[[quoteright:236:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joyrideslasher_316.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:236: [-The Ultimate Terror Trip-] ]]

--> ''He waits. He watches. He kills.''

'''''Joyride''''' is a 1983 horror novel written by Stephen Crye, and published by Pinnacle Books. Inspired by the "[[SlasherMovie slasher]] boom" that occurred at the beginning of the decade, the book advertises itself as "More horrifying than ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}''!" and "More grisly than ''[[Franchise/FridayThe13th Friday the 13th]]''!"

It's the middle of June in 1983, and to celebrate their impending graduation, nine high school students (Bobby, Priscilla, Carlos, Lupe, Joyce, Amanda, Ralph, Eddy, and Clifford) from Colma, California sneak into All Saints Hills Cemetery, where they plan to party the night away with lots of snacks, drugs, alcohol, and sexual debauchery. Unfortunately for the rambunctious tresspassers, Robert "Cleats" Atchison, the creepy caretaker, locks them in, and begins hunting them down one by one, due to the teenagers reminding him of the ones who irreversibly damaged his mind and face during a prank gone wrong back in 1970s.

!! Tropes:

* AbusiveParents: Cleats's father was a bitter and hateful man who, during an argument, punched his son, spat on him, and destroyed the book of poems his wife had given Cleats.
* AccidentalMurder: Cleats killing Mr. Atchison (his father).
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Lupe's opinion of a joke the drunk Eddy cracks.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Cleats, over the unconscious Priscilla.
* AgonyOfTheFeet: As Joyce climbs the gate, Cleats stabs her in the foot.
* AlphaBitch: Lupe.
* AnArmAndALeg: Joyce is dismembered, then beheaded.
* AnticipatoryBreathSpray: Cleats pops a Spearmint Lifesaver into his mouth before trying to meet up with Carla.
* AssholeVictim: Mr. Atchison.
* AxCrazy: Cleats.
* BigBad: Cleats.
* BigEater: Ralph.
* BlackComedyRape:
--> '''Joyce:''' I'll hitchhike. I'm not staying here.
--> '''Carlos:''' Well, you'll be lucky if you get a ride without being raped.
--> '''Lupe:''' Let her go. Maybe a good a rape is what she needs.
* BlindWithoutEm: Clifford.
* BriefAccentImitation:
--> '''Joyce:''' I don't see why we can't just keep on driving. We could go to the beach or someplace normal. I mean-God!-I can just see us getting arrested for trespassing.
--> '''Bobby:''' ''I can just see us...''
* BridalCarry: Cleats does this with Priscilla.
* TheBully: Derek.
* ByTheHair: Cleats also does this with Priscilla.
* CallingTheOldManOut:
--> '''Mr. Atchison:''' You want! You want? You want what, you ungrateful bastard? You're just like your mother. No loyalty! She couldn't wait to leave me!
--> '''Robert[=/=]Cleats:''' Mother didn't leave you. She loved you... she gave you everything she had! This place killed her. ''You'' killed her... just like you're killing me!
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Eddy.
* CaptainErsatz: Cleats seems inspired by Cropsy from ''Film/TheBurning''.
* ChaseScene
* TheCheerleader: Cleats's old classmate, Patty.
* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Amanda.
* ClosedCircle: The gates at the entrance to the cemetery are chained shut shortly after the protagonists sneak in.
* CreepyCemetery: All Saints Hills.
* CrustyCaretaker: Cleats.
* DaylightHorror: The killing of the Dachshund.
* DeathBySex: Bobby.
* DevelopingDoomedCharacters
* TheDragAlong: Joyce.
* DramaticDrop: Cleats, when he notices Priscilla's resemblance to Carla.
* DreamSequence: Cleats once had a dream about bedding Carla.
* DrunkDriver: Carlos.
* DwindlingParty
* DysfunctionalFamily: The Atchisons, and Ralph's family.
* TheEighties: 1982.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Cleats, when he was Robert.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Ralph has "Twinkie" (which he once wolfed down four bags of) while Cleats once had the rather weird "Coma Man".
* EvilCripple: Mr. Atchison, who was confined to a wheelchair after falling into an open grave.
* ExtremelyDustyHome: The gatehouse.
* EyeScream: Bobby gets gasoline thrown into his face, and is immobilized by how much it burns his eyes.
* FacialHorror: Cleats's face is covered in scars, he has no nose, and most of his mangled teeth and gums are exposed.
* {{Fainting}}: Priscilla, after witnessing Carlos's death.
* FamousLastWords:
--> '''Joyce Caruthers:''' Oh God, no... no... ''please'', no...
--> '''Daniel Atchison:''' You son-of-a-bitch! I'll have one foot in the grave and I'll still-
--> '''Bobby:''' Who are you?
--> '''Carlos:''' It's okay. You're safe now. I'll take care of you.
* FanService: Bobby and Joyce's sex scene.
* FatalFamilyPhoto: Joyce thinks about her sister's baby shower, and is cut to pieces a few minutes later.
