User Reviews

Don't know why I'm just now getting around to giving my thoughts on AUGUST UNDERGROUND'S PENANCE - I watched it quite a while ago, and typically try to give my 2 cents shortly after viewing. I guess it didn't make that much of an impression on me, though honestly - I'm not surprised about that. I'm not a real big fan of this series (or the fake-snuff genre in general...) - but I like to keep up on the latest "shock" films out there, so of course I had to give this one a whirl too...

If you've seen the other AU films - PENANCE is much of the same: Guy and girl "serial killers" graphically murder people and then do a whole bunch of boring sh!t - all captured on their cam-corder.

Compared to the other two AU films, I liked (and I use the term "liked" quite loosely...) PENANCE more than the first AU film, and less than MORDUM. There were a few elements to PENANCE that were a bit stronger than AU (the "downward spiral" of the main characters in this entry particularly), but it lacked the gleeful and almost cartoonish violence of MORDUM which made that entry notable. If you're a fan of the other entries in the series, then I'm pretty sure you'll dig this one too. If not, then skip it - the material has been handled pretty much the same way in the other two films...5/10

Man uses video camera to shoot 2 underground snuff films August Underground Pt1 & Pt2.

Man meets girl and goes about making a 3rd only this time messes the formula up and spends the bulk of it filming himself in various redneck/trailer park trash pursuits. See as man acts like a gangster, as he feeds a gator & lion, as he rides a quad, as he does a few lines yawn yawn ...

Intercut all this with a few gore moments and yawn some more before the end credits roll. Fred and the toetag team have a way with fx this still can't be argued, but its all pointless unless its alongside narrative.

To sum it up I gave it a 3/10. If you want sex go rent a porno, if you want gore rent a slasher movie. If you want to feel like you've wasted your money or time rent this.

Watch this if you dare and you'll feel you've suffered as much as any of the victims...

The scariest and most disturbing thing about "August Underground's Penance" is that Fred Vogel and his team of no-talents deemed what they'd shot worthy of release. This is a tedious, protracted, poorly photographed piece of video age masturbation about two losers (a male and female) who waste their lives indulging in psychotic behavior. Unfortunately, that psychotic behavior is boring and not fit for the most amateurish of home movies. There is some gore and ugly nudity, and an alligator eats a live mouse, but none of this redeems the endless, directionless, vertigo-inducing scenes of pseudo-shock that make up this rotten failure. There are no characters, there is no story, the Killers' POV perspective is now clichéd and done to death, and the ultra-shaky camera-work just further illustrates the lack of intelligence and talent behind this abortion. If I ever have to watch another Fred Vogel piece of anti-cinema, I'll poke my eyes out and puncture my ear drums. As penance for making this crap, the filmmakers should refrain from touching a camera for the next one hundred years.

To call this crap as a Horror or gore or even as a movie is an insult to those words it is a video recorded by amateurish avoidable actors the video has no plot or storyline we are subjected to watch two sadomasochistic serial killers on their achievements through their video recording of victim's torture i have watched many super bad psychopathic horror movies but none could conquer the number one super bad movie spot in my list as this one does

pros:nothing to find

cons:everything from camera,acting,background score and screenplay

if u want to have a instant headache and nausea please do watch the first 10 minutes of this super duper over hyped horror crap,the camera keeps on rotating and changing its angle everywhere giving u what u wanted.

Puleezzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,don't believe the over hyped horror or in your face gore present in this video(i cant call this a film) spread out by some of the reviewers in net

instead watch movies like salo or ichi the killer if u desperately looking for some ultra violent movies avoid this at any cost

In the third film in the trilogy, Peter Mountain (Fred Vogel, who directed, wrote and shot this) and his girlfriend Crusty (Cristie Whiles) keep on killing on video, but now the footage is more high definition and you can see more of it.

Made in Pittsburgh, Penance has fireworks in it, so you know that it's definitely made by yinzers. It also has numerous gut wrenching murders that are not made to look pretty but to look as real as possible. You may not be into that. You also may and well, I guess this is the extreme movie that you're looking for.

It has everything from racing ATVs and seeing bands to killing an entire family, feeding a deer to a lion, beating people with hammers and cutting babies out of pregnant women. It also has its two leads basically having nervous breakdowns as they commit these horrific acts.

There's an audience for this. It's not me.

Holy ****, this movie is a hell of a ride. It demonstrates the volatile relationship between Fred and Crusty, their eventual hatred of each other, Fred's utter remorselessness and Crusty's self loathing and hatred for hers and Fred's deeds. It starts off with a nice bit of violence, always a great way to kick off an underground film. From there, it goes to a bit of beauty, which is not without its methods of getting under the viewer's skin in ways not thought possible by the simple video.

In one scene, Fred assaults a homeless man, played by the Toe Tag Forum's very own Fuctup34 (whose piercings must weigh more than his head by now). To the average person, this is a simple act of dramatized assault. To the more in-depth watcher, it's much more. That happens every day, and that's the marvel of these films. It shows what happens every day, but what society turns a blind eye to. The rapes. The murders. Assault and robbery. Toe Tag Pictures has done it again by showing us what the public doesn't want to know.

