August Underground (2001)

Unpleasant… 

  

I finally took my first stab at the August Underground series. The story revolves around two young serial killers roaming around causing pain and suffering wherever they go.

What can I say about this film? We get some highly degrading scenes in this film to make us feel all upset. A poor, tortured woman is cut, smeared with her own feces and force-fed guts from, what is presumably, her dead boyfriend. There are several others after this as well. Humiliation, torture, misogyny and generally a complete lack of emotions for anyone are the key elements here. Sounds like a hoot huh? Their motivation is never addressed. What sent them overboard? We witness the madness and try to make some sense of it all. Is it really possible to pin down their motivation by pointing at this and that?

One thing that had me wondering is what kind of a time span we are dealing with. How long have they been doing this? It can’t have been a very long time because they are quite sloppy in their ways. There is no need to call C.S.I. here; these guys seem more than happy to leave their fingerprints, DNA and whatnot wherever they go. That is probably not important in the end.

I have to say the crappy look works very much to its benefit. The camerawork by our second, unseen, killer is amateur as it should be. Both elements give August Underground a disturbingly real feel to it. That is probably its strongest point. What we see is somewhat random, but I’m sure it makes sense to our depraved killers. In a world where you can watch soldiers being beheaded or a youth gang killing an old man for the fun of it on the internet this hits a little too close to reality. I like my violence fictional, but August Underground does an efficient job in blurring the line. Is that good or bad? I think it’s a good thing because I rarely see a movie that confronts me like this. Staring into this abyss of despair and human suffering is depressing, while simultaneously it makes it abundantly clear what we must avoid becoming this at all costs. As the movie unraveled I sat silently contemplating how wonderful it would be to live in a world where people simply are kind to each other. You know, we have that power!

Is August Underground “the sickest film ever made” like its tagline suggests? My experience is no. Is August Underground a good film? No, I don’t really think so either. This movie was made to offend people. It does so successfully. August Underground manages to generate disgust and I can respect that, even if I don’t like it. How should I rate it? How can I rate it? 7/10 seems about right. Now remember you can make a positive difference in the world! That is what we should all strive for. It seems kind of ironic that a movie like August Underground reminds me of that.