* FatComicRelief: Ralph.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Joyce (killjoy) and Lupe (bitch).
* GangOfBullies: Only one of them, Derek, gets a name.
* GardeningVarietyWeapon: Cleats's arsenal.
* GayCowboy: Amanda fell for a cowboy she flirted with at the drive-in, despite Lupe telling her he was probably gay.
* {{Gorn}}
* GrayEyes: Mr. Atchison.
* GrumpyOldMan: Mr. Atchison.
* HollywoodCalifornia: The book is set in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colma,_California Colma]], an actual "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necropolis necropolis]]" situated near San Francisco.
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: Graduation.
* {{Hunk}}: Bobby.
* IcyBlueEyes: Bobby, and Cleats.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: Cleats, with Priscilla.
* ImprovisedWeapon
* InnocentBlueEyes: Carla.
* InSeriesNickname: Cleats, and Twinkie.
* {{Jerkass}}: Lupe, Mr. Atchison, and Derek.
* JerkJock: Derek.
* KickTheDog: Cleats is introduced killing a Dachshund.
** Right before his death, Mr. Atchison unleashes a series of Dog Kicks.
* LanternJawOfJustice: Bobby, and Cleats (for a villainous example).
* LaughingMad: Priscilla, a lot.
* ManBitesMan: Priscilla bites Cleats's hand.
* ManOnFire: Bobby's death.
* MatchlightDangerRevelation: Carlos drops a flashlight, and when Clifford picks it up, it shines right on Bobby's charred remains.
* MsFanservice: Priscilla, who spends most of the book topless.
* NerdGlasses: Joyce, and Clifford.
* NervousWreck: Clifford.
* NiceHat: Cleats.
* NiceShoes: Cleats, of course.
* OddFriendship: Priscilla (outgoing, pretty, popular) and Joyce (introverted, plain, prudish).
* OffWithHisHead: Cleats cuts off Joyce's limbs, then her head.
* OldDarkHouse: The cemetery gatehouse.
* OminousFog
* PerpetualFrowner: Mr. Atchison.
* {{Phlegmings}}: Cleats.
* ThePigPen: Ralph, who leaves a trail of crumbs and junk food packaging wherever he goes.
* PipePain: Cleats uses a pipe to beat and stab a Dachshund.
* PornStash: Joyce treats her copy of ''TheStoryOfO'' like porn, hiding it under her mattress.
* PowerfulPick: Carlos gets a pickaxe to the head.
* PurpleEyes: Priscilla, whose eyes are a violet-ish shade of blue.
* TheQuietOne: Clifford.
* ReclusiveArtist: The only novel ever written by the completely unknown Stephen Crye.
* RedheadsAreUncool: Joyce.
* RiseOfZitboy: One of Cleats's teenage tormentors.
* ScaryTeeth: Cleats.
* TheScourgeOfGod
* ScrewThisImOutOfHere: Ralph tries this, but is dismayed to realize that Bobby had the car keys. Later, he just makes a run for it.
* SelfMadeOrphan: Whipped into a frenzy due to a fight they had, Cleats shoved his father down a flight of stairs.
* SeriesContinuityError: Eddy is introduced as Bobby's fifteen year-old cousin, but is inexplicably changed to his sixteen year-old brother partway through the book.
* TheSeventies: The subplot concerning Cleats's backstory takes place in 1970s.
* ShirtlessScene: Bobby, and Cleats.
* SickeningCrunch
* SinisterScythe: Cleats kills Joyce with a sickle.
* SinisterSilhouettes
* SirSwearsALot: Carlos.
* SkeletonKey: Cleats has one for All Saints Hills.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Eddy.
* SpitefulSpit: During the last argument they had, Cleats was spat on by his father.
* StaircaseTumble: Mr. Atchison's death.
* SternTeacher: Mr. Mahoney.
* TheStoner: Amanda.
* SweaterGirl: Priscilla.
* TagalongKid: Eddy, the fifteen year-old cousin[=/=]sixteen year-old brother of Bobby.
* TapOnTheHead: Priscilla briefly knocks Clifford out, after mistaking him for Cleats, while Cleats later beats Priscilla unconscious.
* TeenyWeenie:
--> '''Eddy:''' Okay, what did the elephant say to the naked man?
--> '''Amanda:''' I give up.
--> '''Eddy:''' How do you breathe through that little thing.
* TenSecondFlashlight
* ThoroughlyMistakenIdentity: Cleats is convinced Priscilla is his old crush, Carla.
* TitleIn: Various.
** 1982, Colma, California
** 7:00 P.M., June 15, 1982
** 7:30 P.M.
** 7:45 P.M.
** May 1974
** 8:00 P.M.
** 8:30 P.M.
** June 1974
** June 1976
** 9:00 P.M.
** 9:30 P.M.
** June 1976
** 9:30 P.M.
** 9:45 P.M.
** 9:50 P.M.
** June, 1976
** 10:10 P.M.
** 10:20 P.M.
** 10:30 P.M.
* TokenMinority: Carlos, and Lupe.
* TwistedAnkle: Clifford.
* TwoLinesNoWaiting: The main events, and Cleats's origin.
* UncannyValleyMakeup: Lupe, according to Eddy.
* UnstoppableRage: Cleats.
* VillainOpeningScene: A stray dog is bludgeoned by Cleats.
* VomitIndiscretionShot: Carlos's death causes Priscilla and Clifford to vomit.
* WaitHere
* WalkingTheEarth: Joe Riley, a former employee of All Saints Hills.
* WallOfWeapons: The pegboards displaying Cleats's tools.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Cleats wonders this about Carla and Derek.
* WildTeenParty

