Joel Anderson's "Lake Mungo" is one of the most enduring horror movies of the aughts. While the Australian documentary-style film started small -- it was made on a shoestring budget and premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in 2008 -- the reputation of "Lake Mungo" has only grown in the 15 years since its release. The movie is enigmatic and polarizing. While some horror fans see its mellowly presented talking-head interview structure as mundane, others call it one of the scariest movies of all time thanks to the creeping sense of dread that builds throughout the movie, culminating in a heart-pounding third-act reveal.
Both camps, though, seem to agree that there's more to "Lake Mungo" than meets the eye. The movie about a dead girl's family seeking closure after her drowning includes several clear-cut twists, but also a handful of points of ambiguity -- and scenes that gesture towards interpretations of...
Both camps, though, seem to agree that there's more to "Lake Mungo" than meets the eye. The movie about a dead girl's family seeking closure after her drowning includes several clear-cut twists, but also a handful of points of ambiguity -- and scenes that gesture towards interpretations of...
- 10/2/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
The Film
When cinephiles talk about film, we often find ourselves discussing directorial careers; the trademarks, the way we see their identities as filmmakers emerge and change. That’s fascinating, but equally interesting in their own way are those directors who give us only one film to look at. It might be a singular masterpiece, a cult item, or a contender for worst film ever made (Manos: The Hands of Fate). In the case of Joel Anderson, writer/director of Lake Mungo, what we have is not just a great film, but real unfulfilled promise of a career we’re yet to see.
Lake Mungo is a faux documentary telling the story of the Palmer family in the wake of the drowning death of 16 year old Alice (Talia Zucker). Her parents June and Russell (Rosie Traynor and David Pledger) and brother Matthew (Martin Sharpe) are obviously devastated, and all begin...
When cinephiles talk about film, we often find ourselves discussing directorial careers; the trademarks, the way we see their identities as filmmakers emerge and change. That’s fascinating, but equally interesting in their own way are those directors who give us only one film to look at. It might be a singular masterpiece, a cult item, or a contender for worst film ever made (Manos: The Hands of Fate). In the case of Joel Anderson, writer/director of Lake Mungo, what we have is not just a great film, but real unfulfilled promise of a career we’re yet to see.
Lake Mungo is a faux documentary telling the story of the Palmer family in the wake of the drowning death of 16 year old Alice (Talia Zucker). Her parents June and Russell (Rosie Traynor and David Pledger) and brother Matthew (Martin Sharpe) are obviously devastated, and all begin...
- 6/2/2021
- by Sam Inglis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Contains spoilers for the movie Lake Mungo.
“We were thinking it’d be nice if we could make a film that was kind of a curiosity, but if you saw it years from now you wouldn’t know anything about where it came from.”
This quote from a 2009 interview with Lake Mungo director Joel Anderson proved to be strangely prescient. Anderson was speaking ahead of the film’s screening at the Brisbane Film Festival – the movie had already premiered at the Sydney Film Festival, played South by Southwest in the US, and would go on to tour several more festivals before eventually finding its way onto DVD.
Anderson conducted a few interviews. He talked about how the film had in part come about because he wanted to make something cheap and manageable that could be shot in sections because he’d had trouble getting financing for a different, bigger, more...
“We were thinking it’d be nice if we could make a film that was kind of a curiosity, but if you saw it years from now you wouldn’t know anything about where it came from.”
This quote from a 2009 interview with Lake Mungo director Joel Anderson proved to be strangely prescient. Anderson was speaking ahead of the film’s screening at the Brisbane Film Festival – the movie had already premiered at the Sydney Film Festival, played South by Southwest in the US, and would go on to tour several more festivals before eventually finding its way onto DVD.
Anderson conducted a few interviews. He talked about how the film had in part come about because he wanted to make something cheap and manageable that could be shot in sections because he’d had trouble getting financing for a different, bigger, more...
- 10/14/2020
- by Rosie Fletcher
- Den of Geek
Little Johnny, Robbie and Blue in ‘Robbie Hood.’
Sbs will mark Naidoc Week 2019 (July 7-14) with a raft of programming that celebrates the success and shares the unique stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, starting July 5.
Ludo Studio’s Robbie Hood, a short-form comedy series from writer-director Dylan River, will premiere on Sbs On Demand on July 5 and on Sbs Viceland on July 9.
