Lake Mungo

And this weeks Friday night movie has been.... Lake Mungo!

Original image located here. Accessed 16th October 2026

And here we go with a low budget horror movie from my home country. It is indeed expected that a lot of first-time film-makers will rely on the horror genre as it is one that will generate an audience keen to freaked out and provides an opportunity to flex some creative muscles whilst working in the confines of a limited budget. 

So what this is a movie from 2008 that is presented as a documentary: a teenaged girl drowns in a lake and this movie has the fallout from the people who knew her - that is at first because things soon take a turn for the unsettling....

I have previously said that mood and atmosphere is one of the most effective tools in the toolbox of someone making a horror movie and boy does this movie know it. What may start out as a collection of talking heads soon gives way into a building of dread. Sure there some twists and turns in the plot but that dread doesn't stop and boasts some effective jump scares. 
This movie may be unassuming at first but it knows exactly what it's doing and has a sense of dread that other movies can only dream of. 

We're All Going to the World's Fair

And this weeks Friday night movie has been.... We're All Going to the World's Fair!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th October 2026

This has to be another case of having something on my watch list for so long that I forgot why it was there in the first place. Most likely it was because my favouritism of horror moods based on mood and atmosphere.

So this is about a teenage girl who becomes aware of an online game We're All Going to the World's Fair. However what originally seems like something fun eventually becomes sinister. 
Now one might think that such a description would sound like a fascinating elevator pitch. But the end result doesn't quite resemble a horror movie. Sure there is a mood of dread throughout and there are some jump scares but they are few and far between. 
No, this movie is more about a teenager who is chronically online and trying to find meaning in a life spent in social isolation, whilst fighting a losing battle with multiple demons. 

An unexpected outcome? Of course. Does it work? 
Certainly there are some scares and I will acknowledge that this movie does an effective job of portraying someone's mental decline. So much so, I would hesitate to call this a horror movie. 
Still, it does what it does.

Obsession

And this weeks Friday night movie has been.... Obsession!

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd October 2026

Well it's October and, as is tradition, time to sit down and enjoy (ha ha) some horror movies, it being Halloween and all.
And what better way to kick-off then with this little darling, that has been winning over audiences and critics alike. 

Well I have a lot to say about this so let's resort to bullet points:

• Yes this a debut feature for director Curry Baker and it shows. Still, it is impressive that it follows a familiar template that instructs doing a lot with a little. So points for acting, facial expressions, and mood.
• Speaking of mood, I will always favour horror movies that favour mood over jump-scares so this does indeed fit the bill. 
• I once joked that, in a post-MeToo world, we would see works of fiction where the villains are insecure, socially inept, boring, confidence-challenged, hopeless romantics. Well, the joke is on me as this is pretty much what we have here. 
• And yet did I feel in any way sympathetic towards Bear? Nope.
• Ultimately however, this still Inde Navarrette's show, giving a gleefully demented performance all the way through.  

And so, this year's clutch of horror movies start with a bang. Four more Friday's left.....