Lemme see if I got this straight... - Lake Mungo (2010) Discussion

[–] shrapnel-5 15 years ago

What was the point of Ray hiding the fact that he knew her prior to her death?
What was the point of the three way?
Why would someone walk directly into a standing bloated representation of themselves standing in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night?
Did the dead body attack her? Really?
Why would you, after seeing your dead self, go ahead and bury all your stuff in the middle of the desert, on a class trip...
Wow, this movie was just a hot piece of trash...I've seen more well thought out plots in old Capt Caveman reruns. To say this movie insults the viewers intelligence is a gross misunderstatement.
There's suspension of disbelief and then there's total bull*@&$.
This movie is not the former.

reply

[–] writinman2004 15 years ago

No, you do not have this straight. If you think there was no ghost, you did not watch the entire movie.

reply

[–] tkip19 13 years ago

Exactly. The answer is revealed at the end. And all these "pointless" plot points were actually clever twists to throw the viewer off guard and keep them guessing on whether anything "ghostly" was actually happening.

reply

[–] kwalker-24 15 years ago

After just watching this movie I have to say that you sir, have no sense of what a true ghost movie is. You seem to want to have every single answer handed to you on a silver platter and seem loathe to actually sit and think about what you just watched.

The first hour of the movie where we discover what lengths Alice's brother would go to just to give his parents a sense of peace, as misguided as it was, had to have happened in order for us to follow the thread of clues to find out what really happened to Alice.

I thought that the end where she see's her own death walking towards her was a brilliant twist and very unique in the world of ghost movies.

I'm sorry you got so little from this film.

reply

[–] Tebay71 15 years ago

There was a ghost, dumbass. You clearly didn't watch the entire thing.

My movie collection: http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=39594687

reply

[–] crissymm5 15 years ago

I did not care for this movie either. And no I DO NOT NEED every answer handed to me. I agree why have all the threesome thing......????? what did it have to do with anyting at all?????

then okay she really was dead, BUT if you 'saw' your dead self coming at yo attack you. why bury your stuff? then return to the same lake? WTF????

okay so if truely did miss something explain it to me?

reply

[–] Boutros_Boutros_Sirhan_Sirhan 15 years ago

The threesome bit was a piece of mystery left open because her death was still unsolved at film's end.
There could be many reasons as to why she buried the phone and her things at the lake, perhaps as an almost instinctual ritual, to keep a piece of her more ideal self (prior to seeing her specter of death or whatever that was) preserved, perhaps to try to appease the specter and anchor it there so it won't follow her, maybe to rid herself of anything linking herself to the moment she saw the entity- to cleanse herself.
I myself enjoyed the fact that there were no easy answers, though I would have liked a bit more of a malevolent tone creeping into the film, and even one small bit of info or a tiny scene could do that, nothing big as the subtle approach is best.

reply

[–] tajreme 15 years ago

She did NOT return to the same lake. She drowned at another location. I kept wondering what Lake Mungo was until mid-way it was revealed it has been a place she and a group of school friends went for an outing.

reply

[–] castlerock20002000 15 years ago

She also didnt voluntarily walk toward the ghost, she was taking video with her phone and separated for her group and that when wham!! her future self appeared.

reply

[–] Keyheartlion 14 years ago

The threesome (and its taping) was the reason the neighbor was breaking into the house; to look for the tape. The family heard him rustling around at night and thought Alice's spirit was there. They therefore set up the cameras, which led to Matthew's deception and the rest of the plot. The threesome was just there to explain how the whole incident of the tapings, psychics, etc started.

reply

[–] the_radical_one1 14 years ago

Actually there was a ghost and if you think that Paranormal Activity is better than this then you are a fool. That's the REAL 90 minutes of your life that you will never get back.

"Have you paid your dues Jack? Yes sir, the check is in the mail."

reply

[–] hvg-1 14 years ago

60 mins of this movie is all irrelevant because there is no ghost...

The same can be said about 'Signs'... there were no aliens until 60 minutes into the film. Would you have wanted 90 minutes of a ghost floating in front of the screen?! And there is a ghost in all the footage that they took... as revealed at the end of the movie.

she was a whore

Because she had a threesome she was a whore?

Ray was a sham artist

Depends on how you look at it.

I'm sorry but this was literally 90 mins of my life I'll never get back.

You can say that about anything really.

This was some psuedo-after school drama/documentary... why is this being grouped with paranormal activity?...at there was 'REAL' paranormal activity in that movie.

You grouped it with Paranormal activity... A guy just made a Ghost story. He never said 'Hey, this is Paranormal Activity times 2' Blame the media for that. And there was some 'REAL' paranormal activity in this too.

This was just a brother with really good photoshop skills.

You obviously didn't wait until the end.

What a piece of trash. I havent been this mad at myself for watching til the end since ep 3

Horses for Courses.

What was the point of Ray hiding the fact that he knew her prior to her death?

Confidentiality. He said that as soon as it was exposed.

What was the point of the three way?

She's human. And this was her 'secret'. Did she need a deep dark rooted secret like she ran over a kid? As seen in every freaking ghost story...

