HOLY SH*T! Thank you so much for the shout out! That's quite intimidating haha! I'm also the same with avoiding other horror channels in case I inadvertently take an opinion that isn't mine!
the most horrifying part of the movie, for me, was at the end when they re showed the "fake" ghost clips then zoomed in and showed her real ghost was there the whole time. theres just something fucking terrifying knowing something supernatural was there under my nose the whole time and makes me feel very uncomfortable and vulnerable.
Yes it was so clever to do that. It makes you think you saw everything because it zooms in on the old stuff but that all gets disregarded as fake and so you disregard it. That makes the real stuff you missed all the more terrifying
I just find it a little weird they never noticed it before. Like they'd already gone through and analyzed the tapes previously. The idea they just happened to not zoom in on those specifics bits so missing the actual supernatural stuff seems weird to me.
for me, the whole film really unravels when you read it as a an allegory for suicide and depression. i am moved to tears every time when i watch alice's mom read the entry where alice describe "feeling an intense sadness" where everything is "wrong, my body, the way things look". what could be more evocative of suicidal ideation than encountering, in her guided meditations with ray for example, your own mother not noticing that your ghost is still there, waiting for her to acknowledge the pain you are in?
Regardless of whether or not the brother was up to nefarious business, the ending is so brilliant because of the reveal that Alice WAS in those photos and videos all along. It’s a perfect parallel with the parents, specifically the mother, who never realized that Alice was there all along because her walls were up, because the audience has their attention elsewhere too, focused on the obvious, doctored appearances of Alice. Alice’s family never realized she was there, and neither did we. It’s just devastating. Such a brilliant film.
It was brilliant and terrifying and is one of the scariest films I have ever seen that scares me deep down in my bones that even talking about it or hearing about it now has me debating if I should turn on a Zoran episode to make myself feel better.
I love how the wife/mom is like “what is my neighbor doing inside my house?” Like. Ma’am. You were breaking into other people’s houses and sitting in their living rooms in the middle of the night. Have a seat. 😂
I realize now that the corpse was WALKING towards her while all this time I thought that Alice was the one approaching this..thing, and I officially get shivers when I think about this scene. Ugh. Hell no.
@@dillonwalshpvd the scene itself can be found on TH-cam, and you can hear the steps getting closer from afar, all the while the mom tells the interviewer that "this figure came towards her from out of the darkness". Took me a while but it does indeed seem that her dead doppelganger comes into view towards her, not Alice towards it.
@@unslaadkrosis9435 Fear tears. I've heard of those. My theory on them is they're an adaptation to mitigate the need to blink when in the presence of a predator.
SPOILERS KINDA: Part of me thinks the brother theory cheapens the movie to a murder mystery instead of an existential horror. To me, Lake Mungo is supposed to be about how inescapable death is and how its suddenness/randomness/unfairness can haunt the people around you. And I absolutely love the ending. There's the cliche in alot of movies that spirits can only move on when you avenge or solve their death and learn who they really were in life. Alice's family thinks they do that and yet she still remains in that house as alone as she was in life. They get to move on, but she doesn't. They think what they learned about Alice made them feel closer to her, but she's still gone forever. It doesn't change the fact that her fate was to die young, suddenly, painfully, and unfairly, which is just what happens to some people and that's it. We all get one life and unfortunately, some people are gone like it's nothing, never to return.
This is what existentially horrified me about this movie. It was so sad and lonely and terrifying to think about and the more time you spend with it the scarier it is
I feel so justified now, I showed this movie to some friends and family like last January and they all hated it (to the point they bring it up whenever I try to recommend more movies) so hearing that it's actually well-regarded by people who have seen it makes me feel better about liking it.
It's literally one of the best horror movies of the last 20 years. If they weren't emotionally drained and terrified by the film then that's a shame for them.
Wow, Chelsea's grief metaphor she shared is super accurate. I about 2 years ago lost most of my close family members, and sometime that ball comes back a round, but distractions do help. Talking also helps, never be afraid to talk to friends about your grief.
When I was a kid I used to terrify myself with books about "real" ghost stories, and this film is the closest thing that's come to replicating that feeling - the slow zoom-ins on the spectral images in the house evoking that feeling of pushing your eyes right up close to a picture of a 'ghost' to try and discern the detail.
Loudest I have ever gasped in any movie I've watched.. The first time I saw that ending shock scene, I couldn't breath or move for about 10 seconds, and then I immediately cried for both the girl in the video and just how terrified I was feeling. No blood, no gore, no scary monster, just human mortality is what constitutes fear in this movie. One of the best horror films of all time.
The scariest way to watch Lake Mungo is randomly catching it late at night on cable back in the day, mid-way through, when you can't figure out if it is a real documentary or a film because they never show their cards.
@#3_Vacuum_Salesman_of_Marrakesh I think you could believe it's real for a good while. The end is really the only part that is incredibly unrealistic imo.
@@matt_c80 Literally, like I reckon he'll cotton on towards the end, but I literally don't mention it's in any way fictional I think I could get him for a while 😂
(spoilers) I did this in January, but my friend kept calling out the characters for faking everything, so eventually I said it was fake (right before Alice appears in the tape recordings). I kinda wish I didn't, since I forgot eventually the brother admits he forged them.
the ending with Alice still haunting the house behind the family really made me think of some parts of the haunting of hill house Nell: I was right here. I was right here the whole time, none of you could see me. Nobody could see me...
JD Marjore-Same here, I remember watching episode 6 of Haunting Of Hill House, and when I got to the end of that particular episode I couldn't help but think of the ending of Lake Mungo.
I don’t know how it happened as for ages it felt like this film wasn’t easily accessible overseas but as an Australian and a horror fan I am so delighted that this film has been gradually getting the recognition it deserves from international audiences so many years after its release. Also this won’t mean anything to non Aussies but us Aussies know this movie fucking NAILED the early 2000s Australian documentary feel. Until things start going sideways this movie could have been an “Australian Story” episode (a long running series on our PBS equivalent that every week profiled sometimes someone famous but just as often “ordinary” but very interesting people).
M Ad-Everything you've said in your comment is exactly why Lake Mungo is so frightening to me, even after having watched it at least a handful of times now since i first saw it. I'm Scottish so i don't know anything about Australian documentaries, but the fact that it was filmed as if it was a real documentary, as well as the performances from the actors, made the movie feel so realistic & believable to me that despite the fact that I know it's not a real documentary, it's honestly still the most usettling horror movie I've ever seen.
I just looked the movie up to see anything about the theories and actually saw an article where the author praised how it feels like a real documentary, not a fake documentary trying too hard to seem real. Don't know if the author was Australian, but it makes a good case for it being something an international documentary watcher would still pick up on.
