Author: Robert Skuch Published
My friends and I grew up with unrestricted access to the internet in the late 1990s and early 1990s, and are no strangers to seeing leaked videos and images on sites like Rotten and video series like this. death face This leaves us traumatized into adulthood. In 1999 8mm When it circulated on movie channels, it wasn’t as shocking as it should have been to a bunch of pre-teens already exposed to the worst corners of the internet. I don’t say this to brag, but to explain why adults pay to watch 8mm Given the subject matter of the movie, moviegoers in the cinema may have found the taste to be quite bad. They didn’t grow up with the same exposure to disturbing content that prematurely desensitized an entire generation.
One of the reasons it took me so long to revisit 8mm As an adult, this is because it’s not easily available on streaming, and the list of Nicolas Cage movies I haven’t seen goes on and on. The man is a movie-making machine. You simply can’t watch everything all the time, and on-demand purchasing is a strong enough barrier for most people that they’ll avoid spending money on rent when they can just watch Netflix or Max.
The story of a detective investigating a snuff film that may or may not be real, 8mm This is one of those films that Roger Ebert gave three out of four stars for its willingness to be completely hardcore with its premise. He even said that if it wasn’t distributed by a major studio like Sony Pictures, its content would likely receive an NC-17 rating. While this is a truly disturbing film that explores underground mining in graphic detail, 8mm It’s also a masterclass in suspense and tension, thanks to Nicolas Cage’s lead performance and Joel Schumacher’s direction.
If you’re the kind of person who can take it or leave it because of some of Nicolas Cage’s more questionable roles, 8mm is a movie that will make you reconsider your stance. He goes all out here and it’s an absolute joy to watch, even if the subject matter feels very heavy.
Fact or fiction? Tom Wells is working on the case
8mm Tom Wells, played by Nicolas Cage, is a private investigator hired by wealthy widow Lady Christian (Myra Carter) and her lawyer Daniel Langdale (Anthony Heald). While going through her late husband’s estate, Mrs. Christian discovers what appears to be a snuff film hidden in a private vault and asks Tom to determine if it is real. She’s okay with the possibility that her husband has a disturbing fetish that he’s keeping secret, but her real concern is whether the tapes capture an actual murder.
Disturbed by what he sees and offered a life-changing sum of money to track down the tapes’ origin, Tom says goodbye to his wife Amy (Catherine Keener) and young daughter Cindy before embarking on a journey that will change him forever. As he begins to delve deeper into the case, Tom’s investigation leads him to discover a missing persons report involving 16-year-old Mary Ann Matthews (Jenny Powell), who he believes may be an actor or victim in the film. The clue leads him to Mary Ann’s mother, Janet (Amy Morton), who’s not sure she wants answers if the truth is as bad as Tom suspects.
Using classic black techniques, 8mm Tom Wells is sent to Los Angeles to explore the seedy porn underground, looking for any tangible connection to the tape. Along the way, he teams up with video store clerk Max California (Joaquin Phoenix), who serves as both guide and moral sounding board as Tom descends deeper into depravity. Together they hold swap parties in alleys and have secret encounters with some of the most disturbing people Tom has ever encountered.
In an effort to finally solve the case and give Janet and Mrs. Christian some form of closure, Tom meets with talent scout Eddie Poole (James Gandolfini) and notorious underground film producer Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare). Both men lead him to an elusive figure known only as The Machine, a name whispered with enough fear to suggest that Tom may be approaching something he can’t escape.
A wonderful neo-noir crime thriller regardless of the subject matter
As a father of his own children, 8mm As an adult this was a disturbing film for me, but for any crime thriller fan it’s still an incredibly solid film despite the heavy subject matter. At its core, it’s a classic private eye story that drags the protagonist into increasingly depraved territory as he slowly loses control for reasons that feel completely legitimate. Like unsupervised millennials searching for shocking images online in the ’90s, Tom is exposed to things he desperately wishes he could forget, but keeps going because it’s his job to find the truth.
Although Tom becomes increasingly desensitized during the pursuit, he is still driven by a moral obligation to get to the bottom of this case, even if it strains his marriage back home. He has a daughter of his own, and this personal connection fuels his determination to stop the people he’s tracking from hurting other people. I agree with Roger Ebert’s stance on this movie. if it was released by a smaller art studio 8mm It may never reach a mainstream audience.
This makes sense despite potential licensing issues 8 mm Still hidden behind a paywall. It’s a horrific film that refuses to soften the depravity it condemns, choosing instead to confront its audience with it.
still, 8 mm It’s a stunning cinematic performance that only Nicolas Cage could pull off convincingly, and is backed by an actor who never takes the material lightly. If you’re looking for a thriller to last for days, you should rent or buy it digitally on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV+, or Fandango at Home.
