8mm is a 1999 mystery/thriller film, directed by Joel Schumacher, about a private investigator, Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage), who is hired to research the authenticity of an alleged snuff film found in the vault of a recently deceased billionaire, which takes him to some sleazy environments.
A direct-to-video "sequel" - although unrelated to this film and relating to a sex tape instead of a snuff film- entitled 8mm 2, was released in 2005.
Synopsis
Nicolas Cage plays private investigator Tom Welles, who is contacted by Daniel Longdale (Anthony Heald), the attorney of wealthy widow Mrs. Christian (Myra Carter), whose husband has recently died. While going through the contents of her husband's safe, she and Longdale found an 8 mm film depicting what appears to be the brutal murder of a teenage girl by a hulking man in a mask. Through the emotion shown it seems the film is real, but Mrs. Christian wants him to find out for certain.
After looking through missing persons files, Tom discovers the girl's name is Mary Ann Mathews (Jenny Powell). He visits the home of the girl's mother, Janet (Amy Morton), and after searching the house finds Mary Ann's diary, in which she explains that she ran away to Hollywood to become a movie star. Before he leaves he asks Mrs. Mathews what she would choose: to go on thinking that Mary Ann is living a happy life, but not knowing for sure, or to know the truth, even if the worst were true. Mrs. Mathews responds that she has to know what happened to her daughter.
Armed with this information, Tom flies to Hollywood, where, with the help of a local named Max California (Joaquin Phoenix), he penetrates the underworld of illegal pornography, trying to discover who made the snuff film. Contact with a sleazy "talent scout" named Eddie Poole (James Gandolfini) leads Tom and Max to a shady movie director named Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare), whose violent pornographic films star a masked man named "Machine" (Chris Bauer) who is identical to the man in the film from Mr. Christian's safe.
Hoping to expose Velvet and Machine, Tom pretends to be a client interested in commissioning an original, hardcore bondage film directed by Velvet and starring Machine. Velvet agrees and arranges for him and Machine to meet Tom at an abandoned warehouse in New York City. At the meeting, however, Machine turns against him and disarms Tom, then Longdale appears unexpectedly and explains that Mr. Christian had contracted him to procure the snuff film. Longdale also reveals that he had informed Velvet ahead of time that Tom might come looking for them. Tom finally realizes that the film was authentic.
Velvet and Machine then produce a bound and beaten Max California whom they have abducted in order to force Tom to bring them the film. After Tom brings back the film, they burn it and kill Max. They are about to kill Tom when he shares information he learned from Mrs. Christian: that her husband had paid $1,000,000 for the film. Apparently Velvet, Poole, and Machine all received considerably less, thus making them realize that Longdale took most of the money for himself. In the ensuing fight, Velvet and Longdale are both killed, and while they are distracted Tom escapes after wounding Machine.
After fleeing, Tom informs Mrs. Christian over the phone that the film was real and that Longdale was involved. He says that they must go to the police and Mrs. Christian agrees to meet, but when he arrives at the Christian estate he is informed by the doorman that Mrs. Christian committed suicide after hearing the news. She left one envelope for the girl's family and one for Tom, the latter of which contains the rest of his money and a note reading, "Try to forget us." With the film destroyed and no remaining witnesses to its existence, Tom decides to track down the remaining people involved himself, saying, "There's no one left to finish this but me."
He tracks down Poole and takes him back to the shooting location of the film. He tries to kill Poole but cannot bring himself to do it. He then calls Mrs. Mathews and tells her the truth about what happened to her daughter, simultaneously asking for her permission to hurt the men responsible. He gets what he needs and immediately returns - pistol whipping Poole to death and burning his body along with the pornography from Poole's car. Then he traces Machine back to his home by using hospital records and the fact that Tom wounded Machine during his escape from the warehouse. Machine's and Tom's fight ends with Machine being killed (stabbed with his own knife), but not before he is unmasked, revealing a rather unremarkable-looking bald, bespectacled man called George who asks Tom, "What did you expect? A monster?"
After Tom returns to his family, he receives a letter from Mrs. Mathews. She thanks him for the money he sent and ends by saying, "I hated you for telling me the truth, but now I realize you and I are probably the only people that ever really cared about Mary Ann."
Cast
Soundtrack
The film's music was conducted 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)
Behind the scenes
Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker's first draft was drastically different; in that version, entitled "Sexy World," Welles was a lonely efficiency expert who found human connection in his friendship with the proprietor of an isolated pornography store on the side of the highway. Walker later had a major fall out with director Schumacher concerning the film's dark content. Schumacher cut a significant portion of the film to avoid the depiction of pornographic content being displayed in the background in order to ensure that the film wouldn't receive an NC-17 rating.
Critical reception
Film critic Roger Ebert gave the movie three stars stating: "8mm 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". The reviews aggregated at Rotten Tomatoes show that only 22% of the critics listed there have given the film a positive review.[1] However, as of August 2009 IMDB have given the movie a 6.2/10 user rating.
References
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