Tropers / Lord Crayak

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 "slasher boom" that occurred at the beginning of the decade, the book advertises itself as "More horrifying than Halloween!" and "More grisly than 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:

• Abusive Parents: 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.
• Accidental Murder: Cleats killing Mr. Atchison (his father).
• Actually Pretty Funny: Lupe's opinion of a joke the drunk Eddy cracks.
• A Date With Rosie Palms: Cleats, over the unconscious Priscilla.
• Agony of the Feet: As Joyce climbs the gate, Cleats stabs her in the foot.
• Alpha Bitch: Lupe.
• An Arm and a Leg: Joyce is dismembered, then beheaded.
• Anticipatory Breath Spray: Cleats pops a Spearmint Lifesaver into his mouth before trying to meet up with Carla.
• Asshole Victim: Mr. Atchison.
• Ax-Crazy: Cleats.
• Big Bad: Cleats.
• Big Eater: Ralph.
• Black Comedy Rape:
  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.
• Blind Without 'Em: Clifford.
• Brief Accent Imitation:
  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...
• Bridal Carry: Cleats does this with Priscilla.
• The Bully: Derek.
• By the Hair: Cleats also does this with Priscilla.
• Calling the Old Man Out:
  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!
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Eddy.
• Captain Ersatz: Cleats seems inspired by Cropsy from The Burning.
• Chase Scene
• The Cheerleader: Cleats's old classmate, Patty.
• Cigarette of Anxiety: Amanda.
• Closed Circle: The gates at the entrance to the cemetery are chained shut shortly after the protagonists sneak in.
• Creepy Cemetery: All Saints Hills.
• Crusty Caretaker: Cleats.
• Daylight Horror: The killing of the Dachshund.
• Death By Sex: Bobby.
• Developing Doomed Characters
• The Drag-Along: Joyce.
• Dramatic Drop: Cleats, when he notices Priscilla's resemblance to Carla.
• Dream Sequence: Cleats once had a dream about bedding Carla.
• Drunk Driver: Carlos.
• Dwindling Party
• Dysfunctional Family: The Atchisons, and Ralph's family.
• The '80s: 1982.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Cleats, when he was Robert.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Ralph has "Twinkie" (which he once wolfed down four bags of) while Cleats once had the rather weird "Coma Man".
• Evil Cripple: Mr. Atchison, who was confined to a wheelchair after falling into an open grave.
• Extremely Dusty Home: The gatehouse.
• Eye Scream: Bobby gets gasoline thrown into his face, and is immobilized by how much it burns his eyes.
• Facial Horror: 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.
• Famous Last Words:
  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.
• Fatal Family Photo: Joyce thinks about her sister's baby shower, and is cut to pieces a few minutes later.
• Fat Comic Relief: Ralph.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Joyce (killjoy) and Lupe (bitch).
• Gang of Bullies: Only one of them, Derek, gets a name.
• Gardening-Variety Weapon: Cleats's arsenal.
• Gay Cowboy: Amanda fell for a cowboy she flirted with at the drive-in, despite Lupe telling her he was probably gay.
• Gorn
• Gray Eyes: Mr. Atchison.
• Grumpy Old Man: Mr. Atchison.
• Hollywood California: The book is set in Colma, an actual "necropolis" situated near San Francisco.
• Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: Graduation.
• Hunk: Bobby.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Bobby, and Cleats.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: Cleats, with Priscilla.
• Improvised Weapon
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Carla.
• In-Series Nickname: Cleats, and Twinkie.
• Jerkass: Lupe, Mr. Atchison, and Derek.