VAGUE SPOILERS: This is genuinely one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. The atmosphere of the documentary part is scary as well as the photo/home footage parts. And the big reveal at the end? Oh my god, just great stuff.
I just watched this movie because you guys were talking about it and oh my god the ending scared the shit out of me. Thank you so much for talking about it. This is my favorite podcast and I can't thank Chelsea enough for the constant amazing horror recommendations and analysis
Anyone see the Ryan Hollinger episode about this movie too? Edit: holy shit they said he did an episode about it. I commented that before they brought it up. Damn! Good on them
The ending broke me because they never truly saw alice, even after she died and They move away, abandoning her ghost. She was always destined to never be understood.
I agree it's upsetting what Alice's faith was and the fact she was always alone I the world even as a ghost. But I can't be mad at the family for moving away...... she was dead , what were they suppose to do? Nobody would of wanted to stay there especially after how horrendous of an event they went through.
Interesting fact about Lake Mungo that's also on the wikipedia page- it's the location of a geomagnetic exclusion area, where the polarity of the earth's magnetic field is altered. I can't help but think this is why the filmmakers chose Lake Mungo as a location as that could serve as a kind of explanation for why she saw the ghost of her future self there. It's cool how they did leave a lot up to the viewers to find on their own, it gives the movie great rewatch value. Also I'd love to see you guys watch more Aussie horror!
What I always thought happened was she was pulled underwater by some kind of drainage system in the dam. This has happened before in real life, and in the movie it says her body was found in some kind of drain.
Your comments about grief around 33 minutes really hit close to home. I lost my brother back in October. I don't break down as often but when I do breakdown (like last night) it's just as brutal as it was the day after. I can talk about him with people and don't tear up, but when I'm alone and it "hits me" I still have blubbering sob-fests. Your candid discussion was reassuring. I've def been diving into things to keep myself busy (watching videos, listening to podcasts, playing games) and I'm glad to know others do the same thing (or would do the same thing). Love the show!
Didn’t see any comments about his but the ending where Alice saw her dead, drowned body reminds me of Haunting of Hill House (SPOILER) where we find out the “bent neck lady” was Nell all along and realize she had been seeing her ghost self since childhood. Super fkn scary man.
I was about to comment this too lol and even the theme of feeling like your family cant see your true self or your suffering even after death is also shared by both stories. It's so sad and scary. Lake Mungo really was so ahead of it's time.
Mike Flanagan has praised Lake Mungo and is definitely a fan - he's called it one of his "all-time favorites." I think Nell is kind of an homage to Alice in the same way that Alice is an homage to Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks.
The cellphone footage scene disturbs me to my core. It’s the only thing that has scared me enough to make my eyes profusely water since I played P.T. and the “look behind you” scare happened.
I saw this movie this past summer, yet it made me feel so cold. Even though I’d say the scariest part is near the ending, it’s just so cold, dark and sad from the very beginning. It definitely left its mark
My parents showed this to me when I was like 10 years old and even though I was able to handle it, the final minutes of the movie did make me cry. Proud of younger me for getting through it, though.
@@tonyabrookes9931 No worry! I was a pretty tough kid when it came to horror movies and movies in general. I also had loving parents that were able to make me feel better after it so I look on the experience with fondness even if it was scary as shit.
That’s pretty fucked up of your parents honestly. Parents that make and/or let their little kids watch horror movies is so gross to me I don’t understand it.
i'm not kidding when i say the "ball in the box" analogy has helped me so unbelievably much. it feels like a great way to understand grief, thanks chelsea
I am way late to this movie & pod, but i love how it went from 'this is a movie about grief' to 'Bob Smeets Bobs Meet Meat Bob'. You beautiful maniacs.
Lake Mungo - totally underrated. I can’t put my finger on WHY there is such a feeling of dread and foreboding ever present but it’s just THERE and it works brilliantly!
I live in a town only an hour from Ararat - where this movie is set and filmed in. There is a beautiful and mountainous national park west of the town which I go to almost every weekend. I’ve also been to Norval Dam (the dam where Alice drowns in the movie), and I was pretty spooked. The mountain behind the town, that you see in the movie is called Mount Langi Ghiran - slightly under 1000m in elevation.
I got to see this in theaters back in 2010. It was released by After Dark Films as part of their "8 Films to Die For Horrorfest", and I can't describe what it was that drew me into the film but I chose this film and another to do a double feature. At the time, I was a 2nd-year college student in Chicago and the only theater playing this film was right outside O'Hare Airport, an hour away from the city. So needless to say, I was dead tired when I went to go see this, and between not getting any sleep the night before and the hour-long Metro ride, I sadly fell asleep in the theater and I ended up missing the best scene (though the noise during it woke me right up). Though I was enjoying everything I saw up until I fell asleep... So when I got the chance a couple months later to watch this movie again when I bought the DVD, I saw this in my bedroom back at home with all the lights out... and I haven't felt so freaked out and unsafe as I did. I got to the Lake Mungo scene I missed in the theater and my mouth dropped. This is one of those movies that truly gets under your skin. Ryan Hollinger's video explains this point well but this is one of the few horror films I've seen that actually makes Death scary... not because of some terrifying monster but because of the sad reality that it will come for all of us inevitably. It's depressingly real, despite featuring a doppelganger. The film is so beautifully paced; It should be put in college curriculums as a prime example of how to write a chilling horror story. And between this, The Babadook & Wolf Creek, Australia's put out some incredible horror films in the last 2 decades!
You saying this movie made you feel unsafe is a word I have been missing to descibe how this movie made me feel and now I have what another commenter called fear tears in my eyes. I'm definitely going to have to watch something light hearted after this.
This is one of the horror films that have actually stuck with me for along time... My neighborhood growing up had a lake/beach just like this film and we use to hang out at the beach or go on walks at night on all the trails around the lake (mainly to get out of the house so we could go smoke) and after watching this movie I would legit never go anywhere near the lake after dark
According to the video recording, the bruises on Mathew's body appeared on 01.03.06 (March 1st, 2006), so three months after Alice's death. So the theory that those bruises came from Alice hitting Mathew as she was being drowned wouldn't make sense. Maybe ghost Alice was trying to communicate with her brother (pushing him, nudging him in his sleep aka the bruises) since those two were the closest in the family? I don't know.. Also, the stuff she wrote in the diary was on May 12th 2005, three months prior to her trip to Lake Mungo. When she wrote "everything felt wrong. my body, the way things looked. then i realized there was something wrong with me", I believe she was having body dysphoria. She wanted to talk to her mom, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Remember, she had a distant/weird relationship with her mom. I believe the director added this scene in so we can feel more sympathetic towards Alice, and her isolation. It's just fleshing her character out a bit.
Watched this movie the other night when Chelsea mentioned it was going to be on the pod and I am STILL thinking about Bloaty every time I leave my room in the dark!!
