Film Retrospective- August Underground Trilogy Part 3

August Underground's Penance (2007)
Director- Fred Vogel


The August Underground series isn't exactly up there with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings as one of the all time great movie trilogies. Or even Evil Dead. However, like those series, it is a complete piece of work collectively. This film, which was released four years after its predecessor completed the cycle and there ha been no more since. This film is arguably the least horrific of the three, and there is something of characterisation which was not really there in the previous two. With this film Vogel seems to have "matured" somewhat as a director. This is something that definitely spills into the film.


Vogel is once again joined by Christie with Maggot gone.  They are up to their old tricks of committing atrocious acts on camera. However this is a few years later and things seem different. Whilst they are still psychotic serial killers, they seem to have gotten older and less crazy. This is something that is evident from the start in the characters rather than the films content. In this film, their actions seem to be taking their toll on them. It would seem that the supposed death of Maggot maybe has created something of a wedge between the relationship of the two remaining characters. t would seem that Vogel realised with this film that making another mayhem-fest like the previous to would seem generic and would not have the same kind of effect. With this said there is plenty of ultraviolence and gore. And the gore does look real. It just seems that Vogel new he had created something of a monster with the first two films and the character he plays seems to be thinking that also in terms of what he has done. Vogel had worked on other projects in between the last film and this one and it seems he wanted to become a better film maker. This is just speculation, but it seems to be the reason why the protagonists seem to be tired of what they are doing onscreen.


While it is not as relentless as the previous film, the performances from the two leads are still very strong. They show their age by committing that are still repulsive but quite so much as Mordum. The fact that they almost seem to be showing remorse at times suggests the "penance" that the title alludes to. However, it seems that despite their slight reservations they cant exactly just stop doing what they are doing.


The audience watching the film could get the same feeling as the characters. The film definitely is a little duller at times. The ending of this film establishes the finality. This is easy to understand but it does feel as complete as it should. Never the less, it is shocking in a different kind of way. It definitely deserves props for adding an element of humanity that was never really there before.


In conclusion, you should see the first two before this. While it is more extreme than a lot of stuff out there, it is the tamest in this trilogy. As previously stated, the element of maturity in the characters makes it something of a more easy watch than the others. The more mature approach from Vogel surprisingly does not make the film seem pointless within the context of what the series appeal is. It's definitely the weakest and is bet viewed as part o a collective work. You could almost call it a coming of age story in a fucked up kind of way.


So that's it for this series, see you in the next blog.


Nathan.