----

Yes, I stole my username from ''{{Animorphs}}''.

[[folder: AU]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AugustUndergroundSnuffEdition_5813.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300: [-You're gonna love this!-] ]]

-> "''Come on, I got something to show you...''"
-->--'''Peter'''

'''''August Underground''''' is a 2001 horror film, and the first release of Toe Tag Pictures (''Sella Turcica, Maskhead, The Redsin Tower, Murder Collection V.1'', etc.)

You know that sequence in ''HenryPortraitOfASerialKiller'' where Henry and Otis break into a house and videotape themselves torturing and murdering the residents? Stretch that out to feature length and you pretty much have ''August Underground''.

Presented as a degraded serial killer home movie, the film follows a sadistic psychopath named Peter as he commits random acts of torture and murder, all of it recorded by his unnamed and unseen (but very talkative) accomplice. Among the people they brutalize and/or kill are a female hitchhiker, an old woman, a convenience store clerk and two of his customers, twin brothers, and a pair of prostitutes. A girl named Laura is also kept captive in Peter's basement, beside the corpse of her dead and castrated boyfriend, Michael.

A sequel, subtitled ''Mordum'', followed in 2003. This time around, Peter is being helped out by his sadomasochistic girlfriend Crusty, and her sexually depraved manchild brother Maggot, with whom she has an incestuous relationship. The trio initially get along well (barring random outbreaks of infighting) but after a while, things turn sour between Peter and Maggot over the affection of Crusty.

The final installment of the series, ''Penance'', was released in 2007. Unlike its predecessors, the footage of this one is near-mint, so we can see all the horrors inflicted upon the victims in crystal clarity. Now it's just Peter and Crusty, whose initially lovey dovey relationship is breaking down, with the two deranged individuals beginning to turn their violent impulses on each other.

Of the three, ''Mordum'' is the most well known, and with good reason; coming off like an experiment to create "the sickest shit evar!!!1!" it features things like rape with a severed penis, cannibalization of a headless and maggot-infested infant, a young child's rotten corpse being sexually abused, and a woman who is covered in blood and vomit being cut open and "gut fucked".

!! This series provides examples of the following tropes:

* AbusiveParents: Peter's father, going by a comment made by Crusty.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: While Crusty is molesting, tormenting and puking on a pair of women in ''Mordum'', Peter and Maggot jerk off while filming it.
** In ''Penance'', Crusty masturbates to Peter abusing a dying woman, and later Peter jacks off in front of a tortured woman, and smears his semen (actually some kind of coconut shampoo) on her.
* AllThereInTheManual: The main killer's name is [[http://www.atrocitiescinema.com/interviews/fredvogel.html Peter]].
* ALoveToDismember: After Maggot forces a man to cut off his own penis in ''Mordum'', the chunk of dick is taken by Crusty, who violates a woman with it.
* AlternateDVDCommentary: The first film has one by Peter, and it comes complete with him torturing someone in the background.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Even by psycho killer standards, there is obviously something up with Maggot.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Seems like everyone assumes the two women from the vomit torture sequence in ''Mordum'' are a lesbian couple.
* AnArmAndALeg: ''August Underground'' has Michael being dismembered post-mortem, and one of the twin brothers has a leg hacked off with a meat cleaver. There's also human and deer bodies being taken apart in ''Penance''.
* AnnoyingLaugh: Peter and Maggot.
* AssShove: The first film is likely one of the few places where you can see a woman have her shit shoved back up her ass.
* AttentionWhore: Maggot.
* AxCrazy
* BadSamaritan: Peter helps an old woman carry her groceries in ''August Underground'', and kills her once he gets inside her house.
* BatterUp: The female convenience store patron is whacked with a bat in ''August Underground'', and Peter goes crazy with one in ''Penance''.
* BeardOfEvil: Maggot, and Killjoy in ''Mordum''.
* BigBad: Peter.
* BigBadDuumvirate: Peter and the cameraman in ''August Underground'', and Peter and Crusty in ''Penance''.
* BiTheWay: The prostitutes in ''August Underground''.
* BloodBath: At the end of ''Mordum'' (after it has long lost coherency) Peter drags a near-nude Maggot under a woman who is suspended upside-down, and slits her throat, resulting in an even bloodier Maggot.
--> "That's your fucking baptism, you fuck!"
* BloodFromTheMouth
* BloodIsSquickerInWater: Michael's severed penis is left in a toilet in ''August Underground'', and a man covered in nails is sprayed with a hose in ''Penance''.
* {{Bouncer}}: One kicks Peter and the cameraman out of a concert in ''August Underground''.
* BoundAndGagged
* BreastAttack: Before the events of the first film, Peter sliced one of Laura's nipples off, and shit is subsequently smeared in the wound by the cameraman. Crusty also rips a woman's nipple ring off in ''Mordum''.
* BrotherSisterIncest: Crusty and Maggot. A deleted scene even has them doing it while pretending to be the opposite genders (Crusty is "the man" and Maggot is "the bitch").
* CameraFiend
* CampingACrapper: Bodies are shown in bathtubs, though whether they were killed there can be debated.
* ChaseScene: The very end of the first film, when the second prostitute tries to escape.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: The first film's cameraman.
* ClusterFBomb: According to imdb, ''Mordum'' is in third for most uses of "fuck" in a film, with around 500.
* CollaredByFashion: Crusty, and a victim in ''Mordum''.
* ColdBloodedTorture
* ContentWarnings: "Warning. This film contains adult language, graphic violence, and nudity. Viewer discretion is strongly advised."
* ContestWinnerCameo: The homeless man in ''Penance'' was played by Toe Tag Pictures forum member Fuctup.
* CouldntFindAPen: Shit is a more popular to write with than blood, though.
* CountryMatters
* CoveredInGunge: A number of victims get covered in a combination of blood, shit, piss, semen, and vomit.
* CreepyBasement
* CreepyDoll: A few in the bathroom in ''Mordum''.
* CutAndPasteNote: The series title logo.