I watched this movie several years ago with no real understanding of what it was. The premise didn't sound particularly scary. It crept under my skin and left me with such an unsettled feeling. I still feel a chill when I think about it.
The impressive part is how it gets across existentialism. My issue with that sort of thing is it's hard to make you feel existentialism for yourself. You're seeing someone else seeing their corpse not yours. That video somehow does it and the weird time shenanigans adds surrealism to it. A cool theory is the backing up car lights led her spirit back to the house from the lake and that's just...freaky.
You’re so right about the Ryan Hollinger thing! I just saw this a few months ago thanks to his video, and I loved it. I always try to show it to people blind so that they aren’t looking for the horror movie moments the whole time, like I did when I first watched it.
Lake Mungo is a real place in NSW here in Australia. It has history as landmark. All of these country places have and it is important to keep it in the story as is. You need to read up on it -it will add ANOTHER layer of horror. Ararat also a real town.
Watched this movie a while back thanks to Chris Stuckmann. So glad I did, And I literally cheered when I saw Chelsea tweeting about this being the next pod
I discovered it late last year and fell in love. I totally agree that this felt like it was ahead of its time. I wish there was a better release available.
im so glad you guys covered this movie, it's unbelievable. genuinely the scariest film i have ever seen. that cellphone footage is burned into my mind forever. peak horror.
I saw this film for the first time two weeks ago, and it was the first film in years that stuck with me hours afterwards. It's very sad and creepy, and is the first film since Hereditary to actually get a physical reaction out if me as well. Worth the watch for "that scene" alone.
I'm glad you guys didn't notice the actual ghost in the pictures with your television ;p But can you imagine how tragic that is. Being dead. Being a ghost. And you're desperately trying to contact your family, but they're just literally unable to notice you.
i just watched this movie and it scared me SO MUCH! I don't know when was the last time i had chills watching a movie, but this one... chills all over. It came to a point where the camera would slowly show Alice's room, and i would see her, even though she wasn't there.
If you like this movie, the book Disappearance at Devil's Rock by Paul Tremblay is inspired by this movie, doppelganger folklore, new england devil stories, and man its an absolutely devastating read
I watched this film for the first time last night. It's easily one of the scariest and well made horror movies I've ever seen. The last time I remember being that scared would be for Ghostwatch. Also ... one of the worst nightmares I've ever had was about encountering a doppelganger of myself and it coming towards me. Lake Mungo is the horror film I wish I could have made. Brilliant film
I was so lucky to see this and another now classic found footage horror film (REC) while in high school around the late 2000s because of my sister who worked a DVD store. We saw this blind and were floored. I still think about the phone footage and the corpse all these years later. Truly scary shit
The whole movie from Alice’s phone footage to the pictures in the credits reminded me so much of Haunting of Hill House and the Bent-Neck Lady. (Spoilers) Especially with a character being haunted by their own death and the whole “I was right there, and you didn’t even see me” thing. So terrifying, but also horrifically upsetting.
I’m so happy you’re covering Lake Mungo! I remember seeing this movie summer before high school and I binged it along with a bunch of other indie horror movies. It was part of After Dark Horrorfest and I guess it was a small section on VOD with Time Warner. It’s such a great watch and so incredibly sad. I am totally due for a rewatch soon!
When Chelsea tweeted about watching this I instantly looked it up and I HATE ghost horror movies but I really ended up loving this movie, not many movies scary me nowadays and this made my spine tingle
Not sure if you're lighting or camera angle is different this week but the vibe is really immaculate this week!! Also there is a running theory that the noises at night in Alice's room could be the neighbour or the brother.
So excited to see you guys finally talk about this movie! One of favorites, and weirdly enough, a comfort movie that I often put on in the background while I'm doing work. Even just hearing you talk about it gives me chills. Also, not sure how true this is, but I remember reading online that this premiered as a late-night television special (i.e. its full name, After Dark: Lake Mungo). And purportedly, similar to something like Blair Witch Project and Orson Welles's War of the Worlds, people just kind of tuned into this without realizing it wasn't real and thus believed it was a real documentary. Obviously everyone found out it was fake. but there's so much incredible lore about this film that makes it so much more than just a singular watching experience.
I live in the state where this movie is set/filmed. Saw it back in 2008 when I was 23. And honestly, it's the most unnerving movie I've ever seen. I remember I watched it with a friend. We left the lights on -- out of forgetfulness, not fear, as we didn't expect much. We both considered ourselves desensitised to horror. But amusingly we caught each other glancing nervously at the back seat as we got in his car to drop me home afterwards. Awkward laughter ensued, but we had to admit the movie had rattled us. I hadn't felt creeped out like that from a movie since being a little kid and seeing the alien-in-the-doorway scene in Communion. Also, as another Aussie commenter mentioned, this really was filmed in a way that perfectly emulated Australian true crime documentaries of the time. The simulated news segments and interviews seemed so much more real to me than American mockumentaries.
This movie was amazing for me - because I just changed channels one night and it was already on, about 10 min in. I'd never heard of it and I initially thought I was watching a real documentary. Made it so much more impactfull. I obviously realised by the end it was a mockumentary but there was a brief period of genuine horror before it dawned on me.
I watched this at 1:30am last night and I started falling asleep at like the 3/4 mark because I was getting bored, and then THE jump scare happens and made me jolt right awake to finish the end of the movie lol.
Watched this film last week for the first time and was fascinated with it. Really scary with not one jump scare and live the way it left it open for interpretation. Live the theory of the brother, I did think he wasn't quite what he was making out in the film. If you haven't seen this film and you're a horror fan it's a must watch!
Really? I can usually find something to love about any horror movie but this one bores me to tears. I get perplexed when people rave about it. I’m not trying to be a jerk, you can like what you want, I just genuinely find the differences in opinion interesting.
@@nicoleshh You're not being a jerk. My family hate it too. I like slow burns and films that get under your skin without being overtly scary with jump-scares (in saying that, Screen and Halloween are my favourite horror movies).
@@neutralman9124 I love slow burn movies and I hate jump scares too. Which makes it even more weird that I found this movie so dull. If you don’t mind subtitles watch Noroi the Curse if you haven’t seen it. It’s a similar style to this movie only I loved it!
