August Underground [2001]

This movie itself is very controversial to begin with. It relies on extremely gruesome imagery to shock the viewer. However, the story, pacing and almost all of the other elements were not only poorly done, but in some shots almost non-existent. This is a specific movie, created for a specific audience. Shot with the home video camera and directed in such way that it looks like it is not directed at all, for it is supposed to represent a sick video documentary of two serial killers and their sadistic acts. As always in this genre, you will find extreme gore and violence, depicted quite realistically due to the above mentioned type of filming. Some people find it very disturbing due to its content, and to others it seems like a failed experiment.

It all depends on your perception. If you casually watch murder and torture videos, August Underground may have that naive and almost amateurish vibe. But if you’re just an ordinary horror fan, this movie may show you what’s lurking in the dark corners of the genre. My personal opinion is that it’s not that good, but still worth a viewing, and by viewing I mean that you start to watch it and if you find it too gruesome or boring, just switch it off. It is a nice insight into what actually might go on with these demented lunatics. There have been two sequels with almost the same story, so if you like you might wanna check them out.

In case you didn’t like this movie, but are intrigued by the sub-genre, I recommend you check out two classics from the eighties: Cannibal Holocaust is Italian cannibal exploitation flick and Guinea Pig series is coming to us from, where else than Japan. Actually, there’s a pretty funny story regarding this twisted sextet of exploitation movies: None other than Charlie Sheen checked out the series of movies back in 1991 and immediately contacted FBI, fearing that the incidents depicted in the movies are actually real. Soon, FBI along with Japanese officials confirmed that the footage is not real.

Director: Fred Vogel

Cast: Kyle Dealman, Joe Knetter, Andrew Lauer, Ben LaBonte, Aaron LaBonte, Alexa Iris

Fun Facts: While traveling to Canada to attend the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear in Toronto, director and co-writer Fred Vogel was arrested, pending charges of transporting obscene materials into Canada, when copies of August Underground and its sequel were found by customs officials among the merchandise he had intended to bring to the convention. The charges were eventually dropped, after Vogel had spent roughly ten hours in customs prison, and his films were sent to Ottawa for further observation

IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412467/