* CuteKitten: Surprisingly, the killers seem to own one. It's seen in TheStinger of ''Mordum'', and in a brief scene in ''Penance''.
* DarkChick: Crusty.
* DaylightHorror: The murder of the old woman in ''August Underground''.
* DeathBySex
* DepravedBisexual: Crusty.
* DestructiveRomance: Peter and Crusty, to the point of being the entire premise of ''Penance''.
* DirectToVideo
* DisposableSexWorker: A pair of victims in ''August Underground''.
* DontLookAtMe
* DownInTheDumps: Peter and Crusty goof around near a junkyard in ''Penance''.
* DrivenToSuicide: ''Mordum'' ends with Maggot randomly slitting his own throat, and ''Penance'' has Crusty self-asphyxiate out of despair.
* DropDeadGorgeous
* DropTheHammer: Peter's default method of murdering people.
* EarAche: When the dead little girl's face is poked in ''Mordum'', something leaks out of her ear.
* EatsBabies: Maggot.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Peter is not amused by [[BrotherSisterIncest the bond]] between Crusty and Maggot.
** Seeing Peter cut a pregnant woman's baby out is what causes Crusty to start breaking down in ''Penance''.
* ExcessiveEvilEyeShadow: Crusty.
* ExtremeOmnisexual: Maggot.
* EyeScream: The commentary for ''Mordum'' reveals that one of the actresses in the vomit scene wound up gagging so hard she popped a blood vessel in her eye.
* TheFaceless: A few of the victims in ''Mordum'' and ''Penance'' have masks or bags taped to their heads, presumably as a form of dehumanization.
* FacialHorror: "I think you broke her face!"
* FalseTeethTomfoolery: After killing the old lady in ''August Underground'', Peter plays with her dentures.
* FanDisservice
* FatBastard: Peter.
* FightScene
* FingerlessGloves: Peter and the homeless man in ''Penance''.
* FlippingTheBird
* FluffyFashionFeathers: Maggot at the end of ''Mordum''.
* ForceFeeding: Laura, the woman in the cellar in ''August Underground'', is forced to eat a rotten apple core, shit, and Michael's severed toe.
** A pill(?) is forcibly given to a woman in ''Penance''.
* ForeheadOfDoom: Crusty in ''Mordum''.
* ForTheEvulz
* FreudianExcuse: The closest hint to one that we get is Crusty shrieking "You're just like your fucking dad!" as Peter is beating her in ''Penance''.
* {{Geek}}: One of the twin brothers in ''August Underground''.
* GigglingVillain
* GirlishPigtails: Creepily, Maggot at the end of ''Mordum''.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Strange how Peter and Crusty seem to be the only ones shown smoking.
* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Peter.
* {{Gorn}}: ''Penance''.
* GroinAttack: Michael from the first one has his genitals cut off (whether it was before or after he was killed is unrevealed) and a man is forced to sever his own penis with manicuring scissors in ''Mordum'', which also has Peter kick Maggot in the balls a few times during an argument.
* GuttedLikeAFish: Michael in ''August Underground'', and a victim in ''Mordum''.
** ''Penance'' has two instances of this. The intestines (apparently actual pig ones) ''[[NauseaFuel gurgle]]''.
* HairColorDissonance: Crusty, something not aided by the film quality.
* HeartSymbol: I ♥ U written in ketchup in ''Penance''.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: About midway through ''Mordum'', the trio run into Killjoy, another serial killer who stores his victims (both dead and dying) in a shack he shows off to them.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Peter and the cameraman in ''August Underground''.
* HookersAndBlow: The finale of ''August Underground''.
* HumanPincushion: A man has nails hammered into him in ''Penance''.
* TheHyena
* HypocriticalHumor: ''Mordum'':
--> '''Crusty:''' (while in a crack house) "These people are fucking sick!"
** And the out of shape Peter constantly criticizing other people for being overweight.
* ILied: Crusty and Maggot telling a man they'll set him free if he cuts his own penis off ''Mordum''.