The big thing that held back some of my enjoyment of this film is how much I love Twin Peaks. While details keep getting revealed about her secrets I just saw more and more comparisons to Laura Palmer. The documentary style was very interesting but even some of the supernatural stuff all reminded me of twin peaks which I love so much it just makes me want to rewatch that instead
Okay, so the other day I watched the first ten or so minutes of this episode and decided to watch the film itself then come back. That movie absolutely broke me and I’ve seen more horror movies than I can count. It inks its way into you while you’re watching and afterwards you’re left feeling vulnerable and shaken. I had to physically hug myself to feign some sort of comfort. I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about it before. When discussing it with a friend, I brought up Hereditary and how both have themes of grief and familial dysfunction but also leave you feeling absolutely haunted. SPOILERS: **** While watching, I never trusted the brother, not for a second. The bruises, the reclusive nature from his friends and his sudden devotion to filming and photography made me feel uneasy. I later figured he got that job working with photos so he could develop his own and not have anyone discover what he was capturing - this brings me to how I pieced together he was assaulting the sister. The bruises at the pool point to foul play, wearing her clothes after her death, filming the sister incessantly, all of that screamed overstepping boundaries. Then the sister’s sexual endeavor with the neighbors signify some sort of trauma response. Those who have no support after an event sometimes relive the event in order to have a sense of familiarity. The “feeling drugged” thing bothered me. When I finished the film, I looked up some theories and learned it was a big one people shared and felt so relieved and disturbed. I think the brother crafted the paranormal footage in order to scare the family from the house. I don’t know, it just feels nefarious.
Loved this movie and was so excited to hear you two talk about it, especially knowing you loved it as well. I don't know if I can think of a horror that is essentially all build up to one big scare, and then on top of that, the follow up gut punch of just how dreadfully sad the ending is. The video footage scare is so remarkable that it remains kinda difficult to tell what you're looking at until it's right there in front of you and it's just so scary and shocking. It's just so well made and hits its notes so, so tremendously.
The second scariest movie I've ever seen, after Pulse (2001). I watched it at 3 in the morning, in complete darkness, just months ago and slept with the lights on. And just like Chelsea, I refuse to look at images from it, lmao.
I absolutely love this movie and I'm glad you're covering it. I watched it a couple of years ago and found it beautiful and haunting in equal measures. It definitely left an impression on me.
I'm so glad to hear you guys talk about this movie! I love well done mockumentaries and found footage and I highly recommend The Poughkeepsie Tapes. That one really got to me as it's more visceral than Lake Mungo.
Oh look, another film to watch that I haven't heard of, this is exciting! James and Chelsea are consistently so good at sorting out my evening entertainment
as an adamant horror watcher, it takes a lot for movies to deeply disturb me anymore. i watched this movie with my significant other, at my house with the lights on, and afterwards the icky feeling was so overwhelming that i could not sleep. i adored this movie but it disturbed me SO BAD and im not entirely sure why
I'm so glad more people are continuing to discover this movie. I saw this years ago, and everyone I've ever mentioned it to has never even heard of it. It's still one of the scariest/saddest ghost movies I've seen
Lake Mungo is so good. There are some really good After Dark Horror Fest movies actually. edit: I love Gravedancers.....I know that's a controversial statement.
The only term in my head for Mungo is from Fallout 3 where kids are swearing at you and threatening to blow your head off if you try to go into Little Lamplight.
I'm gonna have to come back to this later because I can relate to being hard to REALLY get scared by horror movies, and this sounds like it could actually get me creeped out and I want to go in knowing NOTHING. But thank you for these podcasts! They are my favorite!
I'm surprised nobody mentioned it and I mean, I'm a few years late but I started watching the movie again and the opening unfortunately shatters the brother theory because the whole family was at the dam when she didn't come out of the water. If there was a struggle the parents would've noticed
I love this film and living in Australia, I was fortunate enough to see it in it's very very brief run in art house cinemas here. It was quite the experience. I loved hearing about all these theories with the brother, you get your suspicions with pretty much everyone while you're watching it. Ultimately though I think that mystery doesn't really matter, it's not the point of the film. That profound sadness I get watching the film is effective regardless of the unspoken details, which is why I think it's such an effective film :)
HOLY SH*T! Thank you so much for the shout out! That's quite intimidating haha! I'm also the same with avoiding other horror channels in case I inadvertently take an opinion that isn't mine!
Both you and dead meat have great content! Thanks for all the entertainment
Love your work Ryan! :) if you ever wanna work together let me know
My two fave horror movie channels! You, Ryan, are the highlight of my sundays
Ok
You deserve every LITTLE BIT of that praise Ryan! We all enjoy your opinions. 🌊🎥
the most horrifying part of the movie, for me, was at the end when they re showed the "fake" ghost clips then zoomed in and showed her real ghost was there the whole time. theres just something fucking terrifying knowing something supernatural was there under my nose the whole time and makes me feel very uncomfortable and vulnerable.
Yes it was so clever to do that. It makes you think you saw everything because it zooms in on the old stuff but that all gets disregarded as fake and so you disregard it. That makes the real stuff you missed all the more terrifying
I am so glad that I'm not alone in being terrified by this scene. I thought I was alone in that regard.
It really fits into the time of them not really knowing Alice and the experience Alice and the mom have with the medium
I just find it a little weird they never noticed it before. Like they'd already gone through and analyzed the tapes previously. The idea they just happened to not zoom in on those specifics bits so missing the actual supernatural stuff seems weird to me.
It made me more sad than scared
for me, the whole film really unravels when you read it as a an allegory for suicide and depression. i am moved to tears every time when i watch alice's mom read the entry where alice describe "feeling an intense sadness" where everything is "wrong, my body, the way things look". what could be more evocative of suicidal ideation than encountering, in her guided meditations with ray for example, your own mother not noticing that your ghost is still there, waiting for her to acknowledge the pain you are in?
Regardless of whether or not the brother was up to nefarious business, the ending is so brilliant because of the reveal that Alice WAS in those photos and videos all along. It’s a perfect parallel with the parents, specifically the mother, who never realized that Alice was there all along because her walls were up, because the audience has their attention elsewhere too, focused on the obvious, doctored appearances of Alice. Alice’s family never realized she was there, and neither did we. It’s just devastating.
Such a brilliant film.
It was brilliant and terrifying and is one of the scariest films I have ever seen that scares me deep down in my bones that even talking about it or hearing about it now has me debating if I should turn on a Zoran episode to make myself feel better.
kinda reminds me of nell from hill house! except ofc this preceded hill house by a Long shot
I love how the wife/mom is like “what is my neighbor doing inside my house?” Like. Ma’am. You were breaking into other people’s houses and sitting in their living rooms in the middle of the night. Have a seat. 😂
she wasnt shaggin anyones teenage kid though was she? she was grieving for her own?
She literally had a seat 😂. About to pull up to Bob Smite’s house
I realize now that the corpse was WALKING towards her while all this time I thought that Alice was the one approaching this..thing, and I officially get shivers when I think about this scene. Ugh. Hell no.
It was walking towards her?! I thought she was walking towards it... Wtf
Wait, how do you know it’s walking toward her?
@@dillonwalshpvd the scene itself can be found on TH-cam, and you can hear the steps getting closer from afar, all the while the mom tells the interviewer that "this figure came towards her from out of the darkness". Took me a while but it does indeed seem that her dead doppelganger comes into view towards her, not Alice towards it.
