August Underground is a 2001 American exploitation horror film directed by Fred Vogel, who co-wrote it with Allen Peters. The film stars Vogel as a serial killer named Peter, who kidnaps and kills several innocent people, while his unnamed accomplice, played by Peters, films and documents the murders.
Filmed in an intentionally amateurish found footage style, August Underground was met with mixed reviews. The film was followed by two sequels, August Underground's Mordum in 2003, and August Underground's Penance in 2007.
Plot:
Peter, a psychopathic serial killer, invites his camera-wielding accomplice into his basement, where he is holding a woman named Laura captive. Peter and his unnamed accomplice torture and humiliate her at their leisure.
Next, the two pick up a female hitchhiker. After Peter rapes her, he beats and leaves her for dead on the side of the road. After the duo are kicked out of a concert for rowdy behavior, Peter and his accomplice return to the house to find that Laura has died.
Peter murders an old woman in her home, then terrorizes a convenience store with his accomplice. They abandon their plans to kidnap the clerk or a shopper when they hear police sirens approaching. The two then proceed to tour Roadside America and visit a tattoo parlor. When the tattoo artist finishes giving Peter a tattoo, he and his twin brother are captured by Peter and the cameraman. They cut a leg off of the tattoo artist then bludgeon him and his brother to death.
The two hire prostitutes for a drug-fueled orgy. Peter sodomizes one prostitute while beating her with a hammer. The remaining prostitute tries to escape. In the chaotic chase that ensues, the accomplice drops the camera — which cuts off.