Why would someone walk directly into a standing bloated representation of themselves standing in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night?

Why would Transformers appear on Earth? Why would Jason Voorhees kill people at Camp Crystal Lake even though he died 30 years earlier? Why was George Bush Jr President?

Did the dead body attack her? Really?

I don't know. It was never shown. We can only hypothesise.

Why would you, after seeing your dead self, go ahead and bury all your stuff in the middle of the desert, on a class trip...

The family and Ray assume it was a ritual to rid her of all things that related to death.

Wow, this movie was just a hot piece of trash...I've seen more well thought out plots in old Capt Caveman reruns. To say this movie insults the viewers intelligence is a gross misunderstatement.
There's suspension of disbelief and then there's total bull*@&$.
This movie is not the former.

Horses for Courses. The film, to me, was spectacular at how underplayed it was.

reply

[–] Zando777 13 years ago

George Bush Jr. was president to override all the liberal morons who wanted to leave Saddam in power and prevent the Arab Spring from ever happening.

"Because she had a threesome she was a whore?" Yes, obviously.

I hope this helps.

reply

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hvg-1 14 years ago

60 mins of this movie is all irrelevant because there is no ghost...

The same can be said about 'Signs'... there were no aliens until 60 minutes into the film. Would you have wanted 90 minutes of a ghost floating in front of the screen?! And there is a ghost in all the footage that they took... as revealed at the end of the movie.

she was a whore

Because she had a threesome she was a whore?

Ray was a sham artist

Depends on how you look at it.

I'm sorry but this was literally 90 mins of my life I'll never get back.

You can say that about anything really.

This was some psuedo-after school drama/documentary... why is this being grouped with paranormal activity?...at there was 'REAL' paranormal activity in that movie.

You grouped it with Paranormal activity... A guy just made a Ghost story. He never said 'Hey, this is Paranormal Activity times 2' Blame the media for that. And there was some 'REAL' paranormal activity in this too.

This was just a brother with really good photoshop skills.

You obviously didn't wait until the end.

What a piece of trash. I havent been this mad at myself for watching til the end since ep 3

Horses for Courses.

What was the point of Ray hiding the fact that he knew her prior to her death?

Confidentiality. He said that as soon as it was exposed.

What was the point of the three way?

She's human. And this was her 'secret'. Did she need a deep dark rooted secret like she ran over a kid? As seen in every freaking ghost story...

Why would someone walk directly into a standing bloated representation of themselves standing in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night?

Why would Transformers appear on Earth? Why would Jason Voorhees kill people at Camp Crystal Lake even though he died 30 years earlier? Why was George Bush Jr President?

Did the dead body attack her? Really?

I don't know. It was never shown. We can only hypothesise.

Why would you, after seeing your dead self, go ahead and bury all your stuff in the middle of the desert, on a class trip...

The family and Ray assume it was a ritual to rid her of all things that related to death.

Wow, this movie was just a hot piece of trash...I've seen more well thought out plots in old Capt Caveman reruns. To say this movie insults the viewers intelligence is a gross misunderstatement.
There's suspension of disbelief and then there's total bull*@&$.
This movie is not the former.

Horses for Courses. The film, to me, was spectacular at how underplayed it was.

reply

[–] alifeincomplete 14 years ago

I'm of the same opinion, OP. I really wanted to enjoy this movie, and it had me all the way until the brother admitted he faked everything. It tried to regain its stride with the 'actual' ghost of Allie appearing, but it never hit the same note. The whole Lake Mungo bit -- frankly, the last third of the film -- is muddled and contrived.

An emulation of the creative process behind this film: "Hey, we had you tricked into thinking this was about a girl's ghost... that was a hoax, which turns out to be real... RANDOM SEX SCENE... and now for some stuff about a school trip shot on awful-quality cellphone video where she meets the Ghost from Christmas Future... ehhh, lets end it here, but close with a shot of her ghost in the glass. Yeah, that will make people feel better about wasting 89 minutes! Cut, print it."

Seriously. I really wanted to like this movie. It had me in its corner until the end, but it just loses itself. It never recovers that sense of purpose or even mystery it has in the fist half. A major let-down.

reply

[–] polyproticacid 14 years ago

I just saw this movie last night and I completely agree with you and the OP.

I love a good old-fashioned ghost story and I was really looking forward to this film. The documentry style felt very genuine and the acting was great. However, this movie manage to diffuse all the tension that it painstakingly built by saying that it was a hoax. When a ghost does appear in the film, it doesn't have the same disturbing power.

I felt the Tooney tape was unnecessary and did not add to the storyline. So what if she had secrets? Did it really have to be about having a threesome with the neighbor? Now if she went to Lake Mungo with the Tooney's, had a threesome, taped it, then went for a walk, and saw herself. Then I would feel that the tape had more relevance. As it stands in the film, the tape did not have the effect they wanted. The parents could have just found her journal, read about her seeing something horrifying at Lake Mungo and it would led them to her phone.

I didn't have a problem with her seeing her future self at Lake Mungo, but they could have had a more congruent approach to this final conclusion.

Great idea, poor execution.

reply

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]