• Jerk Jock: Derek.
• Kick the Dog: Cleats is introduced killing a Dachshund.
  • Right before his death, Mr. Atchison unleashes a series of Dog Kicks.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Bobby, and Cleats (for a villainous example).
• Laughing Mad: Priscilla, a lot.
• Man Bites Man: Priscilla bites Cleats's hand.
• Man on Fire: Bobby's death.
• Matchlight Danger Revelation: Carlos drops a flashlight, and when Clifford picks it up, it shines right on Bobby's charred remains.
• Ms. Fanservice: Priscilla, who spends most of the book topless.
• Nerd Glasses: Joyce, and Clifford.
• Nervous Wreck: Clifford.
• Nice Hat: Cleats.
• Nice Shoes: Cleats, of course.
• Odd Friendship: Priscilla (outgoing, pretty, popular) and Joyce (introverted, plain, prudish).
• Off with His Head!: Cleats cuts off Joyce's limbs, then her head.
• Old, Dark House: The cemetery gatehouse.
• Ominous Fog
• Perpetual Frowner: Mr. Atchison.
• Phlegmings: Cleats.
• The Pig-Pen: Ralph, who leaves a trail of crumbs and junk food packaging wherever he goes.
• Pipe Pain: Cleats uses a pipe to beat and stab a Dachshund.
• Porn Stash: Joyce treats her copy of The Story Of O like porn, hiding it under her mattress.
• Powerful Pick: Carlos gets a pickaxe to the head.
• Purple Eyes: Priscilla, whose eyes are a violet-ish shade of blue.
• The Quiet One: Clifford.
• Reclusive Artist: The only novel ever written by the completely unknown Stephen Crye.
• Redheads Are Uncool: Joyce.
• Rise of Zitboy: One of Cleats's teenage tormentors.
• Scary Teeth: Cleats.
• The Scourge of God
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Ralph tries this, but is dismayed to realize that Bobby had the car keys. Later, he just makes a run for it.
• Self-Made Orphan: Whipped into a frenzy due to a fight they had, Cleats shoved his father down a flight of stairs.
• Series Continuity Error: Eddy is introduced as Bobby's fifteen year-old cousin, but is inexplicably changed to his sixteen year-old brother partway through the book.
• The '70s: The subplot concerning Cleats's backstory takes place in 1970s.
• Shirtless Scene: Bobby, and Cleats.
• Sickening "Crunch!"
• Sinister Scythe: Cleats kills Joyce with a sickle.
• Sinister Silhouettes
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Carlos.
• Skeleton Key: Cleats has one for All Saints Hills.
• Spell My Name With An S: Eddy.
• Spiteful Spit: During the last argument they had, Cleats was spat on by his father.
• Staircase Tumble: Mr. Atchison's death.
• Stern Teacher: Mr. Mahoney.
• The Stoner: Amanda.
• Sweater Girl: Priscilla.
• Tagalong Kid: Eddy, the fifteen year-old cousin/sixteen year-old brother of Bobby.
• Tap on the Head: Priscilla briefly knocks Clifford out, after mistaking him for Cleats, while Cleats later beats Priscilla unconscious.
• Teeny Weenie:
  Eddy: Okay, what did the elephant say to the naked man?
  Amanda: I give up.
  Eddy: How do you breathe through that little thing.
• Ten-Second Flashlight
• Thoroughly Mistaken Identity: Cleats is convinced Priscilla is his old crush, Carla.
• Title In: 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.
• Token Minority: Carlos, and Lupe.
• Twisted Ankle: Clifford.
• Two Lines, No Waiting: The main events, and Cleats's origin.
• Uncanny Valley Makeup: Lupe, according to Eddy.
• Unstoppable Rage: Cleats.
• Villain Opening Scene: A stray dog is bludgeoned by Cleats.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Carlos's death causes Priscilla and Clifford to vomit.
• Wait Here
• Walking the Earth: Joe Riley, a former employee of All Saints Hills.
• Wall of Weapons: The pegboards displaying Cleats's tools.
• What Does She See in Him?: Cleats wonders this about Carla and Derek.
• Wild Teen Party

