Lake Mungo

This film follows a similar path a premise to Paranormal Activity. I won't get into which film came first to label the other a fraud. But I will say that Mungo isn't quite up to par with the creepiness that is in Paranormal Activity. The film follows a family's ordeal with the death of their daughter. Interviews are given through each of the family members and strange creepiness ensues either through dreams or trendy Hollywood footage captured in surveillance cameras.

The film itself does have a certain genuine appeal to it. It doesn't follow the shock and bang fright that Paranormal activity presents. Instead, the scares are a sort of creeping dread. Much like the earlier portions of the original Shutter. They are presented in the traditional sense of building up to a jolting punchline. Yet the buildup holds at many instances and lets the zinger become visible to the viewer. Most of the scares in the film are done either through a slow buildup of expectations, yet manages to avoid falling into a pitfall of predictability. The music in the film serves to exemplify that sense of dread with seems to just permeate.

The movie as a whole can be easily misconstrued as a Paranormal Activity clone, or at the very least a film that will be held in the same regard. I admit I am guilty of this, and as a result was disappointed half way through the film. But as the film concluded, I took up a whole new approach to it. Instead of being a frightfest, the film works much better as a character piece that focuses on the individuals coping with the loss of a loved one. The description I just listed may be a criteria for a over-hyped indie film or sappy love story, but even under that type of perception it works well as a horror movie. Instead of holding it to the same regard as Paranormal activity, I would link to something like The Others. Another film, which too, ironically suffers poor reviews due to an asserted perception that skews the viewers judgment of the film as an entity of its own. And don't worry I didn't dishonor my no spoiler policy because there aren't any plot warping twists in Mungo, or did I? Doh!

I actually enjoyed Mungo a lot. Its appeal is more within the presentation and authentic emotions of the characters. It plays much more as a drama than a horror flick, but still retains bits of creepiness and scares. In the end, it was the build up of the characters and how they progress within the film which hooked me. You can see most of the characters develop and grow in the face of the tragedy through the film and it is this which I think that is one of the film's greatest merit. Another notable bit is the sort of metaphysical tangent that the film goes on through the latter half. The paradox in the mother's and daughter's was a strange but very touching moment. It can be a disappointing film on the same basis as The Others. If you are able to get over the popular misconceptions of the film, you then properly appreciate what the film is.