The six episodes follow precocious 13-year-old Robbie (Pedrea Jackson) and his friends Georgia Blue (Jordan Johnson) and little Johnny (Levi Thomas) as they skirt the law to right the wrongs they see going down in their Alice Springs home town.
Also screening on the free streaming platform that week will be Indigenous-themed classic movies including Bruce Beresford’s The Fringe Dwellers, John Honey’s Manganinnie, Steve Jodrell’s Tudawali and Philippe Mora’s Mad Dog Morgan.
The new free-to-air movie channel Sbs World Movies will...
Sbs will mark Naidoc Week 2019 (July 7-14) with a raft of programming that celebrates the success and shares the unique stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, starting July 5.
Ludo Studio’s Robbie Hood, a short-form comedy series from writer-director Dylan River, will premiere on Sbs On Demand on July 5 and on Sbs Viceland on July 9.
The six episodes follow precocious 13-year-old Robbie (Pedrea Jackson) and his friends Georgia Blue (Jordan Johnson) and little Johnny (Levi Thomas) as they skirt the law to right the wrongs they see going down in their Alice Springs home town.
Also screening on the free streaming platform that week will be Indigenous-themed classic movies including Bruce Beresford’s The Fringe Dwellers, John Honey’s Manganinnie, Steve Jodrell’s Tudawali and Philippe Mora’s Mad Dog Morgan.
The new free-to-air movie channel Sbs World Movies will...
- 6/18/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
The Film Society of Lincoln Center is set to showcase new Australian content in New York next month with the first-ever Australian International Screen Forum.
The event will feature the New York premiere of Simon Baker's directorial debut Breath, the North American premiere of Jennifer Peedom's Willem Dafoe-narrated documentary Mountain and the New York premiere of Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country, starring Bryan Brown, Sam Neill, Hamilton Morris and Matt Day.
The forum also will include a 30th anniversary screening of Steve Jodrell’s Shame, starring Deborra-lee Furness, and the newly restored version of Gillian Armstrong’s 1982 comedy musical Starstruck. Armstrong also...
The event will feature the New York premiere of Simon Baker's directorial debut Breath, the North American premiere of Jennifer Peedom's Willem Dafoe-narrated documentary Mountain and the New York premiere of Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country, starring Bryan Brown, Sam Neill, Hamilton Morris and Matt Day.
The forum also will include a 30th anniversary screening of Steve Jodrell’s Shame, starring Deborra-lee Furness, and the newly restored version of Gillian Armstrong’s 1982 comedy musical Starstruck. Armstrong also...
- 2/11/2018
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sigrid Thornton has joined the cast of Wentworth Season 4, which will premiere on Foxtel in 2016.
Thornton is the first actress to have starred in the original Prisoner series to join the cast of Wentworth..
However, rather than reprising her previous character Ros Coulson, she enters the prison as Sonia Stevens - a new character partially inspired by one originally played by Tina Bursill.
Thornton plays a wealthy but self-made dynamo behind a cosmetics empire. .
She comes into the prison on remand, suspected of the murder of a missing woman.
Foxtel head of drama Penny Win said the fourth season continued the series. finely-honed evolution as a world class contemporary drama which proudly forges its own path.
.Having Sigrid Thornton sign on to return behind the walls of Wentworth is a casting dream and a wonderful acknowledgement of the work the writing team has put into the creation of Sonia Stevens...
Thornton is the first actress to have starred in the original Prisoner series to join the cast of Wentworth..
However, rather than reprising her previous character Ros Coulson, she enters the prison as Sonia Stevens - a new character partially inspired by one originally played by Tina Bursill.
Thornton plays a wealthy but self-made dynamo behind a cosmetics empire. .
She comes into the prison on remand, suspected of the murder of a missing woman.
Foxtel head of drama Penny Win said the fourth season continued the series. finely-honed evolution as a world class contemporary drama which proudly forges its own path.
.Having Sigrid Thornton sign on to return behind the walls of Wentworth is a casting dream and a wonderful acknowledgement of the work the writing team has put into the creation of Sonia Stevens...
- 11/5/2015
- by Inside Film Correspondent
- IF.com.au
Production started this week on season four of Foxtel and FremantleMedia Australia.s drama Wentworth.
The cast and crew are settling in to a new location and studio in Melbourne.s western suburbs to shoot the 12 episode season.
