8MM (1999)

Very well executed

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Movie Review: "8mm" (1999)This highly-effective mystery-thriller directed Joel Schumacher, seeking retaliation for an over-polluted "Batman & Robin" movie for Warner Bros. shooting in season 1996/1997, puts screenplay-struck, fully-motivated actor Nicolas Cage in the position of playing range from timid beginnings of a shocking 8mm film exhibition in a rich man's mansion at night under a roaring fireplace atmosphere ignited by cinematographer Robert Elswit, when private detective Tom Welles dives into a U.S. American nightmare of the hardcore-porn-industry stretching from an East Coast New York based monopolistic film production, owned by the extremes seeking character Dino Velvet played with joy by Peter Stormare to Los Angeles back-alley adult video-store running character of Max California, given face by fully-adaptable actor Joaquin Phoenix, who becomes Tom Welles guide into an underground world of low-resolution film productions, containing actually torture and killings on camera out for sale; an environment where each participants is about to know no mercy in a constant noose-tightening thriller in favors for the daring matured audience, when the original screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker gives director Joel Schumacher the opportunity to put some exceptional character confrontations on never-seen-before intensity to film; from working-woman's daughter disappearances over concrete storage halls of arrow-shoots to the cross, when a striking twin-peaked showdowns of Tom Welles fighting for spiritual freedom in sexual beast home invasion under nerve-strings-playing skipping record-player sound design by Willie D. Burton polishes by sound editor Joseph DiVitale to a mesmerizing finale furioso in an abandoned canyon L.A. house in which Nicolas Cage confronts his darkest fears, in putting nemesis-character Eddie Poole to justice, when precise directions let late actor James Gandolfini (1961-2013) loose under arresting moments of high-tensions.© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

This is great filmmaking right here. I would not say this is Academy Award winning stuff, but it has a story that never lets you go, and is intriguing and somewhat thought provoking. This movie had me from start to finish, and very very seldom let me go. That is how I know a good movie from a bad one, it makes you forget about everything else and absorbs you.8 Stars!!! Though it probably is a 7 at best, I liked it though!

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.

Greetings from Lithuania."8MM" (1999) is a great thriller. Nicolas Cage stars as a private investigator, hired by an old wealthy woman, who has to find out if the "snuff film" found in her late husbands safe is real.This is a real movie, which feels real, with consequences. It takes you to the dark and dirty side of human nature, and is very gripping. This is a not an action flick or a one man army kinda thriller - this one will leave you haunted. This is one of the very best films from Joel Schumacher, and has a great cast then almost unknowns Joaquin Phoenix as well as James Gandolfini - great job all all involved.Overall, "8MM" is a disturbing thriller. This is a dark tale, which takes it's hero as well as viewer on the edge.