Twin Peaks is a ghost story; it’s just that David Lynch had a hand in it, and there isn’t a single thing about that man that’s straightforward, so we get doppelgangers and sex trafficking plots and pocket dimensions, wrapped in layers of Native American folklore and transcendentalism to obscure the show’s profound dissatisfaction with the ugliness of the world. Lake Mungo is a brilliant film for any number of reasons, but one of its most foundational successes is its intertextuality with Twin Peaks. Told in pitch-perfect documentary style, a choice that must have surely disoriented viewers without prior knowledge of the movie, just stop me if the movie sounds a bit familiar: Lake Mungo is the story of a young girl named Alice Palmer who is murdered under mysterious circumstances. Her death is a profound blow to her sleepy hometown of Ararat, Australia. As those closest to her mourn her loss, they are slowly made aware of the fact that Alice was not at all who she seemed.
There are plenty of thoughtful tweaks and adjustments to keep the homage from becoming slavish, but it’s the way the movie scoops the whimsy and comedy out of the premise of the show and replaces it with an unblinking eye toward the nature of secrecy and the specter of loss that’s most impressive. A ripoff this is not: if anything, Lake Mungo actually improves the experience of watching Twin Peaks, addressing the sorrow and lack of closure that the show does not. It’s a companion piece, a thematic complement, and a deeply unsettling horror movie to boot; the sort of movie more interested in creeping under your skin than doling out bloody shocks and musical stings--although, for my money, it contains the best jump-scare in horror since The Exorcist III, and an atmosphere of dread and mystery yet to be matched.
One last thing:
Watch through the credits.
-Brian L.
Archival details
- Original URL
- https://metallifestyle.weebly.com/curtains-movie--tv-reviews/31-nights-of-horror-night-fourteen-lake-mungo
- Recovery source
- live-weebly
- Recovery date
- 2026-07-22
- Stewardship polish
- 2026-07-22
- Preservation status
- restored
- Missing assets
- None recorded
Preserved by Bloodsoaked Media · The Archives