Steineded How sad is this?

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

educallejero I agree with the majority here. This movie could've been great, but the director just SUCKS. A dark story treated and resolved with the complexity of a Disney movie. What a waste. Nicholas Cage was fine, actually.

jeremybarnhart-65726 This is not a review at this time but a clear and unwavering - "DON'T YOU DARE REMAKE THIS FILM" - Sickening to think that this would be touched at all.How dare you.This is not a review at this time but a clear and unwavering - "DON'T YOU DARE REMAKE THIS FILM" - Sickening to think that this would be touched at all.This is not a review at this time but a clear and unwavering - "DON'T YOU DARE REMAKE THIS FILM" - Sickening to think that this would be touched at all.This is not a review at this time but a clear and unwavering - "DON'T YOU DARE REMAKE THIS FILM" - Sickening to think that this would be touched at all.

Predrag Okay, hold on to your hats... this is a wild one! Nicholas Cage's performance as Tom Welles goes from one extreme to the other: he is both over-emotive at times and wooden at others. The pace is a little slow at times. And without knocking the actual quality of the film, it is not always easy to watch. Well neither is A Clockwork Orange, and that movie is a complete masterpiece.I think Joel Schumacher's direction is excellent; the one scene where Cage has broken into Machine's house and the record is stuck at the end is as frightening as anything I've seen in recent movies. He also draws excellent performances, not only in his leading cast, but in the supporting roles. Nicolas Cage, not one of my favorite actors, does an outstanding job in a role that is complex and multi-dimensional. His persistence to find who killed Maryanne Mathews is relentless and at times heart-shattering. James Gandolfini is superb and despicable in the role of the smut producer who helmed the snuff film. Peter Stomare as the heartless director Dino Velvet is likewise disgustingly realistic. But there is more...Not only are the acting, photography, settings, costumes, dialogue, pacing, and the haunting background music all superbly managed, but the movie is also that rarity among the torrent of mindless trash which Hollywood, in its extreme contempt for the modern audience, inflicts on us today: it is a movie with a deep, even profound, meaning, a meaning with cosmic implications.Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

NateWatchesCoolMovies Joel Schumacher's 8MM is a stomach churning ride to the dark, depraved side of humanity, and at times is so unnerving and bleak it can be overbearing at times. Its also captivating in its ugliness though. Humans have always had a fascination with dark, intense aspects of our world, and this film knows that good and well, showing you some truly nasty things but leaving the choice to see it through to its conclusion fully up to you. Shumacher, although a diverse guy, isn't known for venturing very far into the scum bucket (even his Batman films were kid friendly garish gumball machines), but there's a first for everything, and he should be proud of the finished product here. Nicolas Cage plays a small time private investigator with a wife (Catherine Keener) and small child. He's summoned by the lawyer (Anthony Heald, eternally smarmy) of an ailing widow. She has found a mysterious 8mm videotape among her deceased husband's possessions. On the tape is what appears to be a harrowing, graphic snuff film in which a young girl is murdered by masked men. She hires him to originate it and confirm its authenticity, launching one of the grimiest, nauseating investigations since Fincher's Sev7n. He's led to porn shops, underground sex dungeons, kinky night clubs and brushes shoulders with all sorts of weirdos and unsavory cretins. The only help he gets is from sex store clerk Max California (Joaquin Phoenix in a very well written role). He comes across the ultimate speazeball porn producer Eddie Pool (James Gandolfini will make you want to rip his throat out and urinate down it), mysterious debonair Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare letting his freak flag fly), and their masked enforcer known only as 'animal'. There's also a cameo from a young Norman Reedus too. It's quite the rabbit hole of deplorable human behaviour he falls down, and soon we see the edges of his soul begin to fray from what he's seen. Cage, when he's not campy, is quite good at showing someone who's mental state begins to tatter based on their experiences, and he goes for it here, making us nervous if he's gone too far to ever return to his family with his soul and sanity in one piece. It's quite the movie, and like I said there's parts of sheer nastiness (I can't watch the scenes with the snuff tape these days I get panic episodes from it), but if you're willing to pay the mental toll to see an unflinching, and very well made thriller with a neat cast, go for it.