kind of just there for the ride. The sexual subplot is dull and doesn't really provide much credibility to the development of the central character and the story. There are some questions left unanswered, but it's a fairly ordinary story of a troubled teen with some spooky supernatural elements. The cellphone footage and the decayed body are sufficiently eerie, and the movie often has a tense atmosphere (Unfortunately, it often doesn't last long because of the constant talking head footage), as the viewer waits for a possible jump scare or is forced to play Where's Waldo while looking for the ghost.As a side note: the most amusing element would probably be how the mother deals with the sadness of losing her daughter by taking long walks at night, when she can't sleep--and she abates the emptiness inside her by... walking into the houses of strangers...? So she says, but it's never addressed whether they simply leave the door unlocked or if she breaks in... what a creepy lady...

What I like about this movie is the unsettling atmosphere, the subtlety of the included paranormal activity and the turn it takes. It often feels so real. It never gets hectic or sensational. I love that. What I also feel however is that despite the subtlety, it seems a bit too contained.The story itself is mostly sad: a grieving family are unexpectedly drawn into a paranormal experience shortly after their daughter dies. Every family member deals with this in a different way. The vibe of the found footage/ documentary style makes all the difference. I suspect subtlety is key for the effectiveness; by staying away from bombastic episodes, everything you get is mysterious. The found footage is vague, creepy and 'real'. Also the timing and rhythm in the entire film add to the experience. You crave more but you get only as much/little as the Palmer's did.Lake Mungo leaves room for imagination. Although my first thoughts about what was actually going on (don't worry no spoilers) proved to be right, there were still unexpected revelations: one is clever because it happens at the right time. Another revelation seems to be completely random; there is a particular story line that could have been left out. Brings me to the one flaw of this movie; the film is quite slow already and could have done without that part slowing it down even more.All together Lake Mungo has the ability to keep your attention while exploring interesting ideas about ghosts, loss, life and death.

Jam-packed with one twist after another and never letting its viewers figure out just where exactly its plot is headed, Lake Mungo is one of the most underrated works of mockumentary horror that's cleverly crafted, ingeniously executed and takes a turn on every available opportunity to sustain a sense of uneasiness throughout its runtime.Lake Mungo centres around the Palmer family that is mourning the accidental death of their young daughter after she drowns while swimming at a dam. As the Palmers attempt to move on from the unexpected tragedy that befell them, they experience a set of inexplicable events in their house & eventually unearth a dark secret about their deceased girl.Written & directed by Joel Anderson, Lake Mungo is staged like a documentary, filled with archival footages, family photographs & personal interviews but an aura of mystery surrounding the death & an unsettling vibe in the aftermath sequences is consistently felt throughout its runtime. It is an expertly constructed picture that's palpably tense & soaked in suspense.Anderson's direction is top-notch and the way he manages to keep the viewers invested & unsure of what lies ahead is worthy of praise. The grainy & low-quality of the recorded footage or photos further compels the viewers to observe each frame more closely, and although its documentary style is borrowed, the film tick marks all the elements that make them gripping in the first place.What definitely works in its favour is that it manages to keep the interest alive from start to finish and rarely follows a predictable route, for whenever the audience tries to connect the dots, a new twist surfaces & steers them in a different direction. Editing is brilliantly carried out and the pacing is methodical. Camera is sort of fixated on time-lapse photography while the cast provides added authenticity with their sincere inputs.On an overall scale, Lake Mungo is a highly riveting psychological horror, deeply embedded with supernatural elements, and offers an interesting take on grief plus how people deal with it. Keeping its viewers on the edge of their seats throughout its runtime and managing to be bone-chilling on a few occasions, this Australian chiller is one of the most undervalued gems of its genre, is worthy of your time & money, and requires a much broader attention.

An extremely low budget and low key Australian horror done in the faux-documentary style that has now well and truly worn out its welcome, Lake Mungo is impressive in what it does with limited resources and its ambition is to be commended but a big problem with this now cult film is that it's sadly not very scary.Whilst suitably creepy at times as Lake Mungo wears on towards it's slight 80 minute run time the films initial chilling set-up slowly descends into something that becomes unfortunately tiresome even though the film's final credits scenes provide some unnerving finishing moments.While criticisms can be easily made of Lake Mungo's inability to capitalize on its promising cornerstones director Joel Anderson certainly must be commended for sticking to his low-budget guns and delivering a mock-doc that to the uninitiated may absolutely seem like a legitimate documentary! Using grainy phone footage, good use of talking heads and fake news reports, Anderson crafts a tale that actually feels real even if the story its telling becomes a little far-fetched and lacking. Telling the story of the sad demise of young Alice Palmer in this way allows Anderson to hide the films limitations in ways that don't take away from the films central premise and only some clunky delivery of dialogue really gives Lake Mungo's sleight of hand away.One of the more impressive Australian horrors of recent times (although that's not entirely an amazing feat) and perhaps the best locally made example of a faux documentary yet produced (again not exactly tough competition), Lake Mungo has clearly in the years since its release found an appreciative audience that it failed to find upon initial runs these now many moons ago and you could do a lot worse than making Lake Mungo your horror fix over the slowly dying Paranormal Activity franchise or any other such higher profile wannabe.3 buried cell phones out of 5