Okay, i got chills all over my body. Shit, I'm tearing up bruh what have you done to meh?!
@@unslaadkrosis9435 Fear tears. I've heard of those. My theory on them is they're an adaptation to mitigate the need to blink when in the presence of a predator.
SPOILERS KINDA:
Part of me thinks the brother theory cheapens the movie to a murder mystery instead of an existential horror. To me, Lake Mungo is supposed to be about how inescapable death is and how its suddenness/randomness/unfairness can haunt the people around you. And I absolutely love the ending. There's the cliche in alot of movies that spirits can only move on when you avenge or solve their death and learn who they really were in life. Alice's family thinks they do that and yet she still remains in that house as alone as she was in life. They get to move on, but she doesn't. They think what they learned about Alice made them feel closer to her, but she's still gone forever. It doesn't change the fact that her fate was to die young, suddenly, painfully, and unfairly, which is just what happens to some people and that's it. We all get one life and unfortunately, some people are gone like it's nothing, never to return.
I love this take too!
This is what existentially horrified me about this movie. It was so sad and lonely and terrifying to think about and the more time you spend with it the scarier it is
Same. The feeling of dying young terrifies me. And this movie is so well done, it makes me very anxious. But I love this film.
@@jorgeamaya6407 agreed. I wouldn’t say it’s the “scariest” movie I’ve seen by any means but it’s so good on an existential level and sits with you
@@Ikariprince yeah, it's not the scariest but it terrified me!! It says it all.
I feel so justified now, I showed this movie to some friends and family like last January and they all hated it (to the point they bring it up whenever I try to recommend more movies) so hearing that it's actually well-regarded by people who have seen it makes me feel better about liking it.
they have terrible taste - the movie is brilliant
It's literally one of the best horror movies of the last 20 years. If they weren't emotionally drained and terrified by the film then that's a shame for them.
It happens the same with my family. They know NOTHING!
They probably have low attention spans. You need new friends.
They just want a super budgeted movie with cheesy scares. This is a very good movie
Petition to have Ryan Hollinger on the podcast to discuss.... literally anything 😊
Consider this a signature
Signed :)
Nah.
Petition granted
HOYEVER
Wow, Chelsea's grief metaphor she shared is super accurate. I about 2 years ago lost most of my close family members, and sometime that ball comes back a round, but distractions do help. Talking also helps, never be afraid to talk to friends about your grief.
When I was a kid I used to terrify myself with books about "real" ghost stories, and this film is the closest thing that's come to replicating that feeling - the slow zoom-ins on the spectral images in the house evoking that feeling of pushing your eyes right up close to a picture of a 'ghost' to try and discern the detail.
Loudest I have ever gasped in any movie I've watched.. The first time I saw that ending shock scene, I couldn't breath or move for about 10 seconds, and then I immediately cried for both the girl in the video and just how terrified I was feeling. No blood, no gore, no scary monster, just human mortality is what constitutes fear in this movie. One of the best horror films of all time.
The scariest way to watch Lake Mungo is randomly catching it late at night on cable back in the day, mid-way through, when you can't figure out if it is a real documentary or a film because they never show their cards.
Totally going to ask to "watch this documentary" with my boyfriend, neglect to mention it's all fictional, and see how long he believes it...
@#3_Vacuum_Salesman_of_Marrakesh I think you could believe it's real for a good while. The end is really the only part that is incredibly unrealistic imo.
@@matt_c80 Literally, like I reckon he'll cotton on towards the end, but I literally don't mention it's in any way fictional I think I could get him for a while 😂
@CRAM MARC lol
(spoilers) I did this in January, but my friend kept calling out the characters for faking everything, so eventually I said it was fake (right before Alice appears in the tape recordings). I kinda wish I didn't, since I forgot eventually the brother admits he forged them.
Lmao
the ending with Alice still haunting the house behind the family really made me think of some parts of the haunting of hill house
Nell: I was right here. I was right here the whole time, none of you could see me. Nobody could see me...
JD Marjore-Same here, I remember watching episode 6 of Haunting Of Hill House, and when I got to the end of that particular episode I couldn't help but think of the ending of Lake Mungo.
That episode was so sad
I don’t know how it happened as for ages it felt like this film wasn’t easily accessible overseas but as an Australian and a horror fan I am so delighted that this film has been gradually getting the recognition it deserves from international audiences so many years after its release.
Also this won’t mean anything to non Aussies but us Aussies know this movie fucking NAILED the early 2000s Australian documentary feel. Until things start going sideways this movie could have been an “Australian Story” episode (a long running series on our PBS equivalent that every week profiled sometimes someone famous but just as often “ordinary” but very interesting people).
Fellow Aussie here, spot on. I even said as much on Chelsea's twitter this morning. Nailed that ABC doco style.
M Ad-Everything you've said in your comment is exactly why Lake Mungo is so frightening to me, even after having watched it at least a handful of times now since i first saw it. I'm Scottish so i don't know anything about Australian documentaries, but the fact that it was filmed as if it was a real documentary, as well as the performances from the actors, made the movie feel so realistic & believable to me that despite the fact that I know it's not a real documentary, it's honestly still the most usettling horror movie I've ever seen.
I just looked the movie up to see anything about the theories and actually saw an article where the author praised how it feels like a real documentary, not a fake documentary trying too hard to seem real. Don't know if the author was Australian, but it makes a good case for it being something an international documentary watcher would still pick up on.
I live in Ararat who says it's fake
VAGUE SPOILERS:
This is genuinely one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. The atmosphere of the documentary part is scary as well as the photo/home footage parts. And the big reveal at the end? Oh my god, just great stuff.
I just watched this movie because you guys were talking about it and oh my god the ending scared the shit out of me. Thank you so much for talking about it. This is my favorite podcast and I can't thank Chelsea enough for the constant amazing horror recommendations and analysis
Anyone see the Ryan Hollinger episode about this movie too?
Edit: holy shit they said he did an episode about it. I commented that before they brought it up. Damn! Good on them
Yeah same
Shure
Hey Stephen how's it going?
@@ricksanchezfromearthdimens948 Randy!!! So i heard u brought a farm?! I’d love some of that Tegridy! (I subscribed)
@@stephenstotch7471 Yes! The Pandemic Special is still available! Come on down to Tegridy Farms and have yourself a time!
The ending broke me because they never truly saw alice, even after she died and
They move away, abandoning her ghost. She was always destined to never be understood.
I agree it's upsetting what Alice's faith was and the fact she was always alone I the world even as a ghost. But I can't be mad at the family for moving away...... she was dead , what were they suppose to do? Nobody would of wanted to stay there especially after how horrendous of an event they went through.