Please, if you liked Mordum, and expect this to have the same all out guts and gore approach, then avoid it. This one, though it has its gory moments, including a very graphic and gut wrenching (pun definitely intended) gutting scene, is not about that. It's disturbing, not in a "Silence of the Lambs/Hannibal Lecter" way, not in a "Saw" way (if one can call Saw disturbing) and not in a "The Eye/The Changeling" way. It's something unlike anything you've ever experienced, especially the soon-to-be-infamous "Christmas" scene (trust me, if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about, and you agree).

Once more, everything in this film has a purpose, nothing is just to make it longer. Everything from Crusty and Fred's drives through the city, to them firing guns at targets (not live targets, to those wondering). It all has a purpose, and it all serves its purpose very well.

The reason this film is so great is because you don't just see the horrible, perversion that you saw in Mordum, you see Fred and Crusty having fun, you see them as normal people, then get slapped in the face with another kill. Like a deer in the headlights, you want to look away, you know you have to look away, but you just can't, and that's why though the violence is much less intense than Mordum, it hits so much harder emotionally.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The end is one of the most powerful scenes. In it, Crusty has a mental breakdown (one that had been building since the very beginning, not just shitty out of the blue), places the camera on top of the toilet, and strangles herself (again, not just random bull****, it's done very well, and very horrific, harder hitting than any amount of gore at this point could be). She fails the first time, and almost collapses, panting. So, she tries again shortly afterward, and collapses. We hear a sharp thud, and see a bit of movement (as well as a hand in the bathtub, which, in the slideshow on the DVD, we see belongs to a woman's corpse, we don't know who) and that's it. It leaves the viewer wondering what happened to the bound woman in the basement? is Fred still alive (while he was sleeping, Crusty stood over him, anyone who's seen it would agree, you'd expect her to kill him)? Is Crusty actually dead? We will never know, and personally, I'm not sure if Fred knows. Perhaps he designed it that way because he may think any ending he could give it would be a cliché, or perhaps it's just one of those things the public isn't meant to know.

One theory, nothing has been confirmed by Fred Vogel (though it has been hinted that this may be correct), but one theory on Crusty's breakdown is that in the bathtub was her miscarriage (which would explain her complaints throughout the movie). This would also explain why Crusty began sobbing upon seeing the forced abortion of the woman, and the fetus on the table.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!END OF SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For more information on this film, and other Toe Tag Films (such as August Underground, or August Underground's Mordum, as well as The Redsin Tower) or to purchase it, go to www.toetagpictures.com Rating: Acting: 10/10 Story: 8/10 Gore: 10/10 Character Development (one of the most amazing aspects of this film): 10/10 Disturbing Factor: 12/10 Overall: 10/10 The best horror movie to come out in the past 20 years. I challenge anyone to name a better one. If you think you know better than me, email what you think is the best horror in the past 20 years to Matt@angrymidget.net

First of all , I feel an irresistible urge to say something about those " Fred - Vogel - and his - gang - of - non - talents - made -a horrible - piece - of crap " reviews . OK , I acknowledge the fact that we're all entitled to have our own opinion and like or dislike all sorts of things , but for God's sake , how can anyone state something that's obviously not true and ignore things that are apparently there ? Is orange blue ? Is cat a mouse ? Unbelievably small crew , using equally small budget , makes a horror movie so terrifying , meticulous , realistic , important and effective that all the slasher - ghost - haunted house - mutated zombie - cannibal inbred redneck killer nonsense put together fades away when compared . These people are talented . These people are intelligent . There are characters in this movie , there is even a story , albeit a simple one . This is not some amateurish attempt at shocking people , this is extreme horror at it's best .

That being said , I can go on to reviewing .

What we have here , in the 3rd part of August Underground series , is a complete downfall of our beloved , slimy , pathetic characters . I have to admit that I enjoyed their suffering , that's how much I started to hate them . And exactly because of that I felt that there is something lacking in Penance : we don't get to see more of their misery . That's too bad . But what we DO see is educational : these killers obviously get less and less pleasure from all the twisted things they do , and that's something that happens in reality with serial killers. There is some character development , especially in the case of Crusty's character . The scene when she breaks down and cries " I wanna die ! " is one of the strongest - and definitely proves that she is a good actress . Besides , she looks a lot better in this sequel because she got thin and really cute ( except in certain scenes where she applied some really horrible make - up to show us the physical effect of her decline ) , I wish she stays that way ... but that's slightly off - topic . Fred's character still shows no remorse , but apparently disintegrates .

Of course , Mr Cruise did a brilliant job with special effects , make - up is also top notch , and acting very good . The whole crew works like a precise , powerful mechanism . The movie is delivered with great force and without compromise or relenting . I'm not saying it's perfect - I prefer Mordum , because I think it's stronger - but this is still some very serious horror cinematography , no doubt about it . It becomes apparent if you get to see the snuff edition which contains some deleted scenes and audio commentary from the crew . There is also a documentary about making of two scenes that involve some nasty disemboweling . Yummmy , yummy .

All in all , Toetag crew are my definite favorites when it comes to contemporary horror movies and I can't wait to see their future projects . I give Penance 9 out of ten . It's one of the best horror movies I've seen so far .