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- August Underground:Mordum - US DVD - 

Do "snuff films" really exist?
Are there really tapes out there of psychos torturing, raping and killing their 
unfortunate victims?  
Nobody really knows for sure, although the actor Charlie Sheen once thought so 
after viewing a Japanese "psuedo” snuff film entitled "Guinea Pig 2:Flower Of 
Flesh and Blood" (of which I have reviewed elsewhere). In fact, he believed so 
much that the film he was watching was a genuine snuff film that he caused so 
much trouble; it finally ended with the FBI involved. Who, with the utmost 
embarrassment of Sheen, proved without a shadow of a doubt, it was just a very 
clever, albeit very sick and twisted, fake.
Since then, many films have tried to emulate and even better the "Guinea Pig" 
series of films, but all have failed.
Director Fred Vogel and Allen Peters decided to have a shot at the title with 
"August Underground." Though it failed to become the new champion, it did cause 
quite a stir. Enough of a stir in fact to warrant all copies be withdrawn, forcing 
Vogel to set up his own distribution company (Toetag Pictures) as nobody else 
would touch it. 
The plot of the film was non-existent. Viewers just watched a psycho (played by 
Vogel) through the eyes of an unseen video camera man as he captures, tortures 
and rapes various victims. A nasty film but not quite a “Guinea Pig” beater.
However, with Vogel's second attempt, "August Underground's Mordum," he has not 
only walked away with the crown held for so long by the "Guinea Pig" series but 
also set the standard for probably a long time to come.
Vogel stars again in this film but this time he has some friends to help him with 
the carnage. Again shot through the eyes of the video camera (ala "Man Bites Dog"),
"Mordum" opens with Vogel's character using the camera to look through the keyhole 
of a bedroom door only to find his friend having sex with his own sister!!!
When a film begins with incest, you know it's not going to be an easy ride.
A huge argument ensues, as Vogel is the boyfriend of the incestuous sister, which 
culminates in her cutting her stomach, just for the hell of it.
The film then cuts to the next scene where they are in a drug users home. However, 
both occupants are dead; one has his face smashed in, the other from an overdose, 
the needle still sticking out of his arm.
This is just the beginning of the film and does NOT prepare you for what is to 
come next. In fact, the above is tame compared to some of the other atrocities 
you will see. That is, depending if your stomach will allow you to watch it for 
long enough. To say this film is an assault on the senses is an understatement. 
I guarantee you have seen nothing until you have seen a beaten man who has been 
held captive, forced to cut off his own penis with tiny scissors. The severed 
penis is then used in 'fellatio' and then forcibly inserted inside of a beaten 
woman who is also being held captive. Or how about another woman who after being
stabbed in the stomach and had her intestines removed, has the gaping wound used 
for sex. Then there are the scenes of vomiting upon their victims, causing them 
to vomit in turn. Or maggots being taken from the dismembered corpse of a baby 
and eaten. These little portions of sickness are not everything you will see. 
There is much more and far, far worse.            
The effects are probably the best I have ever seen, everything looks so realistic. 
So much so that I constantly found myself asking the same question, "am I sure 
that this is fake?"
It looks so real that it makes you feel sorry for the victims in a way that no 
other film can, especially as the acting is so good you actually do believe they 
truly are terrified beyond comprehension. That the pain and degradation they seem 
to be feeling really is genuine. At the same time, it also makes you feel dirty 
for watching it and question your sanity if you actually enjoy watching any second 
of it, even the couple of comedy moments.
Even though the film looks like hell, it was actually shot using digital film 
in Pittsburgh and then taken back to the studio and downgraded to give the "home 
video camera" type of look and feel. However poor the picture is (which is intended), 
you always can make out what you are supposed to see. It's never that bit too dark
or that bit too grainy. The film is presented in its original DV full frame aspect 
ratio. As I said, the picture quality is comparable to that of a home video, which 
is what it is supposed to represent. Therefore the amateurishness of the quality 
enhances the effect of what the film is. The audio is Dolby Digital Mono and can 
be heard mostly clearly without a problem.
The extras on the disc consist of trailers for the original "August Underground," 
"Mordum" and a teaser trailer for the final film in the trilogy "August Underground's 
Penance." There are also some 'behind the scenes' photo's a music video by the band 
'Necrophagia' (who's singer plays a part in the film towards the end) entitled "Rue 
Morgue Disciple" and finally, if you haven't seen enough by now a further three scenes 
that were deleted entitled "Bathroom Slaughter," "Yank His Fuckin' Tooth Out," and 
"Lick My Pubes."
"August Underground's Mordum" will not appeal to everybody. Even seasoned ‘hardcore’ 
horror fans like myself, will find it hard going. There are scenes where you may 
think they went a bit too far. For myself, it was the aforementioned "baby corpse" 
and a scene where a young child’s corpse is 'sodomized' in a bathtub as the girlfriend 
of Vogel's character says mockingly "You don't have to worry about growing up now 
sweetie."
If you think you can handle it and you're a fan of 'hardcore' horror and I MEAN 
‘hardcore,’ then test your stamina and give it a go. If you're version of 'hardcore' 
however is watching "Scream" with all the lights turned out, stay well away from this 
film.

Reviewed By Dracula

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