Lake Mungo

Alice had a fear of death. She had interviewed with a psychic because of this feeling of foreboding. This film is a document of events prior to, during, and after her death.
****

Lake Mungo, when it was packaged with the After Dark 8 Films To Die For series, was often seen (or at least I noticed this when looking at Top Lists)as one of the worst of the bunch, whereas I thought it was the best. Few films these days in the horror genre genuinely give me the chills, the willies, the creeps. Lake Mungo gave me goosebumps. That, my friends, is a rarity, these days. Maybe partially responsible for such responses was the music applied to those images and recorded footage (either doctored by the dead girl's brother or legitimately captured within the reality of the fictional found footage-stylized film), but the thought of her spectre unable to leave certain familiar places important to her in life after death, visible at certain points, did leave me with this eerie feeling. The way the filmmakers structure Lake Mungo left many viewers.to be desired. It has interviews with family and friends concerning a drowned young woman. We get reactions, anecdotes, introspective comments, and reflections on the past. The moments around and shortly after the loss of their child and sister, school chum and girlfriend--those not-so-distant memories and responses to developments since her death--are presented as if documented in a special about this person. The cast portrayed as father, mother, and brother (David Pleger, Rosie Traynor, and Martin Sharpe) did well enough to convince me that her loss is a fresh wound not yet healed.

Pointing out these various images before Matthew's charlatan admission definitely spooked me a bit. Lake Mungo carries this ever-present sense of melancholy and tragedy. There are quiet silences that speak volumes of emptiness, where the filmmakers depict Ararat, Australia, the interviews spoken by those haunted still by Alice's death reflect mourning still lingering and disappointment quite palpable (being so young and having not lived long enough into adulthood is part of that feeling of tragic loss), and when a (in)famous psychic gets involved, the film becomes especially unsettling. Foreshadowing when we learn of how closely connected the psychic is to Alice, the film takes a turn that only infuses the tragedy of her demise.

One of several strange, supposedly unexplainable bruises.

Alice's brother, Matthew (Sharpe), was probably, next to the enigmatic central figure of the film, the most fascinating character to me. His motivations behind the fake photographs and the video recorded figure (he would later admit was him) left me with a bad taste, but he thought they'd help his parents (?!?!) deal with the loss. What Matthew does is take what was questionably viable proof of life after death and dynamited any belief after telling his magic tricks towards the middle of this fauxumentary. The moment he explains how he added past images of her into current photographs (like the lake which would be the location of her death, in her house and bedroom), and told how he walked from one room to another, pretending to be the ghost of Alice, I think it could be argued by the film's detractors that Lake Mungo might never quite recover. If we are told how Matthew was able to fool us, why should we believe anything we see later? If anything, Matthew proves that there's no reason to believe any photograph or video proof can be considered legit. Even more troubling is that because of Matthew's work, his parents are led to excise her body, believing that the girl they identified was perhaps not Alice! Still, I can't deny the power of seeing her and the music used to add dramatic weight to each moment she is shown where she shouldn't be. A good chill so often eludes me when I watch horror nowadays, so when I get those goosebumps I give credit where credit's due. It is unfortunate that we are told midway that Alice was simply doctored by recorded and photographed images by her brother. It sure doesn't paint a pleasant picture of Matthew. If anything, he turns out to be a creep. Who thinks of doing that then later saying it was to benefit his mother and father? I consider it rather unnerving.

I think that Asian horror, during its major movement in the late 90s/early 2000s, really did a great deal for the video ghoul. The photographic spirit. Simple techniques can sometimes be just as effective as an overabundance of CGI. Sure, plenty of computer graphic effects have been used to show ghouls/spirits/Yūrei existing in one form of the other, emerging from monitors, television sets, etc. But to use simple techniques to creep; I admire that. Ringu has the faces of dead victims who watched the tape warped on photos from a camera. Some uneasy spirit, died through tragic circumstances, restless and unable to "pass on" appears in form, slight and just out of frame. I do feel those behind the making of Lake Mungo piggybacked off this movement,  some in found footage form, and applied a lot of emotion and disquiet. Is Alice with them? Is all we see just a hoax? Either way, I do think if you love those Asian horror films (or maybe some of the Paranormal Activity type product), then this might just suit your fancy.

Of course, a mother and grandmother talk about their relationships with Alice, and you sense the regret, the sigh and bit of sadness in the voice. There are comments on how the father is dealing with the loss of his daughter (he even talks about a "dream" (he talks as if it happened while awake in her room) where his daughter shows up in her room, not even acknowledging him) by occupying his time with work. Coping with loss is really dwelt upon in depth here. Why wouldn't it be?

Video of Matthew mimicking Alice has the face of a neightbor

Box of secrets.

Video tape containing salacious activities.

The Thooeys with Alice and her father

The most unexpected development I never saw coming was the video tape sought after by a neighbor who had (along with his wife!) sexual relations with Alice. Since this was voluntary (certainly shocking in its own right), it clouds Alice's character. It proves that we all have skeletons in the closet; in death, truths of the most surprising kind can sometimes emerge much to the horror of loved ones who discover unpleasant facts about their daughter. It is the kind of twist that leaves mouth agape, but these things happen a lot more than one might realize. Sex in all forms is live and well in suburbia.

Friends and family

Lake Mungo

Death visiting us; this would be quite freaky, wouldn't it? The whole idea that you see your own body postmortem. That it appears from out in the darkness straight toward you. How would we even respond to this? One of the film's most important scenes (if not the most important) has mobile phone footage taken during a camping trip out at a place in Australia called Lake Mungo. Hilly terrain that is rugged and dry, with spattered bush and trees, Lake Mungo is not exactly idyllic, but still has a strange beauty, as if God took a giant monster truck and carved out a spot in Australia. To think this is where Alice would see herself and bury the footage for her parents later to discover.

Alice burying the phone.

Frightened by what she saw yet not willing to get rid of the proof, Lake Mungo is the kind of film that wants to constantly throttle you. I'm afraid that perhaps because this was part of the 8 films to die for, expectations were high that it would be some sort of ghost film completely designed like Asian horror out at the same time. Some just didn't get anything out of it. It left an impression with me, though.

The ending has the family deciding to move on, feeling that was Alice's intent for them. They had unraveled their daughter's secrets and felt all the puzzle pieces were in place. Imagine if you were a spirit unable to leave as the family decides to do. They are leaving behind the past and looking forward to living the best they can without their daughter/sister. She, however, doesn't have such a luxury. Death, a trap that will not let us escape but hold us at bay in the environs of what was once home and now is only an empty building without a family. The restless spirit who won't be able to find peace. A family portrait with three as a fourth looks on from a distance unable to be with them. Haunting finale. This little film deserves a second look by those who so easily dismissed it the first time.

Place of the accident.

The boyfriend needed a backdrop.

I think a lot of cult films become them after a little time because there's more to them than perhaps first realized. Session 9 comes to mind. So does Lake Mungo.