August Underground
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August Underground | |
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Directed by | Fred Vogel |
Written by |
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Produced by | Fred Vogel |
Starring |
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Edited by | Kelly Hutch |
Music by |
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Production companies |
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Distributed by | Toetag Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 70 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
August Underground is a 2001 American exploitation horror film directed by Fred Vogel, who co-wrote it with Allen Peters. The film stars Vogel as a serial killer named Peter, who kidnaps and kills several innocent people, while his unnamed accomplice, played by Peters, films and documents the murders.
Filmed in an intentionally amateurish found footage style, August Underground was met with mixed reviews. The film was followed by two sequels, August Underground's Mordum in 2003, and August Underground's Penance in 2007.
Plot
Peter, a serial killer, invites his camera-wielding accomplice into his basement, where he is holding a woman named Laura captive. Peter and his unnamed accomplice torture and humiliate her at their leisure.
Next, the two pick up a female hitchhiker. After Peter coerces her into performing oral sex, he beats and leaves her for dead on the side of the road. After the duo are kicked out of a concert for rowdy behavior, Peter and his accomplice return to the house to find that Laura has died.
Peter murders an old woman in her home, then terrorizes a convenience store with his accomplice. They abandon their plans to kidnap the clerk or a shopper when they hear police sirens approaching. The two then proceed to tour Roadside America and visit a tattoo parlor. When the tattoo artist finishes giving Peter a tattoo, he and his twin brother are captured by Peter and the cameraman. They cut a leg off of the tattoo artist then bludgeon him and his brother to death.
The two hire
one prostitute while beating her with a hammer. The remaining prostitute tries to escape. In the chaotic chase that ensues, the accomplice drops the camera, leading to silence in the room.Cast
- Fred Vogel as Peter
- Allen Peters as Man Behind the Camera
- Kyle Dealman
- Dan Friedman
- Alexa Iris as Hitchhiker
- Victoria Jones as Old Woman
- Aaron LaBonte as Younger Twin
- Ben LaBonte as Older Twin
- Andrew Lauer
- Peter Mountain
- AnnMarie Reveruzzi as Laura (Girl in Cellar)
- Erika Risovich as Erika (Blond Prostitute)
- Russel A. Sagona
- Randi Stubbs as Black Prostitute
- Stephen Vogel as Boy in Supermarket
- John A. Wisniewski as Michael (Dead Man in Bathtub)
- Nick Yatso as Bouncer at Concert
Production
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2019) |
August Underground was produced, and directed by Fred Vogel in his
Vogel initially hoped to conduct a guerrilla marketing campaign for the film, in which VHS tapes of the film would be placed in random locations around the United States, such as parks and playgrounds, for passersby to discover. However this plan was abandoned following the September 11 attacks and subsequent anthrax attacks.[3]
Release
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Critical response
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2015) |
Gregory S. Burkart of
The film was later ranked at #14 in
Controversy
In 2005, while traveling to Canada to attend the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear in Toronto, director and co-writer Fred Vogel was arrested, pending charges of transporting obscene materials into Canada, when copies of August Underground and its sequel were found by customs officials among the merchandise he had intended to bring to the convention. The charges were eventually dropped after Vogel had spent roughly ten hours in customs custody and his films were sent to Ottawa for further observation.[9][1]
References
- ^ a b c Hill, Matthew (October 2005). "Atrocities Cinema.com...Exclusive Interview: Twenty Questions with Fred Vogel - Director of the AUGUST UNDERGROUND Series". AtrocitiesCinema.com. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ Dimension, Rob (8 September 2010). "Interview: Fred Vogel - Director (ToeTag Pictures) (Maskhead, August Underground)". HorrorNews.net. Horror News. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ Eric McKenna Project Show #138 - Fred Vogel, Filmmaker, Special Effects, The Final Interview Movie (Video Podcast). YouTube. October 3, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- ^ Burkart, Gregory (14 October 2014). "20 Landmarks of Found-Footage Horror!". bloody-disgusting.com. Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
- ^ Alan, Jay (30 December 2015). "Film Review: August Underground (2001)". HorrorNews.net. Jay Alan. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Mayo, Chris (23 September 2014). "August Underground DVD Review". Severed Cinema.com. Chris Mayo. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Firsching, Robert. "August Underground (2002)". Allmovie.com. Robert Firsching. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ Barone, Matt; Serafino, Jason; Pimentel, Julia. "The Most Disturbing Movies of All Time". Complex.com. Complex Magazine. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
- ^ "Independent filmmaker Fred Vogel: Extreme artists push the boundaries and strive to provoke emotion". BZFilm.com. BZ Film. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.