X
- 1999
- R
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- 2 h 3 m
- 1999
- R
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- 2 h 3 m
Summary Tom Welles (Cage) is a family man with a modest home-based private investigation business living a simple life in Pennsylvania -- until a reel of crudely shot eight millimeter film sends him down a gritty and frightening path into society's darkest corners. (Sony)
Directed By: Joel Schumacher
Written By: Andrew Kevin Walker
- 1999
- R
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- 2 h 3 m
- 1999
- R
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- 2 h 3 m
8MM
21
6.3
Where to Watch
Summary Tom Welles (Cage) is a family man with a modest home-based private investigation business living a simple life in Pennsylvania -- until a reel of crudely shot eight millimeter film sends him down a gritty and frightening path into society's darkest corners. (Sony)
Directed By: Joel Schumacher
Written By: Andrew Kevin Walker
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
21
20% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
30% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Negative
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
21
20% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
30% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Negative
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
It is a real film. Not a slick exploitation exercise with all the trappings of depravity but none of the consequences.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 364 User Ratings
6.3
59% Positive
215 Ratings
215 Ratings
11% Mixed
40 Ratings
40 Ratings
30% Negative
109 Ratings
109 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 364 User Ratings
6.3
59% Positive
215 Ratings
215 Ratings
11% Mixed
40 Ratings
40 Ratings
30% Negative
109 Ratings
109 Ratings
The biggest thing wrong with this mess is its whole attitude. The film tries to condemn all these shocking things, but if you're not shocked, just wait a couple of minutes and they'll try again.
In the uncertain zone between dumb and truly twisted lies 8MM, a movie that will baffle and disgust you in one disconcerting experience.
That 8MM fails miserably as a psychological thriller is forgivable. The fact that it is nearly as creepy, sleazy, and manipulative as the pornographic films it so cluelessly and hypocritically condemns is not.
Voyeuristically wallows in the sadistic violence it professes to deplore. What hypocrisy!
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Another one of Nicholas Cage's crazy movies. Like all the rest of his movies, this one was good too.
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(Sighs) I don't know where I can go from this. The fact that it's disliked but find OK and directed by Joel Schumacher who is now doing a movie about snuff. OK. So that might be interesting for a mystery. Nicholas Cage is in the world of porn trying to verify the authenticity of a snuff film. Find the guys who made the film about a girl who got killed while filming it. Once again listening to commentry from Joel Schumacher explaining why he made this and said that he might get an NC-17 rating. Boy, oh, God, do I ever get bored of this movie? Well, yeah. It's not a bad film by all means but at least it's not awful. Could be interesting enough but it just isn't enough.
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The definitive proof that Joel Schumacher should never have been a film director.
In this film, a private investigator, Tom Welles, is hired to investigate a mysterious and disturbing film in which a young woman is sexually abused and killed, found among the personal possessions of a recently killed millionaire. This investigation leads one to delve into the world of the porn industry in search of the greatest horrors that the most distorted minds can imagine.
I confess I don't like Joel Schumacher. He has already shown himself to be a bad director with films like "Batman and Robin". Here, unfortunately, he is no better. He can take a movie with quality assumptions and empty it of content. The characters are simple, poorly constructed, the movie starts well and promises a lot but eventually develops poorly as the main character becomes an avenger, thirsty to do justice in his own hands. At this level, it is a disappointing film, as it never truly explores the shadowy world where it descends. The ending of the movie is particularly bad and predictable, something ridiculous when compared to the mysterious and appealing way the movie started.
As for the actors, let us begin by saying that none shone, as they were hindered by the poor characters they had and by a terrible director, unable to demand quality from them. Nicholas Cage is one of those talented actors who never came to be what he promised to be. Joaquin Phoenix (I still remember him as Roman emperor in "Gladiator") was quite capable in his role, and the character is perhaps the most enjoyable of the film as we sympathize with him. The rest of the cast deserves no mention ... although there are a few more familiar names in the movie, they just couldn't stand out.
The film is very visual, and all the associated technical features have been widely valued. Intense cinematography, with clever use of colors (hot or cold depending on the emotions you want to convey to the public), costumes and scenarios made with some of the brothels and porn studios looking truly real. The sound effects were also decent and the soundtrack plays its part.
This movie, in general, never delivers what it promises. In fact, we depart with a very high expectation, waiting for a lot of mystery and a pleasant plunge into the shadows of humanity, which never happens. The film gradually deconstructs these expectations and becomes a simplistic, basic cardboard thriller with hollow characters and a story increasingly like an adult comic strip. Thank you, Mr. Schumacher, for destroying another movie that could have been good. Please retire as soon as possible and live quiet and happy, but far away from any camera.
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Production Company
Columbia Pictures,
Hofflund/Polone,
Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Company Medien KG
Release Date Feb 26, 1999
Duration 2 h 3 m
Rating R
Tagline If you dance with the devil, the devil don't change,the devil changes you!
Awards
Golden Trailer Awards
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Berlin International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
• 1 Nomination
