 |
| Image courtesy of Toetag Pictures |
Serial killers Pete (Fred Vogel) and Crusty (Cristie Whiles) are still at it in the third entry of the August Underground series, with the aptly chosen tagline "Penance." While the hand-held home movie digital camera style is kept from the first two films, the degraded VHS aesthetic has been put aside, and it's much easier to see what's going on. Penance feels like a return to form of sorts, especially on the heels of the balls-to-the-wall insanity of Mordum (2003), which was an onslaught of gore and mayhem for the audience to endure. Pete and Crusty's relationship has waned somewhat, and their interactions as a couple are laid bare, showing how it has been disintegrating over time.
The film has much more downtime, spending long segments following the two lovebirds as they bum around town, wallowing in suburban ennui, aimless and restless. Whenever their boredom gets to be too much, they engage in senseless murder, capturing people and torturing them in their basement. While they are still dangerous to themselves and others, their killing feels less vicious and manic and more exhausted and depressed.
It seems as though the violence isn't hitting their dopamine the same way, not unlike long-term drug addicts. They are going through the motions, as it were. Crusty and Pete were connected through violence against others, but obviously, this isn't sustainable. Early on in the film, while torturing a family in their home, Pete is unable to get an erection while trying to sexually assault someone, which showcases his inner turmoil and dissatisfaction with himself and his actions.
Crusty also seems to be having second thoughts, and she begins to seek validation from sexual encounters with random men. At one point, during a torture session, Pete cuts the fetus out of a pregnant woman's body. Crusty goes into hysterics, sobbing wildly, perhaps mourning the life she never had. In another universe, she and Pete could have had a family or, at the very least, a happy and stable relationship based on love instead of hate. Eventually, they destroy themselves both physically and mentally, enacting their versions of penance, but without any absolution, only oblivion.
These two degenerates aren't written to elicit sympathy, and it seems wrong to extend them empathy because they have never given it to any of their victims. Instead, it explores the environment that can produce these kinds of people and the society that wants to glamorize them and their actions. If Pete and Crusty were real people, they would undoubtedly have TV miniseries based on them, ready to dive into the gruesome details for an audience to consume mindlessly.
 |
| Image courtesy of Unearthed Films |
Unearthed Films Blu-ray Extras:
- Original Stereo Mix
- Commentary by EFX Artist Jerami Cruise, Producer Shelby Vogel, Director Fred Vogel, and Ultra Violent Magazine’s Art Ettinger
- Commentary by Director Fred Vogel and Editor Logan Tallman
- Commentary by Toetag
- Commentary by Director Fred Vogel
- Editing "August Underground’s Penance": An Interview With Co-Editor Logan Tallman (BLU-RAY ONLY)
- The Most Disturbing Scene (BLU-RAY ONLY)
- Superfan Rob’s Underground Experience (BLU-RAY ONLY)
- Disemboweled: Behind the Bile Documentary
- Commentary With Toetag on "Disemboweled"
- Zoë Rose Smith Interviews Fred Vogel (BLU-RAY ONLY)
- Voyage to Perdition: An Interview With Fred Vogel (BLU-RAY ONLY)
- Dave Parker’s Roundtable With Fred Vogel, Jerami Cruise, Shelby Vogel, Logan Tallman, Ryan Logsdon (BLU-RAY ONLY)
- Stephen Biro Interviews Jerami Cruise (BLU-RAY ONLY)
- Deleted Scenes
- Extended Scenes
- "Poppa Pill - The Murderer Is Back" Music Video
- "Rue - The Locust" Music Video
- Extended Photo Gallery
- Teaser Outtakes
- Trailers
--Michelle Kisner