The idea of a "Snuff Film" has fascinated our society as far back as the 1970's, feeding our morbid curiosities and our imaginations. Over the years, several films have tried to cash in on this such as the 1976 film simply titled 'Snuff' which touted itself as real which naturally led to severe consequences on the filmmakers. Cut to the 1980s and we have 'Cannibal Holocaust' which was considered so convincing that director Ruggero Deodato has to produce the cast alive and well in open court. Even with the less extreme examples of 'The Blair Witch Project' or 'Poughkeepsie Tapes' these still brought along with them tons of controversy and paranoia. But two series of films stand out in this new sub-genre of horror and those are the infamous Japanese 'Guinea Pig' series and Fred Vogel's 'August Underground' trilogy, which we'll be looking at today. This being my first ever review of an entire series at once, we'll be going through each film at a time before I come to a final conclusion.
We'll begin with August Underground released in 2001 and starring the film's director Fred Vogel. I won't be going into much of a story with these films as quite simply there is none to really speak of. The films were meant to be presented as "real" snuff film footage, filmed with an old VCR camera and artificially aged to look authentic. It's a unique way to go for sure and in fact almost landed the filmmaker in Canadian prison due to its realistic nature. The problem is when one sits down to watch it, the style simply becomes frustrating especially for an hour long. It also doesn't help that the film isn't the least bit scary or disturbing really. The special effects are either too difficult to see or too cheap looking when you consider Fred's background in gore effects work. The two main killers are annoying, act poorly, and do little more than scream and swear at each other or their captive. It gets stale and annoying fast. So, overall the film gets the look down but falls apart in nearly every other department, leading to a poorly made attempt at true life horror.
August Underground: Mordum came two years later and sees our two killers and their new companion: a woman named Crusty (yes, I'm serious). This film believe it or not is even more annoying to listen to thanks to our new companion who screams and swears even more than our previous two dunce caps. I understand guys that I am not supposed to like these people because they are sadistic killers filming their murders, but these guys don't act with the slightest bit of realism. Most serial killers do not rave on like madmen, cursing and covering themselves in filth while acting like a neanderthal. Most if not all of the real people (and certainly the ones who are actually scary) are quiet, methotical, and as far as fiction goes charismatic to some degree. Otherwise, how would these people manage to get near anybody? They act like this in public, constantly laughing like hyenas or calling someone "gay" or dropping F-bombs like a 10 year old who just learned to swear. I hated 'Mordum' even more than the first film.
Our final entry is August Underground: Penance from 2007 and goes for a slight change in the usage of a digital camera, making the film a lot less painful to look at while still keeping that "found footage" vibe. Within the first few minutes, I can already see a big improvement in the acting department, with the over the top screaming and swearing minimized until necessary and the chemistry between the two are much better this time around. We also see them just goofing around, partying, and other basic stupid home movie stuff in between the kills, making them feel much stronger. The special effects work is also much better, even incorporating real animal parts for some sequences. This one definitely goes for broke when compared to the first two showing the most disturbing sequences of them all. I'd say of the three, if you simply have to see one of these 'Penance' is the "best" I suppose.
Most often when I am recommended these "shock" films, I seem to find myself completely numb to them. They are just attempting to be offensive for the sake of being offensive and even the cheapest horror flicks usually have more to say than that. These are huge wastes of time to be honest unless you must have every shock & gore flick out there.
3/10
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