Just gotta say that this channel's intro is one of the best of all yt channels
SO iconic
Interesting fact about Lake Mungo that's also on the wikipedia page- it's the location of a geomagnetic exclusion area, where the polarity of the earth's magnetic field is altered. I can't help but think this is why the filmmakers chose Lake Mungo as a location as that could serve as a kind of explanation for why she saw the ghost of her future self there. It's cool how they did leave a lot up to the viewers to find on their own, it gives the movie great rewatch value. Also I'd love to see you guys watch more Aussie horror!
This movie's version of Black Lodge
What I always thought happened was she was pulled underwater by some kind of drainage system in the dam.
This has happened before in real life, and in the movie it says her body was found in some kind of drain.
Your comments about grief around 33 minutes really hit close to home. I lost my brother back in October. I don't break down as often but when I do breakdown (like last night) it's just as brutal as it was the day after. I can talk about him with people and don't tear up, but when I'm alone and it "hits me" I still have blubbering sob-fests.
Your candid discussion was reassuring. I've def been diving into things to keep myself busy (watching videos, listening to podcasts, playing games) and I'm glad to know others do the same thing (or would do the same thing).
Love the show!
Didn’t see any comments about his but the ending where Alice saw her dead, drowned body reminds me of Haunting of Hill House (SPOILER) where we find out the “bent neck lady” was Nell all along and realize she had been seeing her ghost self since childhood. Super fkn scary man.
Facts
Mike Flanagan had to have watched Lake Mungo before he made hill house
The Haunting of hill house did it to perfection too!
I was about to comment this too lol and even the theme of feeling like your family cant see your true self or your suffering even after death is also shared by both stories. It's so sad and scary. Lake Mungo really was so ahead of it's time.
Mike Flanagan has praised Lake Mungo and is definitely a fan - he's called it one of his "all-time favorites." I think Nell is kind of an homage to Alice in the same way that Alice is an homage to Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks.
The cellphone footage scene disturbs me to my core. It’s the only thing that has scared me enough to make my eyes profusely water since I played P.T. and the “look behind you” scare happened.
I saw this movie this past summer, yet it made me feel so cold. Even though I’d say the scariest part is near the ending, it’s just so cold, dark and sad from the very beginning. It definitely left its mark
I feel the same. It mostly made me sad
My parents showed this to me when I was like 10 years old and even though I was able to handle it, the final minutes of the movie did make me cry. Proud of younger me for getting through it, though.
Oh no, that's too young. I have a 10 year old son; your comment makes me want to hug you
Oh man... I’m 18, just watched it for the first time and it scared the ever loving fuck out of me. I couldn’t imagine watching this at 10
@@tonyabrookes9931 No worry! I was a pretty tough kid when it came to horror movies and movies in general. I also had loving parents that were able to make me feel better after it so I look on the experience with fondness even if it was scary as shit.
That’s pretty fucked up of your parents honestly. Parents that make and/or let their little kids watch horror movies is so gross to me I don’t understand it.
isnt there a threesome sex scene?
33:57 such a true and also hopeful analogy about grief! I want to be able to come back to this, especially while im grieving.
This movie does that classic reveal, which is the "how did you make the walls bleed?" Reveal, and I NEVER get tired of that.
i'm not kidding when i say the "ball in the box" analogy has helped me so unbelievably much. it feels like a great way to understand grief, thanks chelsea
Omg..I watched Lake Mungo when Chris Stuckmann recommended it months ago. That was the first time I’ve been scared by a movie in YEARS.
I am way late to this movie & pod, but i love how it went from 'this is a movie about grief' to 'Bob Smeets Bobs Meet Meat Bob'. You beautiful maniacs.
Lake Mungo - totally underrated. I can’t put my finger on WHY there is such a feeling of dread and foreboding ever present but it’s just THERE and it works brilliantly!
I live in a town only an hour from Ararat - where this movie is set and filmed in. There is a beautiful and mountainous national park west of the town which I go to almost every weekend. I’ve also been to Norval Dam (the dam where Alice drowns in the movie), and I was pretty spooked. The mountain behind the town, that you see in the movie is called Mount Langi Ghiran - slightly under 1000m in elevation.
I also noticed the guy in the video the first time...was yelling NO there's someone in the bedroom!
I noticed that above him looked like a figure to me and it scared the shit out of me before they revealed the guy there
I got to see this in theaters back in 2010. It was released by After Dark Films as part of their "8 Films to Die For Horrorfest", and I can't describe what it was that drew me into the film but I chose this film and another to do a double feature. At the time, I was a 2nd-year college student in Chicago and the only theater playing this film was right outside O'Hare Airport, an hour away from the city. So needless to say, I was dead tired when I went to go see this, and between not getting any sleep the night before and the hour-long Metro ride, I sadly fell asleep in the theater and I ended up missing the best scene (though the noise during it woke me right up). Though I was enjoying everything I saw up until I fell asleep...
So when I got the chance a couple months later to watch this movie again when I bought the DVD, I saw this in my bedroom back at home with all the lights out... and I haven't felt so freaked out and unsafe as I did. I got to the Lake Mungo scene I missed in the theater and my mouth dropped. This is one of those movies that truly gets under your skin. Ryan Hollinger's video explains this point well but this is one of the few horror films I've seen that actually makes Death scary... not because of some terrifying monster but because of the sad reality that it will come for all of us inevitably. It's depressingly real, despite featuring a doppelganger.
The film is so beautifully paced; It should be put in college curriculums as a prime example of how to write a chilling horror story. And between this, The Babadook & Wolf Creek, Australia's put out some incredible horror films in the last 2 decades!
I like your story man.
Wished that I gave seen this sooner
You saying this movie made you feel unsafe is a word I have been missing to descibe how this movie made me feel and now I have what another commenter called fear tears in my eyes. I'm definitely going to have to watch something light hearted after this.
This is one of the horror films that have actually stuck with me for along time... My neighborhood growing up had a lake/beach just like this film and we use to hang out at the beach or go on walks at night on all the trails around the lake (mainly to get out of the house so we could go smoke) and after watching this movie I would legit never go anywhere near the lake after dark
According to the video recording, the bruises on Mathew's body appeared on 01.03.06 (March 1st, 2006), so three months after Alice's death. So the theory that those bruises came from Alice hitting Mathew as she was being drowned wouldn't make sense. Maybe ghost Alice was trying to communicate with her brother (pushing him, nudging him in his sleep aka the bruises) since those two were the closest in the family? I don't know..
Also, the stuff she wrote in the diary was on May 12th 2005, three months prior to her trip to Lake Mungo. When she wrote "everything felt wrong. my body, the way things looked. then i realized there was something wrong with me", I believe she was having body dysphoria. She wanted to talk to her mom, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Remember, she had a distant/weird relationship with her mom. I believe the director added this scene in so we can feel more sympathetic towards Alice, and her isolation. It's just fleshing her character out a bit.
