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8MM
A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.
1999 · Directed by Joel Schumacher · 123 min · Thriller · Crime · Mystery · Screenplay in the scene database · 3 frames
Tagline
You can't prepare for where the truth will take you.
Plot
Private investigator Tom Welles is contacted by Daniel Longdale, attorney for wealthy widow Mrs. Christian. While clearing out her recently deceased husband's safe, she and Longdale uncovered an 8mm movie which appears to depict the real murder of a girl. Longdale tries to assuage Mrs. Christian that snuff films are a myth, but she asks for confirmation that the violence depicted is not genuine. Both instruct Welles to keep the investigation a secret.
Scouring missing persons files, Welles discovers the girl is Mary Ann Mathews and visits her mother, Janet, in North Carolina. She allows Welles to search her house, and he finds Mary Ann's diary, in which she details relocating to Hollywood to become a film star. Janet demands that he find out what happened to her daughter.
In Hollywood, aided by streetwise adult video store clerk Max California, Welles infiltrates the world of underground fetish pornography. They find no evidence that a snuff film industry even exists, and their inquiries are met with aggressive denial by sellers. A note left by Mary Ann in a suitcase at the Fred Jordan mission leads Tom to sleazy talent scout Eddie Poole. Upon witnessing Poole's non-verbal reaction to the girl's picture, Welles spies on him and stirs him into contacting an associate, whom Max identifies as New York-based pornographer Dino Velvet. Velvet's violent films often feature a masked man named "Machine", who brutalizes women and resembles the man featured in Mary Ann's movie. Welles and Max travel to New York, posing as clients interested in commissioning a hardcore BDSM film to be directed by Velvet and starring Machine. Velvet seemingly agrees and schedules a meeting.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker
- Cinematography: Robert Elswit
- Edited by: Mark Stevens
- Music: Mychael Danna
- Production design: Gary Wissner
- Produced by: Joel Schumacher, Judy Hofflund, Gavin Polone
Cast
- Nicolas Cage as Tom Welles
- Joaquin Phoenix as Max California
- James Gandolfini as Eddie Poole
- Peter Stormare as Dino Velvet
- Anthony Heald as Longdale
- Chris Bauer as Machine
- Catherine Keener as Amy Welles
- Myra Carter as Mrs. Christian
- Amy Morton as Mrs. Mathews
- Norman Reedus as Warren Anderson
Production
- Country: Germany, United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Global Medien KG, Hofflund/Polone, Columbia Pictures
- Budget: $40,000,000
- Box office: $96,618,699
- Themes: new york city, pornography, underground, loss of loved one, sex shop, obsession, investigation, porn actor, snuff, sadomasochism
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