PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Fred Vogel is a pretty normal guy. By all outward appearances anyways. He’s not, like, Satan, or anything. I’ve met him a few times at conventions, his eyes don’t glow red, he doesn’t have fangs (that I’ve seen…), and no horns protrude from his noggin. He’s actually quite friendly and engaging. That being said, he’s made some of the most fucked up films of the new millennium, starting with August Underground.
August Underground Synopsis
“Two serial killers go on a murdering rampage as one films the outcome from behind a video camera.”
With a, well-earned, reputation as “The Sickest Film Ever Made”, August Underground has a suitably notorious reputation among “extreme horror” enthusiasts. I’ll cop to owning the trilogy on DVD, and although they’re not necessarily my cup of tea, I’ve always recognized that August Underground is an important horror film, in both the “extreme” and the found footage, realms. However, with a more open minded sit down with the new Blu-ray from Unearthed, I guess I’m going to have to, grudgingly, acknowledge that I’m sort of a fan. And it did put Vogel’s Toe Tag Pictures on the map, to the glee of genre fans everywhere.
Opening with Peter (Vogel; The Final Interview, who also directed) leading the unseen, and unnamed camera man (Allen Peters, who co-wrote with Vogel) down what is now probably the second most famous set of stairs (save for the Exorcist) in horror fandom, the descent, both physically and mentally, begins. This, dear friends, is the exact moment that the viewer, temporarily at least, suspends all morals and inhibitions, and dives headlong into 70 minutes of abject depravity, only temporarily broken up by odd moments of calm and reflection, by the two serial killers on a rampage.
August Underground makes such a visceral impact, even twenty odd years after it’s initial release, because of its authenticity. Peter and the cameraman are the familiar “others”, you know, the guy you knew from high school who is barely scraping by, bouncing from job-to-job, no real prospects for a future, and still shotguns beers with his pals from high school. You probably know someone really close to Peter, we all know guys like this! It’s this aspect that makes the killers in this film all the more frightening, they’re so familiar. Pure evil hiding in plain sight.
The ultra-violence in the film is also superbly well done, the effects, and the setting, lead you to believe that, yes, you may actually be watching a snuff film (however, Vogel never had to prove in court that he didn’t actually kill anyone like Deodato had to after Cannibal Holocaust, but he did get detained in Canada…). And the camera style, with the cam-corder shakiness, looks exactly like two guys filming themselves dicking around would, but these knuckleheads happen to have a nude, tortured woman (AnnMarie Reveruzzi) tied up in the cellar, with the fresh corpse of her boyfriend in the tub.
Brief interludes between murders, like a visit to a cemetery for some reflection, and a slaughterhouse tour, only humanize these fucking monsters even more. You can quickly see who so many people love this film, it’s not just the “extreme horror junkies” who can’t shake this film off and hit “stop”, it’s the proverbial car crash that you slow down to look at.
But hey, enough of my yapping, you want to know if this is worth plunking down your cash for. The Unearthed Blu-ray transfer is as sharp as August Underground is ever gonna get my friend, it was shot to look like a bad VHS tape! It’s even a little too sharp in some scenes, where a frame or two takes on an AI generated look. The slipcover (nice touch) has alternate artwork, as does the reversible inlay, so you essentially get three versions of the poster art. And there’s a mind-boggling amount of extras, including new interviews and commentary with Vogel (and others), the original screener version, and virtually everything else from previous releases.
Shot in Pennsylvania by a group of people who wanted to make a “bigger” film, but settled for what they could do then and there, Vogel, and his merry band of deviants, set the horror genre on it’s ear with August Underground, and spawned two, equally sick, sequels.
Disturbingly realistic, morally reprehensible, blood-soaked, and grimy as fuck, August Underground, 22 years after it was unleashed, remains an ultra-violent kick to crotch. Hopefully with this wider reach release, it gets into the hands of people who will appreciate the innovation on display here. August Underground is quite possibly the second most important independent, underground feature to come out of Pittsburgh.
And I’m definitely gonna keep a closer eye on that guy from high school now…
August Underground is available now on Blu-ray from Unearthed Films from MVD Visual and other fine retailers.
