August Underground's Penance Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.0

August Underground's Penance Blu-ray Movie Review

I'd have to pay penance if I watched the entire film... ugh.

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 19, 2023

Look, no judgement. I mean it. I just can't bring myself to fully watch all three August Underground Trilogy films. They're disgusting, which doesn't make those who enjoy them disgusting. Simply... interesting folks. Don't get me wrong, I know these flicks are intentionally disgusting, not to mention gory, nauseating, offensive and distasteful for the sake of being, well, all the things even a horror junkie like me can't quite stomach. There are lines, and reviewing has allowed me to find mine. Your lines may be farther down the genre path. If so, ladies and gents, may I present the August Underground Trilogy in all its sick, twisted, low-budget indie glory. These are the Saw movies for a generation who thought, "meh, could be grosser." These are the Hostel flicks, for people who shrugged their shoulders and wished for something dirtier, grimier and more diseased. And I can't stress this enough: I think... no, I know that's the point. Director Fred Vogel wants to push you past what you thought you were capable of enjoying. And he does so to greater or lesser extents, depending on your appreciation of being pushed so far. So if you think you can watch this trilogy from start to bloody finish, more power to ya. I failed, by the films' implied challenge, and I'm not exactly sad I did. Good luck and God speed.

From director Fred Vogel: "It’s been too long and the fans are ravenous for the August Underground trilogy. A whole new generation of sickos are ready to experience August Underground. I’m stoked that ToeTag and Unearthed Films will be working together on these upcoming releases to give the fans what they want. I look forward to spreading the sickness with Unearthed Films… get ready.”

August Underground's Penance Synopsis: Has someone ever handed you a movie, not telling you one thing about it, only telling you to watch it? What if that tape was the personal home video of two sociopaths on a killing spree? This is their home movie, for their eyes only. This is 'August Underground’s Penance'. The third and final film in the AU franchise stars Cristie “Crusty” Whiles and shows the dark decline of the two nameless killers from the previous films as they continue to videotape their madness on a path to destruction.

From an August Underground's Penance press release: A four out of five was awarded by Dread Central, which wrote: "I felt uncomfortable, disturbed and a little sick for watching it. I also can't help but feel like I had just watched art. Sick, f---ed up art, but art nonetheless" and concluded that by viewing the film "you'll feel dirty, sickened and a little bit f---ed up for watching it, and to me, that's what's great about it". Digital Retribution gave Penance a three out of five, and found that the film was much more professional than its predecessors, and that it is "certainly not for everyone, not even for some who consider themselves lovers of hardcore horror. It's a hard-hitting, faux-snuff fest. It's also a suitably fitting end to the series with actors Fred Vogel and Cristie Whiles delving into levels of intense paranoia, showcasing a decline in mental and psychical stability while torturing and butchering nameless individuals. It strives to achieve a point of expressing the mind of a modern serial killer, and although this may be lost or unappreciated by those expecting a Mordum 2, it awards the film a credibility that was certainly missing in Mordum."

August Underground's Penance Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

August Underground's Penance represents a visual departure from the first two Trilogy films, if only because it switches to a widescreen 1.78:1 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer and an image that draws closer to resembling a modern horror film. (The gimmick being: the times they are a'changing.) However, because the found footage-style production is still meant to evoke lower quality camcorder video, HD or no, the results are rough, one-dimensional and unattractive. The illusion is convincing just as it was with the presentations of the earlier August Underground films, and the resulting image does its job well enough to round out the intentionally unintentional aesthetic and seeming spontaneity Vogel is working so hard to develop. There are fewer "issues" to the picture, at least by technical merits, but it remains a bit of a self-imposed mess with plenty of compression artifacts, color bands, edge halos, at-time soft-to- nearly imperceptible shots, under-then-oversaturated hues, and just about anything else you wouldn't normally want to see pop up in a Blu-ray presentation.

August Underground's Penance Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All three August Underground films feature a down-and-dirty lo-fi LPCM 2.0 mix, again, designed from the ground up to sound like the audio you'd expect while watching a tattered VHS tape or, in the case of Penance, a more advanced but only moderately better video recording. Voices are intelligible enough to follow the, um, "plot" and conversations, but warped and warbled enough to top off the home video illusion, even if the widescreen camera is meant to suggest more modern results. Likewise, effects and other elements are decidedly realistic, insofar as a poor home video camera microphone would capture each sound. It suits the films, sure. But it gets very old, very quickly. Particularly if you're watching the entire trilogy, back to back. Nearly five hours of torture, ugly video and intentionally low-rent, degraded audio? No thanks.

August Underground's Penance Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries - Four audio commentary tracks are included: the first with FX artist Jerami Cruise, director Fred Vogel, producer Shelby Vogel and Ultra Violent Magazine's Art Ettinger, the second with Fred Vogel and editor Logan Tallman, the third with ToeTag members, and the fourth being a solo track with Fred Vogel.

• Editing August Underground's Penance (HD/SD, 15 minutes) - Editor Logan Tallman chats about his discovery of the original film, his quest to hunt down Vogel, and their relationship over the years.

• The Most Disturbing Scene (HD/SD, 14 minutes) - The director points to the Christmas invasion for this short.

• Superfan Rob's Underground Experience (HD/SD, 2 minutes) - Cameoing in a film as a super fan.

• Disemboweled: Behind the Bile Documentary (HD/SD, 55 minutes) - This lengthy fly-on-the-wall production documentary focuses in on a pair of scenes, detailing the practical FX, three-day shoot, various challenges, discussions about the scenes' cinematography, and more.

• Zoë Rose Smith Interviews Fred Vogel (HD/SD, 26 minutes) - Vogel speaks about the genesis of the August Underground series, his process as an actor, and other qualities and telltale marks of his films.

• Voyage to Perdition: An Interview With Fred Vogel (HD/SD, 38 minutes) - The Trilogy comes to a close, leaving Vogel and company a bit misty eyed. He also details the move to widescreen and the new aesthetics of the third film.

• Dave Parker's Roundtable (HD/SD, 88 minutes) - Parker hosts a roundtable with Fred Vogel, Jerami Cruise, Shelby Vogel, Logan Tallman and Ryan Logsdon, although at this point information and anecdotes begin to get repetitive.

• Stephen Biro Interviews Jerami Cruise (HD/SD, 17 minutes) The FX are front and center.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (HD/SD, 9 minutes) - Nine scenes altogether.

• Poppa Pill: The Murderer Is Back Music Video (HD/SD, 4 minutes)

• Rue: The Locust Music Video (HD/SD, 3 minutes)

• Extended Photo Gallery (HD/SD, 24 minutes)

• Penance Teaser Trailer (HD/SD, 1 minute)

• Teaser Outtakes (HD/SD, 7 minutes)

• August Underground Trilogy Trailers

August Underground's Penance Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I couldn't bear to watch the August Underground Trilogy films. Not because I would puke out my guts, although I doubt I'd be hungry anytime soon after, but because the trio are so vile, so unapologetically gratuitous and brutal that I had no desire to subject myself to the torture of others being believably tortured. You may love 'em. Like I said, no judgement. You'll just have to forgive my non-reviews. Unearthed Films brings each of the Trilogy to Blu-ray as they were meant to be seen and heard, which isn't saying a lot considering the lo-fi video and audio that involves. But it's faithful, so it's hard to get too upset. However, each release offers a massive collection of special features, which lend plenty of value to each purchase. The August Underground flicks aren't for me, but if you dig 'em, you'll certainly get your money's worth.