Rod Reguez So what's the message in Penance then? A guy brutally murders people because he hates himself? Well f**k me what a revelation! This bombshell aside, there appears, not surprisingly to be no valid reason whatsoever for this incredibly crapulent and nauseous creation. If it's purely infamy Vogel's looking for he's gone about it the right way, but hey Vogel, why not surprise people and at least try to make something remotely intelligent, then you can throw in as much filth and degradation as you like and still get taken seriously? The thing is, Vogel doesn't have the minerals to create anything of any quality or depth, and Penance is a hollow exercise in pushing the boundaries of what is watchable. It's utterly devoid of any subtext whatsoever.Ironically the only thought provoking element in this film is Fred Vogel himself, who co-writes, directs, produces?, and stars. In much the same way as Argento used to perform the stabbings himself in many of his films, Vogel has a vested personal interest in the violence displayed here. Writing, directing and playing the central character seems to be giving Vogel the closest experience possible to fulfilling his ultimate fantasy without actually having to get arrested, although one could argue that even the inclusion of such a young girl in the filming of this offal is worthy of a stern ticking off. Has she seen it yet? I wonder. Charming. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a lover of extreme violence in cinema when it is in context. Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer, Man Bites Dog, Peeping Tom - these are all violent films - Henry especially, but they also deal with serious themes such as alienation, voyeurism, the boundaries between audience and spectator, and in particular, audience complicity. Vogel's film, on the other hand is designed purely to shock and/or titillate. The only comforting thought one should be drawing from this experience is that you're not turned on by imagining yourself sexually and violently abducting people. If you are, then perhaps you should be applying for a job at Toetag films. In Penance, Vogel seems, more than anything to be exploring his own psyche - his own capacity for the kind of behaviour he's mimicking, and it really does look like he's ready to take the plunge.Beware Vogel - when you're staring into the abyss, the abyss is staring back at you!

EVOL666 Don't know why I'm just now getting around to giving my thoughts on AUGUST UNDERGROUND'S PENANCE - I watched it quite a while ago, and typically try to give my 2 cents shortly after viewing. I guess it didn't make that much of an impression on me, though honestly - I'm not surprised about that. I'm not a real big fan of this series (or the fake-snuff genre in general...) - but I like to keep up on the latest "shock" films out there, so of course I had to give this one a whirl too...If you've seen the other AU films - PENANCE is much of the same: Guy and girl "serial killers" graphically murder people and then do a whole bunch of boring sh!t - all captured on their cam-corder.Compared to the other two AU films, I liked (and I use the term "liked" quite loosely...) PENANCE more than the first AU film, and less than MORDUM. There were a few elements to PENANCE that were a bit stronger than AU (the "downward spiral" of the main characters in this entry particularly), but it lacked the gleeful and almost cartoonish violence of MORDUM which made that entry notable. If you're a fan of the other entries in the series, then I'm pretty sure you'll dig this one too. If not, then skip it - the material has been handled pretty much the same way in the other two films...5/10

sevdah First of all , I feel an irresistible urge to say something about those " Fred - Vogel - and his - gang - of - non - talents - made -a horrible - piece - of crap " reviews . OK , I acknowledge the fact that we're all entitled to have our own opinion and like or dislike all sorts of things , but for God's sake , how can anyone state something that's obviously not true and ignore things that are apparently there ? Is orange blue ? Is cat a mouse ? Unbelievably small crew , using equally small budget , makes a horror movie so terrifying , meticulous , realistic , important and effective that all the slasher - ghost - haunted house - mutated zombie - cannibal inbred redneck killer nonsense put together fades away when compared . These people are talented . These people are intelligent . There are characters in this movie , there is even a story , albeit a simple one . This is not some amateurish attempt at shocking people , this is extreme horror at it's best .That being said , I can go on to reviewing .What we have here , in the 3rd part of August Underground series , is a complete downfall of our beloved , slimy , pathetic characters . I have to admit that I enjoyed their suffering , that's how much I started to hate them . And exactly because of that I felt that there is something lacking in Penance : we don't get to see more of their misery . That's too bad . But what we DO see is educational : these killers obviously get less and less pleasure from all the twisted things they do , and that's something that happens in reality with serial killers. There is some character development , especially in the case of Crusty's character . The scene when she breaks down and cries " I wanna die ! " is one of the strongest - and definitely proves that she is a good actress . Besides , she looks a lot better in this sequel because she got thin and really cute ( except in certain scenes where she applied some really horrible make - up to show us the physical effect of her decline ) , I wish she stays that way ... but that's slightly off - topic . Fred's character still shows no remorse , but apparently disintegrates .Of course , Mr Cruise did a brilliant job with special effects , make - up is also top notch , and acting very good . The whole crew works like a precise , powerful mechanism . The movie is delivered with great force and without compromise or relenting . I'm not saying it's perfect - I prefer Mordum , because I think it's stronger - but this is still some very serious horror cinematography , no doubt about it . It becomes apparent if you get to see the snuff edition which contains some deleted scenes and audio commentary from the crew . There is also a documentary about making of two scenes that involve some nasty disemboweling . Yummmy , yummy .All in all , Toetag crew are my definite favorites when it comes to contemporary horror movies and I can't wait to see their future projects . I give Penance 9 out of ten . It's one of the best horror movies I've seen so far .

theNomad Man uses video camera to shoot 2 underground snuff films August Underground Pt1 & Pt2.Man meets girl and goes about making a 3rd only this time messes the formula up and spends the bulk of it filming himself in various redneck/trailer park trash pursuits. See as man acts like a gangster, as he feeds a gator & lion, as he rides a quad, as he does a few lines yawn yawn ...Intercut all this with a few gore moments and yawn some more before the end credits roll. Fred and the toetag team have a way with fx this still can't be argued, but its all pointless unless its alongside narrative.To sum it up I gave it a 3/10. If you want sex go rent a porno, if you want gore rent a slasher movie. If you want to feel like you've wasted your money or time rent this.Watch this if you dare and you'll feel you've suffered as much as any of the victims...