View source for August Underground


{{About|the film|the Ethel Cain song|Preacher's Daughter}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{more citations needed|date=September 2015}}
{{missing information|the film's theatrical/home media releases|date=October 2019}}
}}

{{Infobox film
| name           = August Underground
| image          = AugustUndergroundSnuffEdition.jpg
 
| alt            = 
| caption        = Two-Disc Snuff Edition
| director       = Fred Vogel
| producer       = Fred Vogel
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* Fred Vogel
* Allen Peters
}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* Fred Vogel
* Allen Peters
}}
| music          = {{Plainlist|
* Kaos FM
* Richard J. Donahue
}}
| cinematography = 
| editing        = Kelly Hutch
| studio         = {{Plainlist|
* Absu Films
* [[Toetag Pictures]]
}}
| distributor    = Toetag Pictures
| released       = {{Film date|df=yes|2001|01|01|United States}}
| runtime        = 70 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
| gross          = 
}}
'''''August Underground''''' is a 2001 American [[Exploitation film|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, [[Snuff film|films and documents the murders]].

Filmed in an intentionally amateurish [[Found footage (film technique)|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 psychopathic 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 rapes her, 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 [[prostitute]]s for a drug-fueled [[orgy]]. Peter [[Sodomy|sodomizes]] 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 — which cuts off.

== 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==
''August Underground'' was produced, and directed by Fred Vogel in his [[directorial debut]], with Vogel also co-writing, and starring in the film's lead role. Initially, Vogel had wanted to make a "big-budget [[zombie film]]", but felt that his inexperience at making a [[feature film]] would turn away any potential financiers. With this in mind, Vogel decided to make another film that would help him gain awareness of his work and potential financing for the film. The idea for the film came from Vogel's frustration with the serial killer genre, which he felt "didn't show you what was really going on". Taking inspiration from [[John McNaughton]]'s ''[[Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer]]'', Vogel wanted to make a film that was both "ugly" and realistic<ref name="acinterview">{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Matthew |title=Atrocities Cinema.com...Exclusive Interview: Twenty Questions with Fred Vogel - Director of the AUGUST UNDERGROUND Series |url=http://www.atrocitiescinema.com/interviews/fredvogel.html |website=AtrocitiesCinema.com |accessdate=16 October 2019 |date=October 2005}}</ref> while also being unique and original.<ref name="hninterview">{{cite web |last1=Dimension |first1=Rob |title=Interview: Fred Vogel - Director (ToeTag Pictures) (Maskhead, August Underground) |url=https://horrornews.net/10272/interview-fred-vogel/ |website=HorrorNews.net |publisher=Horror News |accessdate=16 October 2019 |date=8 September 2010}}</ref> [[Principal photography]] began in August 2000, under the working title ''Peter''.<ref name="acinterview" />

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 [[2001 anthrax attacks|anthrax attacks]].<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSNXZyNlBws |title=Eric McKenna Project Show #138 - Fred Vogel, Filmmaker, Special Effects, The Final Interview Movie |date=3 October 2020 |type=Video Podcast |publisher=YouTube |access-date=20 March 2022}}</ref>

==Release==
{{expand section|date=October 2019}}

===Critical response===
Gregory S. Burkart of [[Bloody Disgusting]] included ''August Underground'' on his list "20 Landmarks of Found-Footage Horror!", writing: "I'm not a big fan of this series, but I admire Vogel's fearless audacity in serving up the ultimate in onscreen sadism".<ref>{{cite web|url = https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3316639/20-landmarks-found-footage-horror/|title = 20 Landmarks of Found-Footage Horror!|last = Burkart|first = Gregory|publisher = Bloody Disgusting|date = 14 October 2014|website = bloody-disgusting.com|accessdate = 25 May 2015}}</ref> Jay Alan from ''HorrorNews.net'' gave the film a positive review, praising the film's performances, gore effects, and realistic quality.<ref name="horrornewrev">{{cite web |last1=Alan |first1=Jay |title=Film Review: August Underground (2001) |url=https://horrornews.net/15789/film-review-august-underground-2001/ |website=HorrorNews.net |date=30 December 2015 |publisher=Jay Alan |accessdate=2 May 2019}}</ref> Chris Mayo of ''Severed Cinema'' offered similar praise: "''August Underground'' is a true testament of what horror should be; nasty, nihilistic, raw and real".<ref name="severedcinema">{{cite web |last1=Mayo |first1=Chris |title=August Underground DVD Review |url=http://severed-cinema.com/a-reviews/august-underground |website=Severed Cinema.com |date=23 September 2014 |publisher=Chris Mayo |accessdate=2 May 2019}}</ref> Robert Firsching from [[Allmovie]] wrote in his review on the film: "A grueling but important antidote to the plethora of films glamorizing serial killers, ''August Underground'' is not likely to find a wide audience, but will not leave those who manage to find a copy unaffected".<ref name="allmoviereview">{{cite web |last1=Firsching |first1=Robert |title=August Underground (2002) |url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/august-underground-v268122/review |website=Allmovie.com |publisher=Robert Firsching |accessdate=2 May 2019}}</ref>

The film was later ranked at #14 in [[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]'s ''Most Disturbing Movies of All Time'', with the entry on the film noting its realistic quality, and "sadistically natural vibe".<ref name="complexlist">{{cite web |last1=Barone |first1=Matt |last2=Serafino |first2=Jason |last3=Pimentel |first3=Julia |title=The Most Disturbing Movies of All Time |url=https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/the-50-most-disturbing-movies/august-underground |website=Complex.com |publisher=Complex Magazine |accessdate=2 May 2019}}</ref>

===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.<ref name="bzfilminterview">{{cite web |title=Independent filmmaker Fred Vogel: Extreme artists push the boundaries and strive to provoke emotion |url=https://bzfilm.com/talks-interviews/independent-filmmaker-fred-vogel-extreme-artists-push-the-boundaries-and-strive-to-provoke-emotion/ |website=BZFilm.com |date=7 January 2013 |publisher=BZ Film |accessdate=16 October 2019 |archive-date=16 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016172529/https://bzfilm.com/talks-interviews/independent-filmmaker-fred-vogel-extreme-artists-push-the-boundaries-and-strive-to-provoke-emotion/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="acinterview" />

== In popular culture ==
[[Ethel Cain]]'s song "August Underground", from the album ''[[Preacher's Daughter]]'' (2022), is named after the movie.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Ask America's Premier Protestant Sweetheart Ethel Cain Anything |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/uz3ysz/comment/ia882l3/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527191609/https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/uz3ysz/comment/ia882l3/ |archive-date=27 May 2022 |access-date=26 January 2025 |website=Reddit}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.toetag.biz}}
* {{IMDb title|0412467|August Underground}}
* {{Rotten tomatoes|august_underground|August Underground}}

{{Toetag Pictures}}

[[Category:2001 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:2001 films]]
[[Category:2001 horror films]]
[[Category:2001 independent films]]
[[Category:2001 American films]]
[[Category:2001 English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s serial killer films]]
[[Category:American exploitation films]]
[[Category:American independent films]]
[[Category:American serial killer films]]
[[Category:American splatter films]]
[[Category:Camcorder films]]
[[Category:Direct-to-video horror films]]
[[Category:Films about snuff films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Fred Vogel]]
[[Category:Films set in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Films set in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Films set in Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Films shot in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Films shot in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in film]]
[[Category:English-language horror films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]
[[Category:English-language crime films]]
[[Category:Found footage films about psychopaths and sociopaths]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=August Underground|access_date=2026-02-26}}