AUGUST UNDERGROUND'S MORDUM

Today I am going to talk about a film called August Underground's Mordum.  This is a film that is CLEARLY for the hardest of hardcore horror fans.  It involves subject matter that is plain old sick.  While googling the sickest movies I could find I kept reading about this one so I went ahead and watched it.  After viewing it I was not only uncomfortable but it made me think about WHY we as horror fans enjoy these films and when the action is all too real how even the most jaded horror fan can be turned off.

Now I can't post a lot of stills from this film because frankly they are all too graphic and most of the films involves nudity.  Not good nudity mind you....but disgusting nudity.  I am not here to "judge" this film's content or it's filmmaker's intent but to review it as a whole, so please bear that in mind.  It is billed as a simulated snuff film, being shot in found footage style at the hands of 3 psychos who reeeally enjoy saying the word "fuck" and well....puke a lot. 

The film centers around our 3 maniacs in a series of vignettes, some more vile than others.  There is no real "plot" or dialogue here which I find odd considering the film has 5 directors and writers.  I am assuming the 5 "directors" happen to be the main characters of the the film....and to be honest I would like to poke around in their heads for a few hours just to see what they don't have the guts to transfer to celluloid....because honestly it doesn't get much more graphic than this.  The film is shot in hand held, old school JVC camcorder style which adds to its realism.  You really do feel like you are watching a home movie.  There is nothing slick here at all, which is a blessing and a curse for this film.

This movie has it all....rape, self mutilation, murder, torture, puke, necrophilia, puke, lots of gore, dead babies, puke, dead children, puke, a really disturbing disembowelment, and more puke.  I am not sure how "entertaining" all this is, but I think it is made clear that you should not "enjoy" this experience, yet be affected by it.  It's not a film you can soon unsee.  It stays with you for weeks.  In my case, months.

There are other films in this vein that I feel are more successful such as the films of Lucifer Valentine which I find way more artistic and effective.  In Mordum we are simply treated to the grit and in this instance I feel the point is somehow missed.  I am not as moved as I should be when I am simply repulsed.  I cannot in good conscience recommend this film on the ground that is just not that great of a movie.  The best thing going for it are the effects that are genuinely great.  The gore looks REALLY real here and the performances given by the victims are very realistic as well.  The biggest problem I have is with the killers themselves.  This is also a problem I have with Rob Zombie's films.  The psychos try too hard.  They spout "fuck, fuck, fuck" and yell a lot making them more of a mockery than a frightening, effective character.  I am way more scared of someone who says very little than someone who says "Look at this fucking fuck."  Really?

So if you feel like you are unmovable and can take it, go ahead and watch it.  It's definitely depraved....but not a very good film at all.  It's not something I would want to watch again, but as a hardcore fanboy it's something that is definitely on the must see list along with Cannibal Holocaust and Salo.  Ya just have to see it to believe it.