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 while that’s expected and usually pretty entertaining to a horror fan, Lake Mungo brings a completely different and rather refreshing tone to the table.

The movie tells the story of a young girl named Alice (Talia Zucker) who mysteriously disappears while swimming with her family at a local dam. It takes some time, but eventually search and rescue teams discover her body. At first the family thought that was the sad and tragic end of it, but when her brother Matthew (Martin Sharpe) feels she might not be gone and sets up cameras, haunting evidence leads the family to wonder just what’s going on. One step after the other, a dark side to their daughter’s life becomes more clear, and the family must put it all in place and find a way to move on with their own lives.