The idea of Alice seeing her drowned self reminds me of Hill House. Anyone else agree? Hill House is so scary, and so is this. I love both
Watched this movie the other night when Chelsea mentioned it was going to be on the pod and I am STILL thinking about Bloaty every time I leave my room in the dark!!
This is the greatest podcast on TH-cam
What about Trash Taste?
@@kotorandcorvid4968 haven't seen it yet. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out
Correct
SupermegaCast
I agree 100%. I'm constantly putting Deadmeat over to other and getting people to check it out.
I watched this movie several years ago with no real understanding of what it was. The premise didn't sound particularly scary. It crept under my skin and left me with such an unsettled feeling. I still feel a chill when I think about it.
The impressive part is how it gets across existentialism. My issue with that sort of thing is it's hard to make you feel existentialism for yourself. You're seeing someone else seeing their corpse not yours. That video somehow does it and the weird time shenanigans adds surrealism to it. A cool theory is the backing up car lights led her spirit back to the house from the lake and that's just...freaky.
One of the scariest horror movies I have ever seen
It's horrifying how scary this film is.
@@neutralman9124 😂 yeah this movie fucked me up
There is imagery in this film that is burned into my brain.
@@mcleanruben I don’t watch horror movies but now I kinda want to see it
Where can I watch this movie
Nice choice! Glad people are finally giving this one the attention it deserves.
It's on Amazon Prime in the US for anyone interested.
You’re so right about the Ryan Hollinger thing! I just saw this a few months ago thanks to his video, and I loved it. I always try to show it to people blind so that they aren’t looking for the horror movie moments the whole time, like I did when I first watched it.
Lake Mungo is a real place in NSW here in Australia. It has history as landmark. All of these country places have and it is important to keep it in the story as is. You need to read up on it -it will add ANOTHER layer of horror. Ararat also a real town.
Watched this movie a while back thanks to Chris Stuckmann. So glad I did, And I literally cheered when I saw Chelsea tweeting about this being the next pod
I discovered it late last year and fell in love. I totally agree that this felt like it was ahead of its time. I wish there was a better release available.
For anyone wondering, the movie is on Tubi!!
im so glad you guys covered this movie, it's unbelievable. genuinely the scariest film i have ever seen. that cellphone footage is burned into my mind forever. peak horror.
I saw this film for the first time two weeks ago, and it was the first film in years that stuck with me hours afterwards. It's very sad and creepy, and is the first film since Hereditary to actually get a physical reaction out if me as well. Worth the watch for "that scene" alone.
Lake Mungo and Noroi: The Curse both terrified me as a full grown adult. Found footage can be a great tool for scares
James' expression at 50:50 always cracks me up. "It's her drowned face dude. I'm gonna throw up" 😂😂😂
I think the 1st time we hear "We are married and we like to get scared" from Chelsea, that is gonna be so awesome.
I'm glad you guys didn't notice the actual ghost in the pictures with your television ;p But can you imagine how tragic that is. Being dead. Being a ghost. And you're desperately trying to contact your family, but they're just literally unable to notice you.
i just watched this movie and it scared me SO MUCH! I don't know when was the last time i had chills watching a movie, but this one... chills all over. It came to a point where the camera would slowly show Alice's room, and i would see her, even though she wasn't there.
If you like this movie, the book Disappearance at Devil's Rock by Paul Tremblay is inspired by this movie, doppelganger folklore, new england devil stories, and man its an absolutely devastating read
I watched this film for the first time last night. It's easily one of the scariest and well made horror movies I've ever seen. The last time I remember being that scared would be for Ghostwatch. Also ... one of the worst nightmares I've ever had was about encountering a doppelganger of myself and it coming towards me. Lake Mungo is the horror film I wish I could have made. Brilliant film
That image has been burned into my mind, I don’t think I will ever forget it
I was so lucky to see this and another now classic found footage horror film (REC) while in high school around the late 2000s because of my sister who worked a DVD store. We saw this blind and were floored. I still think about the phone footage and the corpse all these years later. Truly scary shit
The whole movie from Alice’s phone footage to the pictures in the credits reminded me so much of Haunting of Hill House and the Bent-Neck Lady. (Spoilers) Especially with a character being haunted by their own death and the whole “I was right there, and you didn’t even see me” thing. So terrifying, but also horrifically upsetting.
I’m so happy you’re covering Lake Mungo! I remember seeing this movie summer before high school and I binged it along with a bunch of other indie horror movies. It was part of After Dark Horrorfest and I guess it was a small section on VOD with Time Warner. It’s such a great watch and so incredibly sad. I am totally due for a rewatch soon!
The only movie that truly scared me since I was a kid. I was afraid to turn off the lights for days.
This is literally the ONLY podcast I listen to 😂😅
YESSS the scariest movie I’ve ever seen! Been dying for you to cover this!
I love that you watch Dead Meat. Say hello to Sherb for me.
@@Christel85 IF HE DOESNT KILL ME FIRST I WILL💗💗💗
When Chelsea tweeted about watching this I instantly looked it up and I HATE ghost horror movies but I really ended up loving this movie, not many movies scary me nowadays and this made my spine tingle
I literally thought about Mungojerrie before the episode started AND THEN THEY REFERENCED IT
Not sure if you're lighting or camera angle is different this week but the vibe is really immaculate this week!! Also there is a running theory that the noises at night in Alice's room could be the neighbour or the brother.
So excited to see you guys finally talk about this movie! One of favorites, and weirdly enough, a comfort movie that I often put on in the background while I'm doing work. Even just hearing you talk about it gives me chills.
Also, not sure how true this is, but I remember reading online that this premiered as a late-night television special (i.e. its full name, After Dark: Lake Mungo). And purportedly, similar to something like Blair Witch Project and Orson Welles's War of the Worlds, people just kind of tuned into this without realizing it wasn't real and thus believed it was a real documentary. Obviously everyone found out it was fake. but there's so much incredible lore about this film that makes it so much more than just a singular watching experience.
I live in the state where this movie is set/filmed. Saw it back in 2008 when I was 23. And honestly, it's the most unnerving movie I've ever seen.
I remember I watched it with a friend. We left the lights on -- out of forgetfulness, not fear, as we didn't expect much. We both considered ourselves desensitised to horror.
But amusingly we caught each other glancing nervously at the back seat as we got in his car to drop me home afterwards. Awkward laughter ensued, but we had to admit the movie had rattled us.
I hadn't felt creeped out like that from a movie since being a little kid and seeing the alien-in-the-doorway scene in Communion.
Also, as another Aussie commenter mentioned, this really was filmed in a way that perfectly emulated Australian true crime documentaries of the time. The simulated news segments and interviews seemed so much more real to me than American mockumentaries.