Wentworth.s S4 cast includes Danielle Cormack (Bea Smith), Pamela Rabe (Joan Ferguson), Kate Atkinson (Vera Bennett), Nicole da Silva (Franky Doyle), Celia Ireland (Liz Birdsworth), Shareena Clanton (Doreen Anderson), Katrina Milosevic (Sue .Boomer. Jenkins), Robbie Magasiva (Will Jackson), Socratis Otto (Maxine Conway), Tammy MacIntosh (Kaz Proctor), and Libby Tanner (Bridget Westfall).
.As the story resumes, Bea and her cell-block mates are returning to Wentworth after the fire and rebuilding of H Block to find a new dynamic in play with a new contender for Top Dog. On the outside, Franky is trying hard to be a productive member of society. As always, no-one should underestimate .the Freak...
.Wentworth is a FremantleMedia Australia...
The cast and crew are settling in to a new location and studio in Melbourne.s western suburbs to shoot the 12 episode season.
Wentworth.s S4 cast includes Danielle Cormack (Bea Smith), Pamela Rabe (Joan Ferguson), Kate Atkinson (Vera Bennett), Nicole da Silva (Franky Doyle), Celia Ireland (Liz Birdsworth), Shareena Clanton (Doreen Anderson), Katrina Milosevic (Sue .Boomer. Jenkins), Robbie Magasiva (Will Jackson), Socratis Otto (Maxine Conway), Tammy MacIntosh (Kaz Proctor), and Libby Tanner (Bridget Westfall).
.As the story resumes, Bea and her cell-block mates are returning to Wentworth after the fire and rebuilding of H Block to find a new dynamic in play with a new contender for Top Dog. On the outside, Franky is trying hard to be a productive member of society. As always, no-one should underestimate .the Freak...
.Wentworth is a FremantleMedia Australia...
- 8/14/2015
- by Inside Film Correspondent
- IF.com.au
The lags and warders of Wentworth prison will do more time with news that Foxtel has commissioned a third season of 12 episodes from FremantleMedia Australia.
Shooting of season two will continue in Melbourne until mid-February and the show will resume filming in March.
The reimagining of Prisoner has sold to more than 20 countries including the UK.s Channel 5, Ireland TV3, Africa.s Mnet, Tvnz and Sweden.s TV4. A German-language remake is in production for German network Rtl, owned by Fremantle.s parent the Rtl Group.
The premiere on Foxtel.s SoHo channel in May 2013 was the most watched non-sports program ever on Australian pay-tv. Across the 10 episodes Wentworth reached 1.868 million unique viewers . 26% of Foxtel subscribers.
On series two the directors are Kevin Carlin, Catherine Millar, Dee McLachlan, Pino Amenta and Steve Jodrell. The writing team comprises Marcia Gardner (script producer), Timothy Hobart (story editor), John Ridley, Pete McTighe and Adam Todd.
Shooting of season two will continue in Melbourne until mid-February and the show will resume filming in March.
The reimagining of Prisoner has sold to more than 20 countries including the UK.s Channel 5, Ireland TV3, Africa.s Mnet, Tvnz and Sweden.s TV4. A German-language remake is in production for German network Rtl, owned by Fremantle.s parent the Rtl Group.
The premiere on Foxtel.s SoHo channel in May 2013 was the most watched non-sports program ever on Australian pay-tv. Across the 10 episodes Wentworth reached 1.868 million unique viewers . 26% of Foxtel subscribers.
On series two the directors are Kevin Carlin, Catherine Millar, Dee McLachlan, Pino Amenta and Steve Jodrell. The writing team comprises Marcia Gardner (script producer), Timothy Hobart (story editor), John Ridley, Pete McTighe and Adam Todd.
- 1/29/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Lake Mungo
DVD
Director: Joel Anderson
Starring: Talia Zucker, Rosie Traynor, David Pledger, Martin Sharpe, Steve Jodrell
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 23, 2010
For four straight years now, After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For has been unleashed. Eight original horror films to quench your thirst for blood and gore and screams galore. Last year I was able to check out and review their third collection of horrors (Read: DVD Review: After Dark Horrorfest III: 8 Films To Die For), and was rather excited to check out their new slate this year! Instead of cramming every review into one mammoth review, this year we'll take it one flick at a time, with this little opener stuck at the top of each one.
Most of the movies that you'll see when watching an After Dark Horrorfest title will involve a whole lot of graphic violence and some pretty horrific other-worldly beings. And...
