August Underground (2001)

Excellent, smart action film.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The "story" in this annoying little movie consists of home movies shot by one of two serial killers. The camera follows them around as they indulge in all manner of disgusting deeds, whether they're putting human victims through pure hell or just raising trouble in general. (For example, they act out inside a convenience store.)Prefiguring the "torture porn" genre began by movies like "Saw" and "Hostel", "August Underground" works like a mash-up of "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" and "The Blair Witch Project", except that it *really* ups the ante in terms of extreme human depravity, and that it lacks any sort of craftsmanship whatsoever. It may be one of the most disgusting movies that this viewer has ever seen. Its fans may argue for its sense of immediacy, or the fact that it's so vivid and so committed to portraying filth on film. But it's still impossible to want to spend time with the characters here. Apparently, the movie *does* have some sort of script, by Allen Peters and director Fred Vogel, but it feels like it was ad libbed for its interminable 71 minute run time. The effects are plenty tacky, but still have the power to thoroughly distress an audience.If one really wants to see a serial killer epic based in some sort of reality, they're much better off watching or revisiting "Henry".Three out of 10.

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.

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.

Pretty much every review of this I've read has been very negative which is surprising but I kinda understand though I don't share that opinion. Don't get me wrong its not the "sickest film ever" either. Not even close.I think the film wasn't actually that boring even though mockumentary films can easily be very tedious. There was a lot of stuff happening though some of it was kinda pointless. The concert scene and the statue scene mostly(the statue part was actually kinda funny). It probably would've been a lot more tedious if they had just spent the entire film with the torture. Its an interesting look into the life of these two guys who are some what believable. At least the acting is decent. Another big thing that people are whining about is the mockumentary style of shooting i.e shaky hand-held camera with shitty video quality. It doesn't make me sick but if you get motion sickness easily then I don't see you enjoying this movie. I actually am a big fan of that style but I guess its a matter of taste.Overall it seems to be popular to hate this movie even though it really doesn't deserve that much hate. The acting is good and the special effects are well done. Its not bad, its pretty average and has something different to offer. Don't expect a deep plot or social commentary though, just sit back and enjoy some mockumentary fun!