This movie was amazing for me - because I just changed channels one night and it was already on, about 10 min in. I'd never heard of it and I initially thought I was watching a real documentary. Made it so much more impactfull. I obviously realised by the end it was a mockumentary but there was a brief period of genuine horror before it dawned on me.
So many awesome Podcasts between you two. I like these a lot
I watched this at 1:30am last night and I started falling asleep at like the 3/4 mark because I was getting bored, and then THE jump scare happens and made me jolt right awake to finish the end of the movie lol.
Watched this film last week for the first time and was fascinated with it. Really scary with not one jump scare and live the way it left it open for interpretation. Live the theory of the brother, I did think he wasn't quite what he was making out in the film. If you haven't seen this film and you're a horror fan it's a must watch!
Before I watch this: best Australian horror movie of all time and maybe the scariest horror movie I've ever seen.
Really? I can usually find something to love about any horror movie but this one bores me to tears. I get perplexed when people rave about it. I’m not trying to be a jerk, you can like what you want, I just genuinely find the differences in opinion interesting.
@@nicoleshh You're not being a jerk. My family hate it too. I like slow burns and films that get under your skin without being overtly scary with jump-scares (in saying that, Screen and Halloween are my favourite horror movies).
@@neutralman9124 I love slow burn movies and I hate jump scares too. Which makes it even more weird that I found this movie so dull. If you don’t mind subtitles watch Noroi the Curse if you haven’t seen it. It’s a similar style to this movie only I loved it!
The big thing that held back some of my enjoyment of this film is how much I love Twin Peaks. While details keep getting revealed about her secrets I just saw more and more comparisons to Laura Palmer. The documentary style was very interesting but even some of the supernatural stuff all reminded me of twin peaks which I love so much it just makes me want to rewatch that instead
These podcasts are always so refreshing to watch, thanks James and Chelsea!
YES
I’m so glad you guys did this movie, it’s the only horror I’ve seen that nearly gave me an anxiety attack watching it
Okay, so the other day I watched the first ten or so minutes of this episode and decided to watch the film itself then come back. That movie absolutely broke me and I’ve seen more horror movies than I can count. It inks its way into you while you’re watching and afterwards you’re left feeling vulnerable and shaken. I had to physically hug myself to feign some sort of comfort. I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about it before. When discussing it with a friend, I brought up Hereditary and how both have themes of grief and familial dysfunction but also leave you feeling absolutely haunted.
SPOILERS:
****
While watching, I never trusted the brother, not for a second. The bruises, the reclusive nature from his friends and his sudden devotion to filming and photography made me feel uneasy. I later figured he got that job working with photos so he could develop his own and not have anyone discover what he was capturing - this brings me to how I pieced together he was assaulting the sister. The bruises at the pool point to foul play, wearing her clothes after her death, filming the sister incessantly, all of that screamed overstepping boundaries. Then the sister’s sexual endeavor with the neighbors signify some sort of trauma response. Those who have no support after an event sometimes relive the event in order to have a sense of familiarity. The “feeling drugged” thing bothered me. When I finished the film, I looked up some theories and learned it was a big one people shared and felt so relieved and disturbed. I think the brother crafted the paranormal footage in order to scare the family from the house. I don’t know, it just feels nefarious.
Loved this movie and was so excited to hear you two talk about it, especially knowing you loved it as well. I don't know if I can think of a horror that is essentially all build up to one big scare, and then on top of that, the follow up gut punch of just how dreadfully sad the ending is. The video footage scare is so remarkable that it remains kinda difficult to tell what you're looking at until it's right there in front of you and it's just so scary and shocking. It's just so well made and hits its notes so, so tremendously.
The second scariest movie I've ever seen, after Pulse (2001). I watched it at 3 in the morning, in complete darkness, just months ago and slept with the lights on. And just like Chelsea, I refuse to look at images from it, lmao.
the somewhat anti-climatic ending adds to it, I think. this movie feels so authentic and leaving it on such a lowkey note only feels fitting
I absolutely love this movie and I'm glad you're covering it. I watched it a couple of years ago and found it beautiful and haunting in equal measures. It definitely left an impression on me.
I'm so glad to hear you guys talk about this movie! I love well done mockumentaries and found footage and I highly recommend The Poughkeepsie Tapes. That one really got to me as it's more visceral than Lake Mungo.
Thanks for the grief box and ball analogy. I lost someone close to me recently and that is a perfect way to describe it. Thanks for sharing that.
Oh look, another film to watch that I haven't heard of, this is exciting! James and Chelsea are consistently so good at sorting out my evening entertainment
as an adamant horror watcher, it takes a lot for movies to deeply disturb me anymore. i watched this movie with my significant other, at my house with the lights on, and afterwards the icky feeling was so overwhelming that i could not sleep. i adored this movie but it disturbed me SO BAD and im not entirely sure why
I'm so glad more people are continuing to discover this movie. I saw this years ago, and everyone I've ever mentioned it to has never even heard of it.
It's still one of the scariest/saddest ghost movies I've seen
Lake Mungo is so good. There are some really good After Dark Horror Fest movies actually.
edit: I love Gravedancers.....I know that's a controversial statement.
Gravedancers and Tooth and Nail were the best!
Gravedancers was a fun time
The only term in my head for Mungo is from Fallout 3 where kids are swearing at you and threatening to blow your head off if you try to go into Little Lamplight.
UR A VERY HARD WORKER AND WE APPRECIATE WHAT YOUVE DONE OVER THE YEAR, IVE BEEN WATGHING UR CHANNEL SINCE 2015 AND UR MY FAVOURITE UTUBER
I'm gonna have to come back to this later because I can relate to being hard to REALLY get scared by horror movies, and this sounds like it could actually get me creeped out and I want to go in knowing NOTHING. But thank you for these podcasts! They are my favorite!
I didn’t find it particularly scary but I did feel really sad, bleak and hopeless once it finished and that felt somewhat worse
I'm surprised nobody mentioned it and I mean, I'm a few years late but I started watching the movie again and the opening unfortunately shatters the brother theory because the whole family was at the dam when she didn't come out of the water. If there was a struggle the parents would've noticed
I love this film and living in Australia, I was fortunate enough to see it in it's very very brief run in art house cinemas here. It was quite the experience. I loved hearing about all these theories with the brother, you get your suspicions with pretty much everyone while you're watching it. Ultimately though I think that mystery doesn't really matter, it's not the point of the film. That profound sadness I get watching the film is effective regardless of the unspoken details, which is why I think it's such an effective film :)
This is hands-down my favorite found footage film and it's one I always recommend to people who tell me the genre sucks.
Looking foward to Bob Smeet showing up as an NPC in DnDnD
after seeing Chelsea's tweets I was looking forward to tuning into this ep of the podcast!!