Monday, July 19, 2010

Lake Mungo in 200 Words or Less

.

I went into Lake Mungo knowing next to nothing about it and that's always a good way to hit up a horror movie, especially one that unfolds in unexpected directions like this one does, so I'll refrain from much in the way of specifics. Y'all should seek out this gem. I found parts of it deeply unsettling. Gave me nightmares, it did. It's similar in ways to Paranormal Activity - most precisely the way it draws you into closely studying low-quality videotaped images, hunting the frame for clues, until oh my god the clue is there in your face and you want it to go the hell away.

And the talking-head documentary nature of it works much better than I expected it to - the actors and the writing is all convincingly natural, and it draws you in in surprising ways, investing us emotionally with the characters on a level mostly unusual for this sort of thing almost with a sleight of hand. Mostly its a curious and chilling rumination on grief, and the unexpected corridors death can take those grieving down. Good stuff.
.

4 comments:

breedaniels said...

I just went to the website and watche dthe trailer. It looks really good. Another Australian film I really want to see is "Animal Kingdom".

Glenn said...

Yes! This was good. Those closing credits sure are fascinating and "THE SCENE" at Lake Mungo itself is just... holy fuck!

Mike said...

@ breedaniels:

I watched the trailer after seeing the movie, and thought that the trailer didn't do the movie any justice at all. So the fact that you still want to see it after the trailer is heartening to me. And you really should see it. (And I'm all over seeing Animal Kingdom when it comes out. ALL. OVER.)

@ Glenn:

I watched the movie twice, and "THE SCENE" was still "holy fuck"-worthy the second time.

Rob K. said...

One of the spookiest things I've ever seen. Def. a gem to seek out.