---

Yes, I stole my username from Animorphs.

AU

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 Henry Portrait Of A Serial Killer 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:

• Abusive Parents: Peter's father, going by a comment made by Crusty.
• A Date With Rosie Palms: 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.
• All There in the Manual: The main killer's name is Peter.
• A Love to Dismember: 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.
• Alternate DVD Commentary: The first film has one by Peter, and it comes complete with him torturing someone in the background.
• Ambiguous Disorder: Even by psycho killer standards, there is obviously something up with Maggot.
• Ambiguously Gay: Seems like everyone assumes the two women from the vomit torture sequence in Mordum are a lesbian couple.
• An Arm and a Leg: 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.
• Annoying Laugh: Peter and Maggot.
• Ass Shove: The first film is likely one of the few places where you can see a woman have her shit shoved back up her ass.
• Attention Whore: Maggot.
• Ax-Crazy
• Bad Samaritan: Peter helps an old woman carry her groceries in August Underground, and kills her once he gets inside her house.
• Batter Up!: The female convenience store patron is whacked with a bat in August Underground, and Peter goes crazy with one in Penance.
• Beard of Evil: Maggot, and Killjoy in Mordum.
• Big Bad: Peter.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Peter and the cameraman in August Underground, and Peter and Crusty in Penance.
• Bi The Way: The prostitutes in August Underground.
• Blood Bath: 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!"
• Blood from the Mouth
• Blood Is Squicker in Water: 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.
• Bound and Gagged
• Breast Attack: 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.
• Brother–Sister Incest: 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").
• Camera Fiend
• Camping a Crapper: Bodies are shown in bathtubs, though whether they were killed there can be debated.
• Chase Scene: The very end of the first film, when the second prostitute tries to escape.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The first film's cameraman.
• Cluster F-Bomb: According to imdb, Mordum is in third for most uses of "fuck" in a film, with around 500.
• Collared by Fashion: Crusty, and a victim in Mordum.
• Cold-Blooded Torture
• Content Warnings: "Warning. This film contains adult language, graphic violence, and nudity. Viewer discretion is strongly advised."
• Contest Winner Cameo: The homeless man in Penance was played by Toe Tag Pictures forum member Fuctup.
• Couldn't Find a Pen: Shit is a more popular to write with than blood, though.
• Country Matters
• Covered in Gunge: A number of victims get covered in a combination of blood, shit, piss, semen, and vomit.
• Creepy Basement
• Creepy Doll: A few in the bathroom in Mordum.
• Cut-and-Paste Note: The series title logo.
• Cute Kitten: Surprisingly, the killers seem to own one. It's seen in The Stinger of Mordum, and in a brief scene in Penance.
• Dark Chick: Crusty.
• Daylight Horror: The murder of the old woman in August Underground.
• Death By Sex
• Depraved Bisexual: Crusty.
• Destructive Romance: Peter and Crusty, to the point of being the entire premise of Penance.
• Direct to Video
• Disposable Sex Worker: A pair of victims in August Underground.
• Don't Look At Me
• Down in the Dumps: Peter and Crusty goof around near a junkyard in Penance.
• Driven to Suicide: Mordum ends with Maggot randomly slitting his own throat, and Penance has Crusty self-asphyxiate out of despair.
• Drop Dead Gorgeous
• Drop The Hammer: Peter's default method of murdering people.
• Ear Ache: When the dead little girl's face is poked in Mordum, something leaks out of her ear.
• Eats Babies: Maggot.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Peter is not amused by 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.
• Excessive Evil Eye Shadow: Crusty.
• Extreme Omnisexual: Maggot.
• Eye Scream: 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.
• The Faceless: A few of the victims in Mordum and Penance have masks or bags taped to their heads, presumably as a form of dehumanization.
• Facial Horror: "I think you broke her face!"
• False Teeth Tomfoolery: After killing the old lady in August Underground, Peter plays with her dentures.
• Fan Disservice
• Fat Bastard: Peter.
• Fight Scene
• Fingerless Gloves: Peter and the homeless man in Penance.
• Flipping the Bird
• Fluffy Fashion Feathers: Maggot at the end of Mordum.
• Force Feeding: 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.
• Forehead of Doom: Crusty in Mordum.
• For the Evulz
• Freudian Excuse: 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.
• Giggling Villain
• Girlish Pigtails: Creepily, Maggot at the end of Mordum.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Strange how Peter and Crusty seem to be the only ones shown smoking.
• Goofy Print Underwear: Peter.
• Gorn: Penance.
• Groin Attack: 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.
• Gutted Like a Fish: Michael in August Underground, and a victim in Mordum.
  • Penance has two instances of this. The intestines (apparently actual pig ones) gurgle.
• Hair Color Dissonance: Crusty, something not aided by the film quality.
• Heart Symbol: I ♥ U written in ketchup in Penance.
• Hero of Another Story: 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.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Peter and the cameraman in August Underground.
• Hookers and Blow: The finale of August Underground.
• Human Pincushion: A man has nails hammered into him in Penance.
• The Hyena
• Hypocritical Humor: 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.
• I Lied: Crusty and Maggot telling a man they'll set him free if he cuts his own penis off Mordum.
• I Love the Dead: 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.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Maggot.
