Asesinato en 8mm

Joel Schumacher nos diezma mentalmente con cualquier fuerza que le empuje, y el efecto resultante es excelente. Sin embargo, habría sido aún mejor con un guión más recargado, con más preguntas y giros inesperados. Aun así, es una depresión formalmente excelente, brillantemente interpretada por todos los implicados. ¡Nada para espectadores mentalmente inestables! (11.04.2002)

Andrew Kevin Walker, the screenwriter of two of the darkest thrillers of the 1990s, Se7en and 8mm, must be an interesting nutcase. And Joel Schumacher is a director who has some very bright moments in places, and in one of them he made this amazing and unfortunately underrated thriller, which few films can match in terms of depression and dense atmosphere. The sordid, disgusting setting and the depressing mood of late autumn are underlined by a brilliant, gloomy soundtrack that does not add to the good mood. Peter Stormare's and the great Joaquin Phoenix's performances are unforgettable, and Nicolas Cage also does a good job here. But the biggest strength is the story, it builds up superbly and when you think you’ve arrived to the climax, another one comes in, and yet you don’t feel that the whole thing is a mess. In addition, Cage's telephonic request for "sanction" of his decision is so wonderfully morally ambiguous that it must please any viewer who dislikes black-and-white sketched characters. 8mm is a very impressive film and in my opinion one of the best thrillers of the 1990s. (01.02.2003)

The attribute 8 MM deserves above all is EFFECTIVE. The story from the porn industry is appropriately brutal and repulsive in its subject matter, with a range of twisted characters from the gallery and the decadent environment of high society. The film is energetic and attractive due to the positive hero played decently by Nicolas Cage, complemented by a diligent improved sidekick, and several very skillfully crafted scenes. Overall, it has a depressing tone, which led to exceptionally great commercial success and acclaim from movie fans. It's not Joel Schumacher's best film, but it ranks among the better ones in its genre. Overall impression: 70%. (15.06.2006)

Unlike some reviews, I don't think Joel Schumacher wanted to make a film about snuff, but rather a film about the fascination and obsession with death and its brutality. The snuff 8-millimeter with the murder of an unknown girl, whose identity private investigator Tom Welles is about to investigate, is merely a means of descending into the darkest corners of the human soul, a hell of brutality and inhumanity that eventually devours for a moment even the man who comes into it as a law enforcement officer. Nicholas Cage is amazing. The transformation from a curious investigator to an obsessive and eventually a crazy avenger is masterfully executed. Finally, the positive hero finds himself facing the inevitable questions of "why are they doing this?", "what do they like about it", which, while aimed at murderers, are designed to shed particular light on the growing darkness in his own soul. Something we all have within us. Schumacher is an excellent director, he is able to do things without unnecessary explicitness and visible brutality, yet the atmosphere of 8MM is only slightly less dense and raw than in Fincher's Seven, and it escalates as the end approaches. As a spectator, I found myself in the shoes of Tom Welles, who is disgusted and horrified, but also unable to stop. The question of "why" is too corrosive... This film is simply not a documentary about one of the scariest film genres, but the embodiment of “why" with all the consequences that come with it. An excellent embodiment... It does not give an answer, but it is the basis for (self)analysis. (07.11.2004)

Great Thriller!! I'm very puzzled by the poor rating on IMDB (only 6.4), because this film is excellent in all respects. Nicolas Cage was still in form, an excellent script concerning a very dark plot, a look into the underworld of porn (snuff!) and great twists. Perfect in every way, can't fault it. 95% (17.02.2014)