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Lake Mungo (2008)
Lake Mungo (2008) Dir. Joel Anderson
Skinamarink (2022) Dir. Kyle E. Ball
Pulse (2001) Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Lake Mungo (Anderson, 2008)
The mockumentary format enables the audience to trust the protagonists and furthermore, identify with their grief over losing their daughter. Unlike other ‘haunting’ sub-genres of horror, the focal point of the narrative appears to be with all family members accepting the death of Alice rather than cheap scare shots. Arguably, the uneasy tension created at the start of the film is through both the identification with the protagonist and through the genius use of mockumentary sub-genre.
The integration of the hand-held camera and late night recording narrative device is so underrated and is successful in creating a higher level of intrigue for the audience. However, the narrative threads created by the use of the camera reflects family relations. The initial shots of Alice are created by her brother to help her mother accept Alice’s death and analysing of the second tape shows Alice’s sexual relations with her next door neighbour. Furthermore, the use of the family psychic Ray increases the sense of verisimilitude throughout the film and he also allows an insight to Alice’s inner fears. Ray is another essential narrative device for the film as he vocalises the similar fears of both Mother and Daughter (Alice’s fear being losing her Mother and her Mother’s fear of her distance from Alice).
The discovery of Alice’s phone in Lake Mungo provides the scariest moment in the film and shows Alice confronting her fears of drowning-she sees her bloated, dead body in front of her. As her parents revealed she never talked about the Lake Mungo trip, it shows the sheer distance between the characters. Despite the climatic moment being scary, it’s also liberating(in a sense.) Alice’s parents believe the spirit in the house has changed since the discovery of Alice’s phone so the audience believes that the family’s problems are over. Arguably, this is due to the genre codes and conventions- the audience shouldn’t identify with the ghost, when the family believes they are safe, the audience are safe. However, this is not the end.
The interchanging shots of Alice’s final interview with Ray and her Mother’s show that the distance is still there, despite the fact her family believes Alice is free. Alice talks about how she sees her Mother yet her Mother does not see her. In comparison, her Mother talks about how she doesn’t see Alice. The final shot of the family shows a figure at the window, the audience is led to believe that this is Alice. Thus, creating the idea that Alice has been there all along and the family has found various reasons to not see her. The physical distance between the family and Alice shows this.
In my opinion, although the message is somewhat cliched, the film discusses the distance between teenagers and their parents. Furthermore, the idea that after death nothing is solved and we never truly knows what someone else feels. The film is incredibly well executed and is both terrifying and emotional.