• Improvised Weapon: The old woman is stabbed to death with a corkscrew in August Underground.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: 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.
• Intimate Healing: When Crusty goes into hysterics in Penance, Peter tries to calm her down via rape. It... doesn't work out.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: While Crusty is slowly choking the life out of a little girl in Penance, Peter chants "Kill it! Kill it!"
• In-Universe Camera
• Jitter Cam
• Jizzed in My Pants: While Killjoy is torturing a woman in Mordum, he screams "You made me cum in my pants!"
• Joisey: "Smells like shit."
• Karma Houdini: Peter.
• Knife Nut
• The Lad-ette: Crusty.
• Large and in Charge: Peter.
• Laughing Mad: Maggot.
• Leave the Camera Running
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: Snuff Edition.
• The Loins Sleep Tonight: Peter is unable to get it up during the home invasion in Penance.
• Looks Like Cesare: Crusty in Mordum.
• Madness Mantra: "I hit him too hard, I hit him too hard, I hit him too hard, I hit him too hard..."
• Male Frontal Nudity
• Mega Nekko: After Crusty dons some glasses in Mordum.
  Peter: Doesn't she look smart like that?
  Crusty: That's because I'm a librarian, now fuck me!
• Messy Hair: Crusty.
• Mood Whiplash: Constantly switching from scenes of torture and murder to mundane outings, like dicking around on a farm or visiting Roadside America.
• Nameless Narrative
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: Peter, Crusty and some others amuse themselves by feeding a live rat to a pet crocodile in Penance.
• No Animals Were Harmed: They probably were.
• No Ending: 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.
• No Name Given: The cameraman, and most of the victims.
• No, You: "I'm not a fucking whore, you're a fucking whore!"
• Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: Mordum and Penance.
• Off with His Head!: The headless infant in the trashcan in Mordum, and the head being cut off a body in Penance.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Crusty and Maggot.
• Over-the-Shoulder Carry: Peter disposing of a body in Penance.
• Panthera Awesome: Peter, Crusty and someone else feed a lion parts of a deer in Penance.
• People Puppets: "I don't feel so good. I don't feel so good. Stop it. 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."
• Perfectly Cromulent Word: Mordum.
• Perky Goth: Crusty in Mordum.
• The Pig-Pen: The villains live in squalor, yet hypocritically criticize the similar living conditions of some junkies in Mordum.
• Pittsburgh
• Portrait Painting Peephole: Peter spots Maggot and Crusty fucking through a keyhole in Mordum.
• Potty Failure: Though you can't really blame the victims.
• Pretty Fly for a White Guy: How Peter acts in front of a graffiti-covered wall in Penance.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Maggot.
• Psychotic Love Triangle: Peter, Crusty and Maggot.
• Put the "Laughter" in "Slaughter"
• Quick Nip: Crusty in Penance.
• Random Events Plot: Mordum.
• Re-Cut: The Maggot Cut of Mordum.
• Remember the New Guy?: Mordum begins with Crusty and Maggot just there, helping Peter.
• Savage Piercings: The homeless man in Penance.
• Self-Harm: Crusty.
  "I like dull knives better"
• Sequel Escalation
• Serial Killer
• Sexy Discretion Shot: 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.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: By Penance, Crusty has mostly dropped her "emo" look from Mordum (though some may view this as an Unnecessary Makeover). However, as the film progresses she becomes more gaunt and emaciated, for whatever reason (Madness Makeover?).
• Shirtless Scene
• Silent Credits
• Sinister Scraping Sound: A hammer being dragged across and banged against the floor in Penance.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Everyone.
• Slashed Throat: Various deaths in Mordum, and one in Penance, where the wound is fingered ("Feels like pussy").
• Snuff Film
• The Sociopath
• Squee: Crusty, while opening stolen Christmas presents in Penance.
• Spikes of Villainy: Crusty at one point has on some kind of spiked fetish underwear in Mordum.
• Spiky Hair: Peter.
• Spiteful Spit: Crusty spits on Peter while he's sleeping in Penance.
• Starring Special Effects
• The Stinger: Mordum shows a cat killing and eating a mouse, and Penance shows... something being flushed down a toilet.
• The Stoner: Peter does drugs (marijuana and cocaine) in August Underground and Penance.
• Stylistic Suck: 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.
• Tantrum Throwing
• Tattooed Crook: Most of the villains.
• Teeth Flying: A deleted scene from Mordum shows the trio beating and mugging a man, knocking one of teeth out in the process.
• Terrible Trio: Peter, Maggot, and Crusty in Mordum.
• Those Two Bad Guys: Peter and the cameraman in August Underground.
• Token Minority: The black prostitute in August Underground.
• Torture Cellar
• Torture Porn
• Traumatic C-Section: Done to a victim in Penance.
• Traumatic Haircut: Maggot randomly gives himself one in Mordum.
• Troubled Fetal Position: Crusty in Penance, after a pregnant woman is killed and her baby is cut out.
• Turn of the Millennium
• Twisted Christmas: 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.
• Unwilling Suspension: One unfortunate woman near the end of Mordum.
• Urine Trouble: 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.
• Villainous Breakdown: The premise of Penance.
• Villain Protagonist
• The Voice: The cameraman in August Underground.
• Vomit Chain Reaction: Crusty has some fun with two women by starting one of these in Mordum.
• Vomit Discretion Shot: Peter can be heard puking while dismembering Michael in August Underground.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Lots.
• Weapon Of Choice: Peter and his hammer.
• We Should Get Another Tape
• White Mask of Doom: Show up a few times in Mordum and Penance.
• Word Salad Title: Filmed in August + Underground film = August Underground.
• Would Hurt a Child: 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.
• You Look Familiar: Shelby Vogel played several victims in Mordum and Penance.

