August Underground — August Underground( Blu-Ray & DVD)
August Underground is an early 2000s film- which presents itself as the video recordings of two twenty-something American serial killers. The film features deliberately damaged and amateurish found footage to sell its authenticity. It takes in prolonged degradement and torture, moments gut retching gore, blended with darts into day-to-day mundaneness, with a highly volatile/ unpredictable lead. All making for a film that is uncomfortable as it is unpredictable. Here from Unearthed Films- those seekers of worldwide extreme film is a very highly deserved dual DVD and Blu-Ray release of this highly troubling underground horror classic. With the new release taking in a host of new and achieved extras.
August Underground appeared in the year 2001. It was the first film directed by Warren Township, New Jersey-born Fred Vogel- who also stars in the film as lead serial killer Peter. The film was co-written by Vogel and Allen Petters- who plays the film's second unnamed serial killer/cameraman. In total Vogel has eight other credits to his name- these go from the even more depraved and deranged sequel Mordum (2003), gory supernatural slasher The Red Skin Tower (2004), onto most recently The Final Interview (2018) an intense & hard-hitting thriller set in a prison.
The film just starts with no credits- we see a large hulking figure of Peter pouring away something away outside a house. He addresses the cameraman, saying he’s got something to show him- they both descend into the basement of the house- and so the intense horror kicks in. Firstly, the basement is covered on its floor and walls with ripped-up porno mags, and human shit. Sitting on a chair is a naked and bloody woman- she is roughly tied to the chair, and we see that one of her nipples has been severed. Peter then leads us into a small back room- where in a rancid bath is a male corpse with its genitals removed. He comes back into the main room to brutally berate the woman in the chair, and so August Underground pulls into its extremely troubling world- which you want to keep looking away from, but you somehow can't
The film runs at the one hour and ten minutes mark- giving unconnected snapshots of the two killers' lives. They pick up a woman, sexually taut her, and then batter her to death on a nighttime rural road. They follow an elderly woman into her house- kill her, raid her fringe, before playing with her dentures. Onto the more mundane side- going to hardcore metal show- getting in a mosh/ fight and visiting a miniature attraction. The shift between the deeply troubling & mundane certainly keeps you on your toes- and really you never fully feel at ease/ or relaxed at any point in the film. As you are either making your way through gruelling degradement & torture- edged with rotting & bludgeoning gore. Wondering how long the snippet of the mundane will last, or watching a seemingly normal situation slowly but surely amp up to torture & death.
Acting wise Vogel largely sells the character of Peter- suddenly switching from happy-go-lucky, cruelly taunting, and explosively aggressive- with believable hands-on attacks. We never see the second killer/ cameraman- but we do hear him, and he darkly chuckles & at points taut their victims. The supporting cast/ victims also sell their predicament & pain- which of course helps make the whole thing more believable.
The warp, wavering, and damage stock is well realized- and at points also adds to the tension, and the generally macabre queasiness of the whole thing. I first saw August Underground, and its two sequels Mordum (2003) & Penance (2007) around 2010. So, I was somewhat prepared/ ready for the film- but it still remains a disturbing and tense ride. Though oddly this time around I did notice subtle touches of very dark/ depraved gallows humour here and there. It’s really an oxymoron- but August Underground is most certainly not for everyone...
Moving onto this new dual Blu-Ray/ DVD release, and we get an excellent selection of new and archive extras. First off on the new side, we get a commentary track with Fred Vogel and Ulta Violent Magazine's Art Ettinger- who was one of the first people to see & rave about the film when it was first released. It begins with the pair talking about how this is the first-ever commercial release of the film, moving on to give a brief bio of Fred moving from small-town New Jersey where he grew up, and hired horror & 80’s tities films( as he calls them) from his local rental store to moving to Pittsburgh in 1996. We find out the location of the basement in the film was on a farm- and he had to keep covering up the porn on the walls/ floor between filming, as his landlord was very religious. We find how & when Fred first met Allen Peters, and how the film/ project developed. They talk about how the film's main influence was the home invasion scene in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. We find out how the film got degraded due to them re-recording it again and again on VHS. There’s talk about the film’s other titles, and how they settled on August Underground. We find out who the supporting cast were, and how they shot the old lady murder aftermath- the woman was Fred's own gran, who at the time was eighty-one. Later on, they talk about how the film's notoriety grew from its first showing at Cinema Wasteland, and how Fred and his crew got stopped at the Canadian border as the film was suspected of being a real snuff film- with Fred being held for a time. It's a most worthy commentary track- which I found out quite a few things I wasn’t aware of before.
Otherwise, on the new side, we have the following: 10 Questions with Fred Vogel(12.30) which finds Vogel answering FAQ regarding the film. And again, I found out a few things I didn’t know before- like Alan Peters wasn’t the real name of his collaborator- he was a family man; hence his real name was not used. And we find out the location of the Jesus statute- as well of course eight other interesting answers. TOETAG Masterclass: From Storyboard to Screen (6.43) which gives you a diagram/ picture set-up of some of the film's effects. Dave Parker Interviews Fred Vogel (46.32) which finds the respected underground horror critic interviewing Vogel. Dave Parker Interviews Fred Vogel and Mile Watt (107.11) which sees Parker interview Vogel and Mile Watt (of respected Pittsburgh film rental shop Incredibly Strange Video) who was one of the first people to see AU. Revisiting Infamy! Severed Cinema interviews Fred Vogel (38.30) which finds the horror zines Chris interviewing Vogel- again he was one of the early people to see AU.
On the archive side of stuff, we get a huge selection of stuff- so if this is your first time buying the film you get a lot of extra stuff. We have: Screener version of AU. We get three more audio Commentaries- one with 'The Killer', one with Actor/Director Fred Vogel. One with Fred Vogel with Actors Aaron LaBonte & Ben LaBonte. An Introduction by Director Fred Vogel. Hammer To The Head: A Closer Look at August Underground. August Underground on Location. August Underground Behind the Brutality. August Underground 'Too Real for Comfort' An Outsiders Perspective. photo gallery & trailers.
In conclusion, it certainly is amazing (and still slightly surreal) that we have a full commercial release of this still highly troubling true-underground horror classic. Topped off with a wonderfully weighty selection of old & new extras. If you are a fan of extreme/ transgressive film- this is simply a must-purchase item!