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8MM

6.3

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Sequel:

8MM 2

Original title: 8MM
Year: 1999
Running time: 116 min.
Country: United States
Director: Joel Schumacher
Screenwriter: Andrew Kevin Walker
Music: Mychael Danna
Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, Anthony Heald, Chris Bauer, Catherine Keener, Myra Carter, Amy Morton, Jenny Powell, Norman Reedus, Jack Betts, Don Creech
Producer: Columbia Pictures, Hofflund/Polone Production
Genre: Mystery. Thriller. Drama | Psychological Thriller. Cop Movies. Crime. Serial Killers. Sexuality & Porn
Synopsis / Plot: Tom Welles, private eye, is hired by a wealthy widow, whose well-known husband passed away recently. She has found a reel of S8-film in a safe. On the film is a cruel slaughtering of a young girl, who obviously does not pretend or act: A snuff-movie. Welles takes up investigation, which leads him to the girl's mother and from there to Hollywood, into the office of a porn flick producer. Welles' rising obsession to solve the case also carries him away from his wife and new-born daughter. But when finally names are at hand, Welles suddenly finds himself on ice much thinner than he planned.

Awards: 1999: Berlin Film Festival: Official Selection

Critics' reviews

"A murky melange of borrowings from far superior pix like 'Seven,' 'Hardcore' and 'The Silence of the Lambs'"

Derek Elley: Variety
"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 (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"Given that Schumacher and his cohorts have reasons of their own for wanting to make this film, they may be the only people who end up liking it"

Kenneth Turan: Los Angeles Times
"'Eight Millimeter' delves into the perverse underworld of the pornography business, shocking audiences with the realization that sex and violence can be so dull"

Janet Maslin: The New York Times
"In the uncertain zone between dumb and truly twisted lies '8MM,' a movie that will baffle and disgust you in one disconcerting experience."

Desson Thomson: The Washington Post
"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."

Nathan Rabin: AV Club
"It was a far better film than I was expecting, largely in part from an excellent script from Andrew Kevin Walker"

Michele "Izzy" Galgana: Screen Anarchy
"Cage is as charismatic as ever and he's well supported (...) But the film is too strident for its own good and unravels badly at the end (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"

John Ferguson: Radio Times

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