i saw this crazy movie that involved snuff films called 8mm...
mancowking's Full Review: 8MM Tom Wells (Nicolas Cage) is a private investigator hired by a newly widowed woman to view an 8mm film that was found in the safe of her extremely rich dead husband. The film appears to be a "snuff" film, which in the pornography industry is a film with sex ending with death, usually the female getting murdered. The 8mm film that was found, however, appears to look authentic, and the old woman would like Tom Wells to search for the girl in the film to make sure she is alive and well.
Tom Wells joins up with a young kid who cashiers at a XXX store, California Max (Joaquin Phoenix) to find the possible producers of this film. The movie, which was penned by the same man who wrote Se7en, has the same dark and grizzly appeal, but is nowhere near as intelligent as the latter.
The subject matter and visuals in this movie are disturbing and, at times, hard to stomach. I would not recommend anyone under the age of 17 seeing this movie because of its graphic nature and adult content. At times, the movie was hard to hear and see because of all the darkness. The woman who played Tom Wells' wife had no real instrumental role in the film, and her presence was a waste of time until Cage's character was threatened.
As a Nicolas Cage fan, I can't understand why Cage would want to do a film like this, which I feel is way under his caliber of taste. Although his acting was as good as you would expect, it won't keep you interested in the movie the way Cage did in Leaving Las Vegas. I don't know how this movie got away with being rated NC-17 with all the gross and explicit detail.
If you are a die-hard Cage fan past puberty and you absolutely have to see this film, it may be worth one look on video, but it's not one to purchase for the collection. This movie does not live up to its hype, and reels you in to see it like Jerry Springer. You can't believe things like this happening, but you are curious to see it anyway. But believe me, there is nothing worth seeing. I will give it credit for one thing: there's nothing else quite like it in Hollywood stories of past or present...and there shouldn't be.
You have to be a really sick person to enjoy this movie.