DVD
Director: Joel Anderson
Starring: Talia Zucker, Rosie Traynor, David Pledger, Martin Sharpe, Steve Jodrell
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 23, 2010
For four straight years now, After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For has been unleashed. Eight original horror films to quench your thirst for blood and gore and screams galore. Last year I was able to check out and review their third collection of horrors (Read: DVD Review: After Dark Horrorfest III: 8 Films To Die For), and was rather excited to check out their new slate this year! Instead of cramming every review into one mammoth review, this year we'll take it one flick at a time, with this little opener stuck at the top of each one.
Most of the movies that you'll see when watching an After Dark Horrorfest title will involve a whole lot of graphic violence and some pretty horrific other-worldly beings. And...
- 10/30/2010
- by The Movie God
- Geeks of Doom
David Michod has won the Australian Directors Guild Award for Best Direction – Feature Film for Animal Kingdom – and shared the Best Stand Alone Documentary with Jennifer Peedom for Solo.
This is a summary of our live Twitter coverage of the event, which took place on Thursday night in Sydney:
Minister for the Arts Virginia Judge gives opening speech, talking about the state’s well known and publicised screen plans… such as AFI awards coming to Sydney, $25m extra funding, etc. Best Direction Tvc: Tim Bullock, Nothing Soft Gets In (Toyota). Best Original Online Program: Clayton Jacobson, Mordy Koots. Best Cross-Platform Interactive Project: Marcus Gillezeau, Storm. That’s a new category this year. Best Music Clip: Craig Melville, The Bedroom Philosopher – Northcote. So hungover. That was the title, not a statement! Highly Commended to the only other music clip nominee, The Glue Society, The Bumblebeez – Misfit. Best Student Film: Ariel Kleiman,...
This is a summary of our live Twitter coverage of the event, which took place on Thursday night in Sydney:
Minister for the Arts Virginia Judge gives opening speech, talking about the state’s well known and publicised screen plans… such as AFI awards coming to Sydney, $25m extra funding, etc. Best Direction Tvc: Tim Bullock, Nothing Soft Gets In (Toyota). Best Original Online Program: Clayton Jacobson, Mordy Koots. Best Cross-Platform Interactive Project: Marcus Gillezeau, Storm. That’s a new category this year. Best Music Clip: Craig Melville, The Bedroom Philosopher – Northcote. So hungover. That was the title, not a statement! Highly Commended to the only other music clip nominee, The Glue Society, The Bumblebeez – Misfit. Best Student Film: Ariel Kleiman,...
- 9/23/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
The Australian Directors Guild has published its list of nominees for this year’s awards, with Jeremy Sims, Rachel Perkins, David Michod, Claire McCarthy and Robert Connolly competing in the feature film category.
Television nominees include Tony Tilse for Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Peter Andrikidis for East West 101 and Amanda Brotchie for Lowdown; there are also nominations for environmental efforts and online projects.The wiinners will be announced on September 23 at Star City, Sydney.
This is the full list of nominees:
Feature Film
Beneath Hill 60 Jeremy Sims Bran Nue Dae Rachel Perkins Animal Kingdom David Michôd The Waiting City Claire McCarthy Balibo Robert Connolly
Television Mini series
East West 101: Atonement Peter Andrikidis The Circuit II: Sorry Business Steve Jodrell The Circuit II: Of Mice and Men James Bogle
Documentary Feature
Indonesia Calling: Joris Ivens in Australia John Hughes Three Boys Dreaming Michael Cordell The Burning Season...
Television nominees include Tony Tilse for Underbelly: The Golden Mile, Peter Andrikidis for East West 101 and Amanda Brotchie for Lowdown; there are also nominations for environmental efforts and online projects.The wiinners will be announced on September 23 at Star City, Sydney.
This is the full list of nominees:
Feature Film
Beneath Hill 60 Jeremy Sims Bran Nue Dae Rachel Perkins Animal Kingdom David Michôd The Waiting City Claire McCarthy Balibo Robert Connolly
Television Mini series
East West 101: Atonement Peter Andrikidis The Circuit II: Sorry Business Steve Jodrell The Circuit II: Of Mice and Men James Bogle
Documentary Feature
Indonesia Calling: Joris Ivens in Australia John Hughes Three Boys Dreaming Michael Cordell The Burning Season...
