August Underground shocked unsuspecting viewers who tossed the VHS tape into their VCR and hit play back in 2001. The gore and nightmarish action looked like it was the vacation videos for a pair of serial killers. The film caused a sensation by looking like a snuff film that people weren’t sure if it was real. Director Fred Vogel made a sequel with a new twist in 2003. August Underground’s Mordum had one of the killer’s find a girlfriend who was really close to her brother. Things got better for the couple when they returned in 2007 because they got rid of their VHS camcorder. The sadistic duo got their hands on an HD camera. August Underground’s Penance lets us see more of their disturbing version of fun and destruction.
Peter Mountain (Fred Vogel) and Crusty (Christy Whiles) are back and ready to videotape their adventures like an episode of Jackass with zero intention to seeing if anyone survives. This time the video tape opens with one of their victims escaping his bonds. Before he can fight his way to freedom, the man ends up dead on the floor. They disembowel a victim before going to a wild party to get high. You really have to question people who want to snort lines with Peter and Crusty. There’s a rat getting eaten by an alligator in aquarium during the snorting fun. To celebrate the holidays, the couple stage a home invasion at Christmastime. Family members receive something worse than slacks and ties under the decorated tree. This means that August Underground, Penance is a Christmas movie. You might not want to show it to grandma. This ultimately is an anti-love story as the romance between Peter and Crusty goes bad. Crusty finally discovers there is something that emotionally gets to her. Their homicidal adventures come to the end of the videotape.
August Underground’s Penance really brings the horror series to a proper ending. The handheld camerawork keeps us thinking we’re watching someone’s nastiest home movie and not a professionally done horror film. The improv quality of the outrageous crimes keeps you thinking that maybe should call the authorities. It’s like Curb Your Enthusiasm if Larry David was a psychopath instead of a jerk and without the theme music. The HD camera does make the details of the gross out special effects even more vile than the first two entries. You might be gagging in a few scenes while wondering how they look so nasty on such a small budget. If you’ve made it through the first two films, August Underground’s Penance pays off the outrageous and nauseating story.
The Video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The lack of video noise from the first two entries doesn’t make things any easier to watch. The clear HD picture will let you see the details you might wish you hadn’t seen. The audio is LPCM 2.0 Stereo since that’s what the camera’s microphone picked up. It’s like listening to a home movie.
DVD of the movie with some of the bonus features.
Audio Commentaries include a first by EFX Artist Jerami Cruise, Producer Shelby Vogel, Director Fred Vogel, and Ultra Violent Magazine’s Art Ettinger; a second with Director Fred Vogel and Editor Logan Tallman; a third with Toetag members and finally the fourth with Director Fred Vogel. You’ll pretty much learn everything about making the film.
Editing “August Underground’s Penance” (14:38) interviews Co-Editor Logan Tallman. He gets how he got the first movie off a Bit Torrent trading site. He had done shorts and reached out to Fred Vogel to help on the third installment. It got weird since he was going to upload the video online for the August Underground’s Mordum. Things got patched up with Fred after a horror convention meet up.
The Most Disturbing Scene (13:57) has Fred Vogel show off the scene that gets him. He talks us through the Christmas home invasion.
Superfan Rob’s Underground Experience (2:22) has him talk about flying out to do a role in the film. They didn’t think he’d break out from the duct tape in his scene. He gets into his performance.
Disemboweled: Behind the Bile Documentary (54:51) gives us a sense of what it took to shoot 2 scenes over 3 days. We get close ups and better lighting to see the various special effects bodies. There’s also a commentary track with the Toetag folks.
Zoë Rose Smith Interviews Fred Vogel (25:58) has him talk about the film started out as a music video. He gets into how Toetag got more real as a production development. He talks about going into his character for this third go around. He and Cristie “Crusty” Whiles’ characters keep pushing each other down to see if they can get to Hell.
Voyage to Perdition: An Interview With Fred Vogel (37:53) gets into the end of the saga. He talks about Peter and Crusty getting a final chapter. He gets into shooting in widescreen unlike the first two. He had bought a new video camera that shot in that format and he also didn’t mess with the settings since the character wouldn’t be cinematographer.
Dave Parker’s Roundtable (87:50) has Fred Vogel, Jerami Cruise, Shelby Vogel, Logan Tallman, Ryan Logsdon discuss the film. The group talks about how things came together to make the final film.
Stephen Biro Interviews Jerami Cruise (17:02) gets into the special effects. They talk about having to explain to one of the victim actors how to make things a bit more dramatic in their scene and not so fast. He gets into how things looked so realistic. It was a struggle since they shot during peak winter season.
Deleted Scenes has five moments that were kept in the editing room.
Extended Scenes has four scenes that made it into the film with a tighter cut.
“Poppa Pill – The Murderer Is Back” Music Video (4:00) has Peter Mountain in a bad place. This video was never going to play on MTV.
“Rue – The Locust” Music Video (3:14) brings the band to the basement with Peter and Crusty rocking out in their special way.
Extended Photo Gallery (23:59) has a lot of behind the scenes photos from the shoot.
Penance Teaser Trailer (1:24) gives a taste of the gore that will be arriving soon with the couple back.
Teaser Outtakes (6:55) are shots that didn’t quite have the same attitude as the final teaser trailer.
Trailers for August Underground, Mordum and Penance.
Unearthed Films present August Underground’s Penance. Directed by Fred Vogel. Screenplay by Fred Vogel and Christy Whiles. Starring Fred Vogel, Cristie Whiles, Merle Allin & J. B. Beverley. Running Time: 85 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: December 19, 2023.
