August Underground

Only the very hardest viewers need apply to this indie. It is the absolute closest thing to genuine snuff you will ever see. Far more unsettling and realistic than the over hyped Guinea Pig series. Obviously without the use of a simple tripod August Underground assaults the senses from the first minute to the last. The movie comes off as something found stowed away in the recesses of a twisted serial killer's private collection of home videos because the basic plot is two college aged psychos tape their carnage. The acting is amazingly real, the effects are nightmarish. What makes it so realistic is the amateur way it comes off, ironically. With bad blips of home editing, camera shots up in the air and unsteady and the absence of any opening credits it's hard to believe what you are seeing is a full fledged movie. The camera person never makes an appearance but his sick laughing at his victims along with childish banter with the one killer we do see makes this feel like a homemade episode of Jackass that enters the zone of murder.

This is not a movie that most people would be able to handle. It takes a strong stomach and a numbed mind for this truly is one of the most extreme and violent pieces ever to make it to video.

This camcorder tape cant even be classified horror, and would be an insult to the outstanding horror directors to have it labeled as such. It is the result of two very sick and twisted depraved examples of individuals who think they can be the next Blair Witch producers. Nothing is further from the truth. It is a fine basis for them being able to commit a heinous crime and be able to present a defense of INSANITY. It would appear similar to the result of two freaked out, doped up teenagers who would next think of attempting to simulate the Columbine incident. I have viewed most of the top listed horror or disgusting films and would not even consider this to be in the running. As I started my comments, this is not even a film. And I would not give it the satisfaction of being something worth rating. I listed it as 1/10 because that is the least one can to to proceed with their comments.

It don't even fall in the category of the Guinea Pig series. Those can be seen for what they are. This is nothing.

How to describe this film? Try the home invasion scene from Henry, directed by GG Allin and shot through the lens of the Blair Witch Project. In a word: nauseating. I came out of the experience feeling physically ill, although I'm not sure if that was down to the relentlessly sea-sick camera work or the scuzz-fest content. Probably both. I ended up watching big chunks of it on fast-forward because (despite the gross-out set-pieces) much of it was quite tedious. From what I've read about the film makers, they're serious about what they're doing and have a genuine passion for the horror genre. However, I struggled to find any real insight or anything remotely worthwhile in this film. At this stage in the game, I guess it's about pushing the envelope, and on that level this film maybe scores. On the other hand, I don't really care and life's too short.

This is one of the more "famous" exploitation films of the new century. Too bad it sucks.

It's about a psychopath serial killer who is followed by his friend with a bad video camera, filming his every move. There is no plot - we just see Peter, the killer, roam around and act like a jerk and sometimes kill people.

The most shocking part of this movie is the first 15 minutes, when we see a girl who has been tied up and tortured. Her dead boyfriend is in a bathtub in the next room. It's a fairly effective use of gory special effects and a chilling example of the hidden lives of serial killers.

Once they leave their house for the first time, however, the movie falls apart. After that, they just turn into stereotypical frat boys who wander around and do immature pranks and annoy people. The script is stupid and unrealistic. I have never seen a movie go from disturbing to boring quicker than this one.

The acting is terrible. Peter, the main character, has a super annoying laugh that I guess is supposed to be psychotic, but just makes me want to turn the volume down. We never see the guy holding the video camera, which is good because he mostly just makes bad jokes and acts like he has low self-esteem. They are more believable as pathetic losers than hardened killers.

The lesson of this movie is that psychopaths are actually lonely frat boys who are desperate for friends.

I am not sure this would be classified as a 'true' horror movie. Instead, the horror in this movie lies in the fact that it is something 'new'; the somewhat of a shock you get because everything is so unexpected. For example, you are afraid of bugs, they are ugly and disgusting – Now imagine this bug in a different form. Maybe it has a different color and makes weird noises. You will remember this bug because it is so different, and the difference from other bugs you are used to makes it even more disgusting. This is how I would describe this movie.

The two main protagonists seem to consider themselves to be at the top of the food chain; the world is their playground and the people in it are there solely to be used for entertainment. The protagonists do everything in a really nonchalant way, and regardless of how friendly others are towards them, they always see them as objects rather than people. This is the biggest reason why I raised my eyebrows, and questions like 'What are they doing, and why?' popped up in my head.

At first, I was not really sure I wanted to watch this movie, because of what people said about it and how extreme it is. In all honesty, the movie is not that brutal and chaotic as I expected. The pure violence portrayed in this movie is not as out of this world as someone might expect. We are so desensitized to this type of extreme violence nowadays that we get to see hammers, chainsaws and axes being used to chop off this and that even in mainstream Hollywood movies. It is not the visual violence that is disturbing in August Underground, but the concept of it and the atmosphere. It is more connected to the real world than in other movies, and the fact that this actually can happen (and probably has) in the real world, together with the previously mentioned attributes makes this movie quite unique and disturbing in a way we rarely see.