Customer Reviews

August Underground's Penance

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The original was sick.
The sequel was even sicker.
And now the third installment pulls out all the stops, and empties any humanity that was left in your soul onto the abattoir floor.

This time around the depravities are shot on digital,
so the home movie quality of the previous two flicks isn't nearly as apparent.
Also unlike it's predecessors, this one doesn't start up rigt away.
But once it does..... Wow!!! Stand back!!
(mutilation, disembowelment, and a particularly horrific family christmas scene that will go down as one of the most brutal scenes in a movie bar-none).

This installment focuses on the demented relationship between Vogel's character & the chick who I'm refering to as Mrs. Vomit.
Gone are all the outside influences & distractions.
All you have, is the two, and the carnage that keeps them together.
It starts off rather typical.
Just 2 young lovers out having a good time,
But what starts as puppy dog love, descends into extreme, mindless, violence.
Oftentimes going waaaay over the edge.
But that's to be expected. This is August Underground.
Like the others, this one jumps around with no clear timeline in sight,
but the heavy use of special effects (AU's creme de la creme) keeps things nice and interesting. (and by interesting I mean bloody)
They're practically real now (entrails leaking gas & feces, etc.), and boy are they plentiful.
The amount of gore & guts onscreen outdoes any given Mondo flick hands down.

If you've seen the last two, you know what you're in for.
If not, watch every other brutally demented horror film out there,
becase this one is the "Baron of Blood".

MORAL OF THE STORY:
LOCK YOUR DOORS!!!!!!!!
And lay down a drop-cloth by your television set!!!

What can I say? This movie delivers on everything it promises. I haven't seen the other films in this series but it doesn't really matter. All of the films in the series bring their own level of depravity or so I am told and have read about. This is the final film of the 3 August Underground films and I still am trying to get some of the images out of my mind although they were exactly what I was hoping for.

Here's the plot, you see 2 serial killers, killing. That's it, there is no compassion and it's brutal and in your face for a full 80 minutes or so of this flick. It was shot on Mini DV and it looks good, apparently better than the previous 2 movies from other reviews I've read. Even though the quality is good it's still done home video style so there are jump cuts from one scene to another for no apparent reason, which is exactly what Fred Vogel wanted you to see. Have you ever had to sit through a friend's vacation clips before? Usually there is no time line at all and this film gives that to you. You go from one death scene to a punk concert, back to gut ripping and more.

I won't go into all of the details but let's say there is a not very merry Xmas scene in here that should disturb you a bit. If you aren't the least bit disturbed by it, then you might want to stick a mirror under your chin and see if you are still breathing.

The reason I gave this movie a full star count is because it is truly what it says it is, a gore flick for splatter and torture fans. You'll laugh at Hostel and Saw after seeing this. It's almost too real but that's what makes it effective and it has some incredible intensity in it. Even when you are not seeing gore, you are seeing the hate and rage between the 2 main characters against society and each other.

You'll feel numb after seeing this but it left me wanting to see it again. Ok, I admit, I'm sick! It's only a movie if you are into pure intensity and disturbing images, don't delay get yours today.

I'll review August Underground #1 as it's in the mail this week, hopefully Mordum soon too. This is my type of flick and did I mention the TONS of extras? The Behind the Bile Documentary runs longer than the movie and it is fun to watch. Also comes with commentary, videos and there are two Easter eggs on the Special Features menu. Look for Blood Spots at the top of the menu screen. When you see them, click on them and you'll get some additional bonus footage that is pretty funny. Perfect for Halloween!

My half star is for one scene that had decent special effects with the 2 main characters poking at a victims guts with a pipe...too bad for that damn shakey hand held camera BULLSH@#T otherwise this movie would have gotten a whole star from me for this one scene.The movie is taken from the 2 killers point of view,same as first 2 I believe,thou I have not seen them and after watching this huge letdown ,I'm staying away

I hope to never have to see another one of these shakey hand held camera POV movies,espeically since this 1 is an indie low budget

BTW:Everyone in the movie happens to have gotten hit with the ugly stick and being that everyone was overweight didn't help having to sit and watch this for almost 2 hours.Isuppose that adds to the reality or realism affect they were looking for....well It didn't work August!YOU NEED TO HAVE SOME ACTING SKILLS IN ORDER FOR THAT TO WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well as you know, this is the third and final installment of the August Underground trilogy, which i absolutely adore. these movies are relentless, sick, depraved, call them what you will, but they are gruesome and wonderful. and i dont think it need be addressed, but for anyone who neglected to read the other reviews, there is no plot. i, for one, dont mind, because i watched this movie to see gore, violence, blood, and guts. but on to the point.

first i watched Mordum. excellent. i loved it. then i watched August Underground. incredible. i was very taken by the boundaries they pushed. then, of course, i was eager as all hell to watch Penance.

i thought it was lacking. true there are very violent and disturbing scenes. there would have to be in this series. for instance, the christmas killing, the pulling out of organs, and especially the end. the end definitely shows you a psychological aspect of the killers i didnt expect to see. however, it is hard to argue that the movie did not start out slow. frankly, i found it dull. if there was a word to describe the beginning of the film, i would use the word "cute," which is a word that i disdainfully typed in attempt to describe my beloved August Underground series, but truth be told, it was not as unrelenting or consistently brutal as the prior two films.

so if you are trying to get into the series and are somewhat new to gore horror, start with this one, continue to the first, and then end with the second. all in all, it was good compared to most gore movies, but feigned in comparison to the other two.

Once again Fred vogel and toe tag pictures bring you the final film in the august underground series.
The first film was sick the second was even more disturbing and this time fred delivers an even sicker film just when we thought the gore couldnt get any more extreme.So you if you like Rape torture and murder in the most extreme since then this film should keep you well entertained. If only there were movies such as these.the best films for fans of extreme gore and horror.

Well... if you have previously "experienced" August Underground then you are probably aware that the plot line is that ... there is no plot like--it's a string of various scenes depicting extreme torture, violence and gore. It's almost like spending a week following around a few psychopaths with a video camera as they wreak havoc on anyone unlucky enough to cross their path.
So, saying that--I recommend that you see the first two.. just to get your feet wet (and help develop that iron stomach you will probably need later on..)

This one is different than the other two though. there are really no outside characters to speak of, it's just the loving couple on their happy rampage. You really get to see the dysfunction shine in Penance! One thing that struck me about Penance was that while it still had a boatload of gory goodness to serve up, it seemed to rely very heavily on depicting things that were just inhumane and morally wrong...pure meanness (even if your moral compass is a little off kilter-if the Christmas scene does not bother you, I suggest you seek professional help or check your pulse).

If you are a dedicated gore hound, then I suggest you take a peek at this one.
Break out the buckets and fire up the DVD player...you're in for a strange ride.

I thought I knew exactly what I was in for when I purchased this film. I knew it would be extreme, gory and immoral. Well, it was but it was also mindless, stupid and without a point. Extreme films can have a point,instead we have just plain disturbing, with no direction other than to shock(for shock value alone) and the way the filmakers do it is ridiculous. The makers of this film could have given us some type of entertainment but here we get a lot of ridiculous effects, the murders rape and torture are completely unbeleivable(as opposed to those who rave about the realism, give me a break!) And we get to watch some of the most unattractive people ever to perform(or even die or get tortured)in this mess. My penance was having to watch this film after purchase, and my two stars were for the ending credits which were about the only professional aspect of this overhyped film, and this coming from someone who loves extreme, over the top gore-it has been done before, but much better.