Lake Mungo (2008)
The Setup: A teenage girl drowns while swimming at a local dam in rural Australia. Soon after her burial, the grieving family start to experience strange happenings at their home and call in a parapsychologist to investigate...
Why It Rules: Yeah, that's right. Number 1. As glorious as Spinal Tap is, we've all seen it at least 18 times. But Lake Mungo is both hugely underrated and criminally underseen.
The TV doc set-up is beautifully crafted, the acting subtle and always convincing and the story cranks and slows and twists and accelerates, aided by some magnificent sound design and spine-prickling spooks.
It's a film that manages to grip tightly without overplaying or over-fussing, pulling off the rare horror trick of delivering on scares but retaining a solid base of humanity.
Lake Mungo is out now on DVD. Get it. Get it. GET IT!!! And then tell everyone you know to get it...