* ILoveTheDead: Peter sodomizes Erika while caving her head in with a hammer in ''August Underground'', and ''Mordum'' shows Maggot having sex with the wound of a dead and gutted woman, and raping a little girl's corpse.
* ImAHumanitarian: Maggot.
* ImprovisedWeapon: The old woman is stabbed to death with a corkscrew in ''August Underground''.
* IncrediblyLamePun: ''August Underground'':
--> '''Peter:''' (while looking at statues of Biblical figures) You know what I don't understand? I don't understand, you know, like, in, y'know, in the bible, and y'know, the stories that you hear, y'know, they're always upset, and weeping, and crying and stuff like that. These people just have a stoned look on their face. Get it?
--> '''Cameraman:''' That was bad.
* IntimateHealing: When Crusty goes into hysterics in ''Penance'', Peter tries to calm her down via rape. It... doesn't work out.
* ItIsDehumanizing: While Crusty is slowly choking the life out of a little girl in ''Penance'', Peter chants "Kill it! Kill it!"
* InUniverseCamera
* JitterCam
* JizzedInMyPants: While Killjoy is torturing a woman in ''Mordum'', he screams "You made me cum in my pants!"
* {{Joisey}}: "Smells like shit."
* KarmaHoudini: Peter.
* KnifeNut
* TheLadette: Crusty.
* LargeAndInCharge: Peter.
* LaughingMad: Maggot.
* LeaveTheCameraRunning
* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: Snuff Edition.
* TheLoinsSleepTonight: Peter is unable to get it up during the home invasion in ''Penance''.
* LooksLikeCesare: Crusty in ''Mordum''.
* MadnessMantra: "I hit him too hard, I hit him too hard, I hit him too hard, I hit him too hard..."
* MaleFrontalNudity
* MegaNekko: After Crusty dons some glasses in ''Mordum''.
--> '''Peter:''' Doesn't she look smart like that?
--> '''Crusty:''' That's because I'm [[HotLibrarian a librarian]], now fuck me!
* MessyHair: Crusty.
* MoodWhiplash: Constantly switching from scenes of torture and murder to mundane outings, like dicking around on a farm or visiting Roadside America.
* NamelessNarrative
* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Peter, Crusty and some others amuse themselves by feeding a live rat to a pet crocodile in ''Penance''.
* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: They probably were.
* NoEnding: In the first film, after finding Peter raping Erika's corpse, the other prostitute makes a run for it, getting outside with Peter and the cameraman chasing her. The film cuts to black after the cameraman either drops the camera, or falls.
** ''Mordum'' cuts to static after everyone starts freaking out and Maggot slits his own throat, and ''Penance'' goes to the credits after a hysterical Crusty suffocates herself.
* NoNameGiven: The cameraman, and most of the victims.
* NoYou: "I'm not a fucking whore, you're a fucking whore!"
* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: ''Mordum'' and ''Penance''.
* OffWithHisHead: The headless infant in the trashcan in ''Mordum'', and the head being cut off a body in ''Penance''.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Crusty and Maggot.
* OverTheShoulderCarry: Peter disposing of a body in ''Penance''.
* PantheraAwesome: Peter, Crusty and someone else feed a lion parts of a deer in ''Penance''.
* PeoplePuppets: "I don't feel so good. I don't feel so good. Stop it. [[VillainousBreakdown I don't like myself. I think I'm ugly. Nobody loves me]]... I don't like myself. And I don't feel good... I don't like you."
* PerfectlyCromulentWord: ''Mordum''.
* PerkyGoth: Crusty in ''Mordum''.
* ThePigPen: The villains live in squalor, yet hypocritically criticize the similar living conditions of some junkies in ''Mordum''.
* UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}
* PortraitPaintingPeephole: Peter spots Maggot and Crusty fucking through a keyhole in ''Mordum''.
* PottyFailure: Though you can't really blame the victims.
* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: How Peter acts in front of a graffiti-covered wall in ''Penance''.
* PsychopathicManchild: Maggot.
* PsychoticLoveTriangle: Peter, Crusty and Maggot.
* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter
* QuickNip: Crusty in ''Penance''.
* RandomEventsPlot: ''Mordum''.
* ReCut: The Maggot Cut of ''Mordum''.
* RememberTheNewGuy: ''Mordum'' begins with Crusty and Maggot just there, helping Peter.
* SavagePiercings: The homeless man in ''Penance''.
* SelfHarm: Crusty.
--> "I like dull knives better"
* SequelEscalation
* SerialKiller
* SexyDiscretionShot: While full frontal female nudity is on display in ''August Underground'', actual sex acts are either shown from afar, or not at all. They don't bother doing that with the sequels, however.
* SheCleansUpNicely: By ''Penance'', Crusty has mostly dropped her "emo" look from ''Mordum'' (though some may view this as an UnnecessaryMakeover). However, as the film progresses she becomes more gaunt and emaciated, for whatever reason (MadnessMakeover?).
* ShirtlessScene
* SilentCredits
* SinisterScrapingSound: A hammer being dragged across and banged against the floor in ''Penance''.
* SirSwearsALot: Everyone.
* SlashedThroat: Various deaths in ''Mordum'', and one in ''Penance'', where the wound is fingered ("Feels like pussy").
* SnuffFilm
* TheSociopath
* {{Squee}}: Crusty, while opening stolen Christmas presents in ''Penance''.
* SpikesOfVillainy: Crusty at one point has on some kind of spiked fetish underwear in ''Mordum''.
* SpikyHair: Peter.
* SpitefulSpit: Crusty spits on Peter while he's sleeping in ''Penance''.
* StarringSpecialEffects
* TheStinger: ''Mordum'' shows a cat killing and eating a mouse, and ''Penance'' shows... ''something'' being flushed down a toilet.
* TheStoner: Peter does drugs (marijuana and cocaine) in ''August Underground'' and ''Penance''.
* StylisticSuck: The first two films are purposely degraded to give them a worn, bootleg VHS look.
* {{Synchronization}}: Peter jokes about this while killing the twin brothers in ''August Underground''.
* TantrumThrowing
* TattooedCrook: Most of the villains.
* TeethFlying: A deleted scene from ''Mordum'' shows the trio beating and mugging a man, knocking one of teeth out in the process.
* TerribleTrio: Peter, Maggot, and Crusty in ''Mordum''.
* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Peter and the cameraman in ''August Underground''.
* TokenMinority: The black prostitute in ''August Underground''.
* TortureCellar
* TorturePorn
* TraumaticCSection: Done to a victim in ''Penance''.
* TraumaticHaircut: Maggot randomly gives himself one in ''Mordum''.
* TroubledFetalPosition: Crusty in ''Penance'', after a pregnant woman is killed and her baby is cut out.
* TurnOfTheMillennium
* TwistedChristmas: Around Christmas in ''Penance'', Peter and Crusty break into a house and kill the family (father, mother and daughter) residing in it, then open the presents.
* UnwillingSuspension: One unfortunate woman near the end of ''Mordum''.
* UrineTrouble: A bucket of urine is poured on Laura in ''August Underground''.
** Deleted scenes from ''Mordum'' show the gang peeing on a victim, and each other while drunk.
* VillainousBreakdown: The premise of ''Penance''.
* VillainProtagonist
* TheVoice: The cameraman in ''August Underground''.
* VomitChainReaction: Crusty has some fun with two women by starting one of these in ''Mordum''.
* VomitDiscretionShot: Peter can be heard puking while dismembering Michael in ''August Underground''.
* VomitIndiscretionShot: Lots.
* WeaponOfChoice: Peter and his hammer.
* WeShouldGetAnotherTape
* WhiteMaskOfDoom: Show up a few times in ''Mordum'' and ''Penance''.
* WordSaladTitle: Filmed in August + Underground film = ''August Underground''.
* WouldHurtAChild: A decaying infant's corpse that is covered in maggots is shown in Killjoy's shed in ''Mordum'', and later Maggot is shown having his way with the body of a little girl.
--> '''Crusty:''' (mockingly) Awww, poor baby! You're not gonna have to worry about growing up now, sweetie!
** And speaking of Crusty, she strangles a little girl to death in ''Penance''.
* YouLookFamiliar: Shelby Vogel played several victims in ''Mordum'' and ''Penance''.

