8mm (film)

Plot

Private investigator Tom Welles is contacted by Daniel Longdale, attorney for wealthy widow Mrs. Christian. While clearing out her recently deceased husband's safe, she and Longdale uncovered an 8mm movie which appears to depict a real murder of a girl, but she wants to know if it actually happened or not. Both instruct Welles not to reproduce the film in any way, and to keep the investigation a secret.

Scouring 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 details relocating to Hollywood to become a film star. Janet demands that he find out what happened to her daughter.

In Hollywood, aided by adult video store clerk Max California, Welles infiltrates the world of underground fetish pornography. He attempts to find out if snuff films are real, or if anyone was connected to this film, but finds no evidence that a snuff film industry exists. Contact with sleazy talent scout Eddie Poole leads Welles and Max to director Dino Velvet; Velvet's violently pornographic films often feature a masked man named "Machine", who not only brutalizes and tortures women, but also resembles the man featured in the snuff film. To gain more evidence, Welles and Max travel to New York, posing as clients interested in commissioning a hardcore BDSM film to be directed by Velvet and starring Machine. Velvet seemingly agrees and schedules a meeting.

The meeting turns out to be an ambush, as Longdale and Poole appear and hold Welles at gunpoint. The film is revealed as authentic; 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's 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 returns and delivers the film, Longdale and Velvet burn it and kill Max. As they are about to kill Welles, he confesses 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 subsequently informs Mrs. Christian regarding his findings and recommends she contact the police. Arriving at her estate, he is shocked to hear that she committed suicide immediately after receiving the phone call and notices envelopes that she left behind both for the Mathews family and for him; his envelope contains the rest of his payment and a note reading, "Try to forget us." He instructs his wife Amy and their infant daughter Cindy to escape from the impending danger to a secret location, donating his half of the money to her.

Deciding to avenge Mary Ann's death by killing the remaining people involved, Welles returns to Hollywood, tracks down Poole, and takes him to the shooting location, but stops short of killing him. He calls Janet to tell her about her daughter and asks for her permission to punish those responsible. She breaks down upon hearing the truth, but affirms that she loved Mary Ann and permits him to proceed. With that, he pistol whips Poole to death with his gun, burning his body and the pornography from his car. He then attacks Machine at his home and unmasks him, revealing a bespectacled man named George Anthony Higgins, who admits that his sadistic actions are simply done out of pleasure, and are unrelated to any personal trauma. Welles then kills him in the ensuing struggle.

After returning to his family, Welles breaks down in front of Amy, attempting to process all the evil things that he had witnessed throughout the investigation. Months later, he receives a letter from Janet, thanking him and relating her gratitude for the fact that, despite everything, they were the only two people who really cared about Mary Ann.

Cast

• Nicolas Cage as Tom Welles
• Joaquin Phoenix as Max California
• James Gandolfini as Eddie Poole
• Peter Stormare as Dino Velvet
• Anthony Heald as Daniel Longdale
• Myra Carter as Mrs. Christian
• Catherine Keener as Amy Welles
• Norman Reedus as Warren Anderson
• Amy Morton as Janet Mathews
• Jack Betts as Butler
• Torsten Voges as Stick
• Luis Saguar as Manny
• Chris Bauer as George Anthony Higgins / Machine
• Suzy Nakamura as Computer Wizard
• Jenny Powell as Mary Ann Mathews

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. In October 1997, Joel Schumacher was reported to direct with Nicolas Cage and Mark Wahlberg to star. Wahlberg ended up not pursuing the film, and Joaquin Phoenix was cast in December 1997.

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 23% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 83 reviews with an average rating of 4.3/10. The critical consensus states, "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:

1. "The Projector" (1:20)
2. "The House" (2:05)
3. "The Call" (1:44)
4. "The Film" (1:10)
5. "Cindy" (0:56)
6. "Missing Persons" (4:46)
7. "What Would You Choose" (3:11)
8. "Hollywood" (2:51)
9. "Unsee" (1:20)
10. "Dance With the Devil" (5:36)
11. "The Third Man" (1:14)
12. "Loft" (1:56)
13. "No Answer" (1:47)
14. "I Know All About..." (1:41)
15. "366 Hoyt Ave." (1:46)
16. "Scene of the Crime" (5:52)
17. "Machine" (3:30)
18. "Rainstorm" (3:49)
19. "Home" (1:32)
20. "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.

Awards

References

References

1. (March 16, 1999). "''8MM'' (18)". [[British Board of Film Classification]].
2. "8mm".
3. Wells, Ron. "8MM (1999)". [[AllMovie]].
4. INIGHTMARES. (2024-02-20). "8MM in 35MM Documentary with Joel Schumacher".
5. Busch, Anita M.. (May 23, 1997). "‘Seven’ scripter sells ‘8’".
6. Fleming, Michael. (October 16, 1997). "Trio ready for '8mm'". Variety.
7. Petrikin, Chris. (October 27, 1997). "Wahlberg eyes 'Corruptor' pic". Variety.
8. (December 9, 1997). "Schumacher shrinks $; Bond intrigue grows". Variety.
9. {{rotten-tomatoes. 8mm. 8mm
10. "8mm".
11. "Cinemascore".
12. Elley, Derek. (February 18, 1999). "8MM Review". [[Variety (magazine).
13. Travers, Peter. (February 26, 1999). "8mm - Rolling Stone".
14. Ebert, Roger. (February 26, 1999). "8mm Movie Review". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
15. "8MM (1999) - Soundtracks - IMDb".