8MM (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Sep 17, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Joel SchumacherRelease Date(s)
1999 (July 31, 2024)Studio(s)
Sony Pictures Releasing (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: A
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: A
Review
[Editor's Note: This is a Region Free Australian Blu-ray import.]
Nicolas Cage has often been criticized for being indiscriminate about the roles he takes. They can be memorable (Moonstruck), overwrought (The Wicker Man) or downright strange (Ghost Rider). His work runs the gamut from excellent to disappointing but in 8MM, he turns in a solid, serious performance.
Private investigator Tom Welles (Cage) gets a call from a Mr. Longdale (Anthony Heald, A Time to Kill), lawyer to wealthy widow Mrs. Christian (Myra Carter, TV’s Storm of the Century). The elderly lady discovered a troubling item in her late husband’s safe—an 8mm film of a young girl getting butchered by a hulking, masked man. Mrs. Christian wants to know whether what’s on the film is real. She’s especially interested in the welfare of the young woman victim.
Welles watches the film, becomes extremely disturbed by its images, and vows to learn the girl’s identity and whether the atrocious murder was real or staged. His investigation takes him into the dark world of underground pornography and dangerous characters who inhabit it.
Welles starts his search in the “adult” shops in the red light district of Los Angeles. At one of them, sleazy cashier Max California (Joaquin Phoenix, Gladiator) denies the existence of “snuff” films—hardcore movies in which actual murder is committed—but seems well acquainted with the porn industry milieu. So Welles hires him to be his guide through the sordid world of porn, sex workers, prostitutes, and sexual fetishists. Through Max, Welles meets Eddie Poole (James Gandolfini, The Sopranos), the kind of person who means it when he says he can get you whatever you’re looking for. Tracking Eddie leads Welles to Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare, Armageddon), a vicious psychopath who fancies himself a pornographic artist and carries a crossbow, and to the apparent torturous murderer, known only as Machine (Chris Bauer, Face/Off).
Director Joel Schumacher travels a fine line in this R-rated picture. Though Welles’ investigation leads him to the world of underground pornography, Schumacher strategically avoids showing any hardcore images. As Welles watches the titular movie, we get only fleeting glimpses of what’s on screen. The focus is primarily on Cage’s face as his Welles grimaces and squirms in horror. His reactions, together with sound from the movie and the few quick visuals, provide ample suggestion that the film is horrifying. This powerful scene conveys the extent to which certain individuals will go to profit off prurient interests.
Cage is excellent as Welles. Confident, deferential to his rich or powerful clients, and experienced, his Welles also clearly loves his wife Amy (Catherine Keener, Get Out) and infant daughter and is thinking of his own baby girl when he accepts the assignment from Mrs. Christian. Periodically, he phones her with a progress report and she, in turn, gives him an apparently unlimited expense account to get to the truth. His search for the identity of the film’s female victim becomes increasingly personal as the film haunts him and makes him realize how cherished his daughter is and how he will do anything to protect her.
Phoenix is very good as a denizen of the world that Welles is trying to understand. Sporting a tight t-shirt and a hairdo that rises in slightly devilish peaks on either side of his head, and talking casually about the world Max inhabits, Phoenix convinces as one of many who work on the periphery of the pornography industry. It’s clear that Welles’ trust gives Max a feeling of importance as more than just a failure who sells dirty magazines for a living. Phoenix manages to convey sleaze with an underlying decency.
8MM is a very dark film, but a very good one. The screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker combines elements of the police procedural, horror, and thriller in a tale that immerses a private detective in a totally unfamiliar world. As Welles navigates his leads, makes discoveries, and gets closer to the truth, the danger escalates and the suspense builds proportionally.
8MM was shot by director of photography Robert Elswit on 35 mm film with Panavision Panaflex Gold and Panavision Panaflex Platinum cameras with Panavision Primo lenses, while the 8 mm footage was shot with a Beaulieu Cine 8 camera. The results were processed photochemically and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.39:1. The Blu-ray release from Imprint Films contains an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Garish neon signs in LA’s red light district emit a glow that promises sex and excitement. Tom Welles’ home in suburban New York City contrasts with the sordid world that he encounters in Los Angeles. The film’s color palette tends toward darker colors. When things get bloody late in the film, red dominates.
There are two soundtrack options: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and English 2.0 LPCM Stereo. Optional English SDH subtitles are available. Dialogue is clear and distinct. Sound design is especially atmospheric when Welles is in dangerous areas. Mychael Danna’s score is gripping and suspenseful, with an undercurrent of menace. Sound effects include leaves being raked, beatings, gun shots, bodies being dragged, and a blazing fire.
Bonus materials on the Region Free Blu-ray release from Imprint Films include the following:
- Audio Commentary by Joel Schumacher
- The Making of 8MM Archival Featurette (5:07)
- 8MM on 35MM: Interview with Director/Producer Joel Schumacher (21:08)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:35)
Audio Commentary – Director and producer Joel Schumacher felt the 8MM screenplay was “unique and dangerous” and credits Nicolas Cage with being “fearless” to go anywhere with his performance. Schumacher’s eyes were opened as he researched underground pornography. He believes the content of a film should dictate its form, and defines “snuff film” as a movie in which the victim believes he/she is doing traditional pornography but is murdered on camera. 8MM raises the question, “Why would anyone want to see a snuff film?” Schumacher recalls there was a lot of rushing from location to location. The shooting schedule was between 60 and 70 days. The first cut of the film ran more than 3 hours, so significant edits had to be made. The film came in under budget primarily because the actors were so good. Welles becomes someone he never thought he could be. He’s a man who doesn’t find it easy to kill; he needs permission. Whether his actions are right or wrong is left to the audience to decide. The composer, Mychael Danna, hadn’t worked in Hollywood prior to 8MM. Certain scenes were shot with hand-held cameras to provide a semi-documentary feel. Schumacher quotes filmmaker Ingmar Bergman: “Film begins with the human face.”
The Making of 8MM – In this archival featurette, actors Nicolas Cage and Joaquin Phoenix and director Joel Schumacher talk about making 8MM as scenes from the film and behind-the-scenes footage from Los Angeles, Pennsylvania and New York City are shown. Off-screen narration ties elements together.
8MM to 35MM – This bonus extra originally appeared on the 2019 Shout! Factory release of 8MM. Director Joel Schumacher mentions that he had done blockbuster movies but was looking to do something different. Sony had intended to make 8MM but no director would sign on until Schumacher read the script and immediately wanted to do it. Nicolas Cage was interested in doing the film because he wanted to play an internalized role. The camera work is “very quiet.” James Gandolfini was hired for The Sopranos right after doing 8MM. Catherine Keener, a great character actor, makes interesting choices. When Joaquin Phoenix played Max California, he was very young. Schumacher had worked with Anthony Heald in a number of films. Schumacher employed actual adult performers in the underground film industry as extras.
Not included from the 2019 Scream Factory Blu-ray are 3 TV spots and a photo gallery.
8MM, with its hard R rating, isn’t a film for everyone. It takes the viewer to dark places with scurrilous types who exploit innocent victims. It drips with atmosphere in a milieu that traditional studio films generally steer clear of. There’s an authentic feel to it even though director Joel Schumacher never crosses the line to indecency. It’s powerful moviemaking with uniformly first-class performances.
- Dennis Seuling