RELEASED IN 1999 and directed by Joel Schumacher, "8MM" chronicles events when a private investigator (Nicolas Cage) is hired by an aged wealthy woman whose husband recently passed away. A snuff film was found in his safe and she wants to see if the girl in the movie (Jenny Powell) really died or not. Amy Morton appears as the girl's mother while Joaquin Phoenix plays a wannabe rock musician in Los Angeles who works in the porn trade. Catherine Keener is on hand as the P.I.'s wife.The movie combines the basic plot of "Hardcore" (1979) with the style of late 90's crime thrillers, like "Kiss the Girls" (1997). The first half involves the P.I.'s tracking down the makers of the snuff film. While it's tedious work (which I wouldn't want to do) this part of the movie is gritty and compelling. The second half of the movie goes into material that's difficult to pull off with a straight face, like the smut-obsessed underbelly of Los Angeles & New York. The main villains come off cartoonish somehow rather than gritty realistic, but it's a fine line. Still, I like the message of the movie. My wife & I knew a wealthy man who passed away a few years ago. He often didn't pay the people he did business with, not to mention his employees who were living paycheck to paycheck. Someone asked him how he could own two Cadillacs and regularly go on globetrotting vacations while treating people like this and he arrogantly responded: "Because I caaAAAN." The low-lifes in "8MM" have a similar attitude. THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hours 3 minutes and was shot in Miami, Pennsylvania (Wormleysburg/Harrisburg), New York (Hastings-on-Hudson, Elmsford, Yonkers, Queens & Long Island) and S. Cal. (Los Angeles & Long Beach). WRITER: Andrew Kevin Walker. ADDITIONAL CAST: Anthony Heald plays the rich woman's lawyer while James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare and Chris Bauer appear as smut pervs. GRADE: B

Nicholas Cage is very inconsistent and quirky as an actor. Joel Schumacher is extremely hit or miss when it comes to directors. So this is an experiment with the two that works very well as one of the darkest films from a major company I can think of. Fascinating story (although disowned by it's writer) that delves into the dark underbelly of society and disturbing curiosities. Great supporting cast too.

The violence was brutal but nothing too crazy. I enjoyed the story but the plot twists were not too predictable.. Nicholas Cage was good surprisingly I think he gave weight to the character I found it hard to believe he was angry sometimes. James as one of the villains was awesome The direction was nice Writing was pretty good. They way the shots moved from location to location gave a sense of suspense. I enjoyed the characters within the film. Could have been a bit more seedy though I wanted to see the rabbit hole go a bit deeper .Supporting actors were strong. I thought that this film was going to be a bit more graphic. If you want something like this but more insane go for A Serbian Film.. I like the music so yeah 6/10.

Joel Schumacher's 8MM is a stomach churning ride to the dark, depraved side of humanity, and at times is so unnerving and bleak it can be overbearing at times. Its also captivating in its ugliness though. Humans have always had a fascination with dark, intense aspects of our world, and this film knows that good and well, showing you some truly nasty things but leaving the choice to see it through to its conclusion fully up to you. Shumacher, although a diverse guy, isn't known for venturing very far into the scum bucket (even his Batman films were kid friendly garish gumball machines), but there's a first for everything, and he should be proud of the finished product here. Nicolas Cage plays a small time private investigator with a wife (Catherine Keener) and small child. He's summoned by the lawyer (Anthony Heald, eternally smarmy) of an ailing widow. She has found a mysterious 8mm videotape among her deceased husband's possessions. On the tape is what appears to be a harrowing, graphic snuff film in which a young girl is murdered by masked men. She hires him to originate it and confirm its authenticity, launching one of the grimiest, nauseating investigations since Fincher's Sev7n. He's led to porn shops, underground sex dungeons, kinky night clubs and brushes shoulders with all sorts of weirdos and unsavory cretins. The only help he gets is from sex store clerk Max California (Joaquin Phoenix in a very well written role). He comes across the ultimate speazeball porn producer Eddie Pool (James Gandolfini will make you want to rip his throat out and urinate down it), mysterious debonair Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare letting his freak flag fly), and their masked enforcer known only as 'animal'. There's also a cameo from a young Norman Reedus too. It's quite the rabbit hole of deplorable human behaviour he falls down, and soon we see the edges of his soul begin to fray from what he's seen. Cage, when he's not campy, is quite good at showing someone who's mental state begins to tatter based on their experiences, and he goes for it here, making us nervous if he's gone too far to ever return to his family with his soul and sanity in one piece. It's quite the movie, and like I said there's parts of sheer nastiness (I can't watch the scenes with the snuff tape these days I get panic episodes from it), but if you're willing to pay the mental toll to see an unflinching, and very well made thriller with a neat cast, go for it.