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* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The escapades of the very definition of "sick fucks".
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: A second or so long bit in ''Mordum'' involving a man in a blue mask and sunglasses, who mutters "On commerciality..." before we return to the main events.
* BileFascination
* CompleteMonster: All the villains.
* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The protagonists are irredeemable monsters, and the victims are merely nameless and almost always dialogue-less props who exist only to be abused and killed and have gross things rubbed on them.
* FightSceneFailure: There's something a bit off about the punches in ''August Underground''.
* HolyShitQuotient: To quote one review, "There are scenes that are so brutal and unmerciful that its amazing that these films aren't all over the news."
* JerkassWoobie: Crusty by the end of ''Penance'', since she actually does seem to be growing remorseful, and ultimately sees suicide as her only way out.
* MostAnnoyingSound: Crusty screeching.
* NauseaFuel
* NightmareFuel
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: A victim briefly escaping and beating Peter in ''Penance''.
* TheScrappy: Maggot is unpopular, and not just because he is one of the most disgusting fictional characters ever. People just found him annoying.
* {{Sequelitis}}: ''Mordum'' threw the terrifying realism of the original out the window in favor of just being as repulsive as possible, to the point of bordering on over-the-top.
** Hence the nickname ''August Underground's More Dumb''.
* SignatureScene: Maggot raping the dead little girl in a bathtub in ''Mordum''.
* {{Squick}}

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* TheDanza: Erika Risovich as Erika in ''August Underground''.
* DirectedByCastMember: Peter is played by series creator Fred Vogel.
* DoingItForTheArt: All three films were self-financed and distributed, which was quite a gamble considering their off-putting content.
* DuelingMovies: The Vomit Gore Trilogy (''Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, [=ReGOREgitated Sacrifice=]'' and ''Slow Torture Puke Chamber'').
* NoBudget: The original's budget was a little under $2,000.
* OldShame: For co-creator Allen Peters.
* RealLifeRelative: The twin brothers in ''August Underground''.
* RomanceOnTheSet: Fred Vogel mets his wife Shelby Jackson on the set of ''Mordum''.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Roger Watkins (creator of ''Last House on Dead End Street'') was apparently going to have a cameo in ''Penance''.
* WorkingTitle: ''Peter'' for ''August Underground''.

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