_**Docudrama concerning the possible ghost of an Australian girl**_

A 16 year-old girl disappears in the water in a rural area of Australia and family members & others claim they see apparitions of her while various secrets are slowly unveiled.

“Lake Mungo” (2008) is a mystery Indie with a bit ’o horror, but in the style of a mockumentary, aka fake documentary.

Like "Curse of the Blair Witch,” which was released three weeks before the found footage hit “The Blair Witch Project” in 1999, “Lake Mungo” consists of fake interviews with several people about the central topic, as well as examination of some found footage. "Curse of the Blair Witch” worked because it only ran 44 minutes whereas this one is twice as long and the fact that it’s all an act pretending to be a documentary can’t sustain interest. I suppose if you thought it was real it might be more compelling.

The brother’s revelation (no spoilers) is odd in that it takes away from what the docudrama is trying to do. For me, the first 53 minutes of constant phony interviews is pretty tedious. Thankfully things perk up in the final 34 minutes. Although the first revelation thereof goes nowhere, the second one (the one that occurs at the titular lake) is well done and certainly creepy, not to mention an intriguing concept.

I’m sure everything ties together if you reflect on it, but IMHO it’s not worth the effort because the flick just isn’t compelling for the bulk of the first hour. And the payoff isn’t enough to make it worth the investment UNLESS maybe you’re a devotee of mockumentaries or found footage flicks. Add to this the aggravation of the pendulum swinging back-and-forth regarding the nature of the paranormal happenings (she is a ghost; she isn’t a ghost, ad nauseam).

That said, the movie is well made for what it is, the actors are convincing and I enjoyed seeing that part of southeast Australia.

The film runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot in Ararat, which is a 2 hours’ drive west of Melbourne, and Mildura, which is 3.5 hours north of Ararat.

GRADE: C-/C (4.5/10)