---

• Audience-Alienating Premise: The escapades of the very definition of "sick fucks".
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: 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.
• Bile Fascination
• Complete Monster: All the villains.
• Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy: 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.
• Fight Scene Failure: There's something a bit off about the punches in August Underground.
• Holy Shit Quotient: 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."
• Jerkass Woobie: Crusty by the end of Penance, since she actually does seem to be growing remorseful, and ultimately sees suicide as her only way out.
• Most Annoying Sound: Crusty screeching.
• Nausea Fuel
• Nightmare Fuel
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: A victim briefly escaping and beating Peter in Penance.
• The Scrappy: 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.
• Signature Scene: Maggot raping the dead little girl in a bathtub in Mordum.
• Squick

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• The Danza: Erika Risovich as Erika in August Underground.
• Directed by Cast Member: Peter is played by series creator Fred Vogel.
• Doing It for the Art: All three films were self-financed and distributed, which was quite a gamble considering their off-putting content.
• Dueling Movies: The Vomit Gore Trilogy (Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, ReGOREgitated Sacrifice and Slow Torture Puke Chamber).
• No Budget: The original's budget was a little under $2,000.
• Old Shame: For co-creator Allen Peters.
• Real-Life Relative: The twin brothers in August Underground.
• Romance on the Set: Fred Vogel mets his wife Shelby Jackson on the set of Mordum.
• What Could Have Been: Roger Watkins (creator of Last House on Dead End Street) was apparently going to have a cameo in Penance.
• Working Title: Peter for August Underground.