One summer, between college semesters and during the early '80's, I had a brief stint at a local video store. While it was never surprising that the recently released blockbusters were always rented, one of the cult favorites was a film titled, "Faces of Death."
A collection of reportedly real glimpses of people being killed in various fashions, our sole copy of that tape was a hot commodity. One question always lingered among its shocked viewers, however, and that was whether the depicted events were actually real, or simply staged to look as shockingly realistic as possible.
Long before the FOX TV network renewed interest in "realistic" violence in shows such as "When Good Pets Go Bad" and "Most Dangerous Police Chases IV" (or similarly titled, sensationalistic programming), the "Faces of Death" tape understandably stirred up a lot of controversy. It's unflinching look at death also caused others to question the validity of the possibly mythical, but certainly far more extreme, so-called "snuff" films where a person's death was presumably recorded on film for the later "pleasure" of its viewers.
While different "experts" will continue to debate about whether such films really exist, it's an intriguing question, and writer Andrew Kevin Walker and director Joel Schumacher have cleverly used that as a catalyst in their latest film, "8MM," a solidly constructed, but not spectacular suspense/thriller.
Despite the presence of star Nicolas Cage, however, the sexually charged, violent exploits and overall thematic issues included herein may prove to be too much for many viewers, thus ensuring this dark and disturbing release a limited chance of success at the box office.
Borrowing elements from Walker's previous script, "Seven," Schumacher's earlier film, "Falling Down," the brilliant "The Silence of the Lambs" and the subversively creepy aura found in many of Brian De Palma's "Hitchcockian" homages/ripoffs, this film unfolds as a shortchanged character study implying what exposure to such material can do to an otherwise normal person.
As such, it's about as polar opposite a picture as one could get from Schumacher's previous and critically lambasted release, "Batman and Robin," and instead is very reminiscent of "Seven" in its portrayal of a disturbingly dark, foreboding and grimy world.
In that sense and as accompanied by Mychael Danna's ("The Sweet Hereafter") haunting (but occasionally odd and Middle Eastern influenced) score and cinematographer Robert Elswit's ("Boogie Nights") perfect lensing, the picture succeeds. Yet with the protagonist's descent into ever deepening madness and the overall material being rather unsettling, the film is hard to "enjoy," even on its own level.
Thematically similar to Schumacher's "Falling Down" (where Michael Douglas becomes progressively unhinged), yet differing in tone and lacking the cathartic enjoyment that came from watching that character take the law into his own hands, this film follows a relatively satisfying investigatory plot. Even so, the protagonist's progression into darker, inner trappings, however, won't come as much of a surprise since it's telegraphed through his "sidekick's" repeated bits of dialogue that warn of such an occurrence.
What's most surprising -- actually, disappointing is the more proper term -- is that Schumacher goes for the visibly violent material in the picture's last third after "teasing" the audience with what occurs in the "snuff" film. While that's probably due to a combination of the director's more flamboyant, no holds barred tendencies, as well as some studio honcho's need for some on-screen mayhem, the bits that make the audience rely on their imagination to the fill in the blanks are much more disturbing than the run-of-the-mill beatings that are now so commonly found in this genre.
It doesn't take any imagination, however, to see that Nicolas Cage ("City of Angels," "Face/Off") is correctly cast in the role. Like a handful of other talented actors, he can easily pull off playing the bad guy character as well as the good, and this film gives him the opportunity to move along a sliding scale between the two. While it's not a great performance, Cage does have the seemingly effortless knack of allowing the audience to buy into whatever his character's doing.
Joaquin Phoenix ("Clay Pigeons," "To Die For") is good as Cage's sometime comedic sidekick, while James Gandolfini ("Fallen") and Peter Stormare ("Fargo") are appropriately and believably menacing and sleazy in their respective parts. The female roles are rather limited, however, with Catherine Keener ("Your Friends and Neighbors") literally left holding the phone for most of her scenes, although Amy Morton (who had a brief appearance in "Falling Down") does a decent job as the distraught mother of the missing young woman.
A bit more disturbing in concept than realized execution, the film is solidly constructed and features some decent performances, but doesn't have that extra spark to make it a classic. Although it correctly makes you feel as if you've just walked through a slimy and gross back alley that's crawling with the scum of the Earth, there's not enough present to make that trip worth highly recommending. As such, "8MM" can be appreciated on its own level, but it isn't disturbing, scary or "entertaining" enough to earn a rating higher than 5 out of 10.
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