- 8/30/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
If you like to be scared, really scared, we know a great way to terrorize yourself for nearly twenty hours, all for just $159.98. How, you ask? Well, here's how: run out and buy the fourth installment of After Dark Horrorfest 8 Films to Die For. Really, it's that simple. Not familiar with 8 Films to Die for? Each year, After Dark opens eight indie horror films in theaters in major markets, and then the folks at Lionsgate release them on DVD, both separately and as a packaged set. The 2010 collection is out now, and there's some stuff well worth recommending, a bunch of cool, up-and-coming actors and actresses screaming their heads off, and stacks of directors showing some major chops and priming themselves for bright futures. Lake Mungo (2010) centers on a family that discovers some crazy secrets about their daughter after her supposedly accidental death. The relatively unknown cast includes Rosie Traynor,...
- 4/9/2010
- by ianspelling@corp.popstar.com (Ian Spelling)
- PopStar
Chicago – We’ve spent the last few weeks working our way through the fourth collection of the series subtitled “8 Films to Die For” and found a few highlights and lowlights of the fourth annual “After Dark Horrorfest” that we would are now unafraid to share. With two entries that are much more accomplished than last year’s thoroughly mediocre octet, this year featured some quality and some, well, not-so-quality. Let us break it down from best to worst.
1. “Dread”
DVD Rating: 4.0/5.0
Starring: Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Evans, Hanne Steen, and Laura Donnelly
Written by: Anthony Diblasi
Directed by: Anthony Diblasi
After Dark Horrorfest IV: Dread
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video
Synopsis: “Produced by Clive Barker and adapted from his Books of Blood collection by Anthony Diblasi (screenwriter), Dread follows Stephen (Jackson Rathbone, The Twilight Saga) and Cheryl (Hanne Steen), college students making a documentary about what people dread in life. But...
1. “Dread”
DVD Rating: 4.0/5.0
Starring: Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Evans, Hanne Steen, and Laura Donnelly
Written by: Anthony Diblasi
Directed by: Anthony Diblasi
After Dark Horrorfest IV: Dread
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video
Synopsis: “Produced by Clive Barker and adapted from his Books of Blood collection by Anthony Diblasi (screenwriter), Dread follows Stephen (Jackson Rathbone, The Twilight Saga) and Cheryl (Hanne Steen), college students making a documentary about what people dread in life. But...
- 4/8/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Now in it's fourth year, Horrorfest, the annual cinematic showcase for After Dark Films, has established something of a reputation as a platform for fresh, daring filmmakers to get themselves noticed. More than just a simple market for nasties, the After Dark label stands for quality by way of authenticity, delivering horror films by genre lovers for genre lovers. In addition to this yearly frightfest, After Dark recently announced a new venture to develop their own projects, in partnership with SyFy, NBC, and Lionsgate, titled After Dark Originals. Aiming to do for horror what the Sundance Institute did for the American indie, the eight slate series will begin production next month with a view towards theatrical release later this fall.
Titles featured in this year's Horrorfest include:
The Reeds
Starring: Anna Brewster, O-t Fagbenle, Will Mellor, Danny Caltagirone, Scarlett Johnson, Emma Catherwood, Geoff Bell
Director: Nick Cohen
Inspired by any...
Titles featured in this year's Horrorfest include:
The Reeds
Starring: Anna Brewster, O-t Fagbenle, Will Mellor, Danny Caltagirone, Scarlett Johnson, Emma Catherwood, Geoff Bell
Director: Nick Cohen
Inspired by any...
- 4/3/2010
- by Neil Pedley
- JustPressPlay.net
Already released in Australia on DVD, Lake Mungo will hit North American screens on January 29th. More than just a ghost story, Lake Mungo follows Alice Palmer into the afterlife and a poster seen left symbolizes Palmer's transformation to the other side. Hinting at Palmer's death in a dam, water can be seen at the bottom of the image, with Palmer screaming on top. More news, outside the Horrorfest movie poster release, suggests that an American copy of the film is in the works and will be released in 2010. Why do American studios continue to remake European, Asian and Australian horror films? An inferiority complex on the part of American studios? An easy paycheque? As long as Lake Mungo turns out to be as good as initial reviews suggest then 2010 will be a great year for horror filmmaking despite the slew of American remakes.
A short summary of Lake Mungo...
A short summary of Lake Mungo...
- 1/6/2010
- by Michael Ross Allen
- 28 Days Later Analysis
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