8mm (film)

8mm is a 1999 crime thriller film directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. A German-American co-production, the film stars Nicolas Cage as a private investigator who delves into the world of snuff films. Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, and Anthony Heald appear in supporting roles.

The film received mostly negative reviews, but was a box office success.

Plot

Private investigator Tom Welles is contacted by Daniel Longdale, attorney for wealthy widow Mrs. Christian. While clearing out her late husband’s safe, she and Longdale found an 8mm movie which appears to depict a real murder of a girl, but Mrs. Christian wants to know for certain. Welles is instructed by Longdale and Mrs. Christian not to reproduce the film in any way, and to keep the investigation secret.

After looking through missing persons files, Welles discovers the girl is Mary Ann Mathews and visits her mother, Janet, in North Carolina. She allows Welles to search her house, and he finds Mary Ann’s diary, in which she says she went to Hollywood to become a film star. Mrs. Mathews wants to know what happened to her daughter.

In Hollywood, with the help of adult video store employee Max California, Welles delves into the world of underground fetish pornography. He attempts to find out if snuff films are real, or if there is anyone who was connected to this film. Welles finds no evidence that a snuff film industry exists. Contact with talent scout Eddie Poole leads Welles and Max to Dino Velvet, a director of violent pornography. Velvet’s films often feature “Machine”, a masked man who brutalizes and tortures women, and resembles the man who appeared in Christian’s snuff film. To gain more evidence, Welles pretends to be a client interested in commissioning a hardcore BDSM film to be directed by Velvet and starring Machine. Velvet agrees and arranges a meeting in New York City.

The meeting turns out to be an ambush. Longdale and Poole appear and hold Welles at gunpoint. The film turns out to be real; Mr. Christian contacted Longdale to procure a snuff film, and being unable to find one, Longdale commissioned Velvet and Poole to make one. Velvet and Machine produce a bound and beaten Max, whom they abducted to force Welles to bring them the only surviving copy of the film. As Longdale and Welles go to Welles’ car to retrieve the film, Longdale admits he never thought Welles would get as far as he did, and just wanted to placate Mrs. Christian with the investigation. Once Welles delivers the film, Longdale and Velvet burn it and kill Max. As they are about to kill Welles, he says Mr. Christian paid $1 million for the film; Velvet, Poole, and Machine received $50,000 and Longdale kept the major portion. In an ensuing fight, Velvet and Longdale are killed; Welles wounds Machine and escapes.

Welles calls Mrs. Christian to tell her his discoveries and convinces her of going to the police. Arriving at her estate, Welles is told that Mrs. Christian committed suicide after hearing the news. She left envelopes for the Mathews family and Welles: Welles’ contains the rest of his payment and a note reading, “Try to forget us”. Welles warns his wife of the impending danger and to seek shelter in a location known only to them, and hands her his half of the money.

Welles decides to seek justice for Mary Ann by killing the remaining people involved. Welles returns to Hollywood and tracks down Poole. He takes him to the shooting location and tries to kill him, but he is hesitant. He calls Mrs. Mathews to tell her about her daughter and asks for her permission to punish those responsible. Mrs. Mathews breaks down once presented with the truth, but affirms that she loved her daughter. With that, Welles pistol whips Poole to death with his gun, burning his body and the pornography from his car. Welles then attacks Machine at his home. Welles unmasks him, revealing a bespectacled man named George. They struggle, and Welles kills him.

After returning to his family, Welles breaks down in front of his wife, trying to process all of the evil that he had seen over the course of the investigation. Months later, Welles receives a letter from Mrs. Mathews, thanking him and relating her gratitude for the fact that, in spite of everything, she and Welles were the only people who really cared about Mary Ann.

Cast

Production

In May 1997, it was reported Columbia Pictures had acquired the Andrew Kevin Walker penned 8 Millimeter for $750,000 against $1.25 million.

Principal photography began February 1998 in Miami, Florida. And filming also took place in New York City, and Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City, California

Reception

Box office

8mm opened in 2,730 theaters in North America and made $14,252,888 in its opening weekend with an average of $6,013 per theater ranking number 1 at the box office. The film made $36,663,315 domestically and $59,955,384 internationally for a total of $96,618,699, more than double its $40 million production budget.

Critical response

8mm received negative reviews from critics. It has a rating of 24% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 84 reviews with an average rating of 4.3/10. The consensus states that “its sadistic violence is unappealing and is lacking in suspense and mystery.” The film also has a score of 21 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 20 reviews indicating “generally unfavorable.” Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of “C−” on scale of A+ to F. Derek Elley of Variety criticized the film, stating that “8MM is a movie that keeps jumping the gate and finally unravels all over the floor.” Peter Travers for Rolling Stone wrote that the film “aims for a psychological depth that the script can’t sustain.”

Roger Ebert was one of the film’s admirers and gave the film three stars out of four, stating on his website “I know some audience members will be appalled by this film, as many were by Seven. It is a very hard R that would doubtless have been NC-17 if it had come from an indie instead of a big studio with clout. But it is a real film. Not a slick exploitation exercise with all the trappings of depravity but none of the consequences. Not a film where moral issues are forgotten in the excitement of an action climax. Yes, the hero is an ordinary man who finds himself able to handle violent situations, but that’s not the movie’s point. The last two words of the screenplay are ‘save me’ and by the time they’re said, we know what they mean.”

Soundtrack

The film score was composed by Mychael Danna. It was released on CD by Chapter III in 1999, with a total of 20 tracks:

“The Projector” (1:20)

“The House” (2:05)

“The Call” (1:44)

“The Film” (1:10)

“Cindy” (0:56)

“Missing Persons” (4:46)

“What Would You Choose” (3:11)

“Hollywood” (2:51)

“Unsee” (1:20)

“Dance With the Devil” (5:36)

“The Third Man” (1:14)

“Loft” (1:56)

“No Answer” (1:47)

“I Know All About…” (1:41)

“366 Hoyt Ave.” (1:46)

“Scene of the Crime” (5:52)

“Machine” (3:30)

“Rainstorm” (3:49)

“Home” (1:32)

“Dear Mr. Wells” (1:54)

In addition, while not featured on the soundtrack, the song “Come to Daddy” by Aphex Twin is featured at multiple points in the film.

See also

8mm 2

Hardcore

The Cutting Room

Awards

References

External links

8mm at IMDb

8mm at Box Office Mojo

8mm at Rotten Tomatoes

8mm at Metacritic